Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon is the return of an old and storied brand that was first created in 1854 by J.B. Dant, the son of J.W. Dant (Dant Distillery). In 1912 J.B. went on to open the Taylor and Williams distillery (Gethsemane) to make his Yellowstone bourbon. The brand has continued to be made since then and its owners have changed multiple times. It’s currently owned by Luxco who’s putting this release out in a partnership with Limestone Branch Distillery which is ran by Stephen Beam who is a direct descendant of the Dants and for him this is a sort of homecoming for the brand.
Earlier this year Luxco bought a 50% stake in the Limestone Branch Distillery and they’ve partnered up to breathe new life into the Yellowstone brand. Starting this year Limestone Branch is going to be distilling the original Yellowstone bourbon recipe and while it ages Luxco, in association with Stephen Beam, will be doing releases like this using sourced barrels. This, the 2015 Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon, is 105 proof and made from an undisclosed blend of a 12 year rye bourbon, 7 year rye bourbon and a 7 year wheated bourbon.
Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon Info
Region: Kentucky, USA
Bottler: Luxco in association with Limestone Branch
Blend: 3 different bourbons
Cask: New charred oak
Age: 7 years (12, 7 and 7)
ABV: 52.5%
Edition: 2015
Price: $105*
Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon Review
EYE
Polished cherry wood
NOSE
Corn, caramel, spice and cherry dark fruit mix with light notes of vanilla, dusty sweetness (crushed Smarties), citrus candy, wood and some yeasty bread-like notes. It’s not a bad bourbon by any stretch.
PALATE
Toasted grain, wood, caramel, cherry heavy dark fruit, spice and corn coat the palate leaving little room for the light notes of vanilla, charred citrus and pepper that try to work their way in.
FINISH
Long and corn fueled with a bit of wood, fruit, leather and candy sweetness.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Moderate balance with a full body and a slightly rough feel.
OVERALL
The 2015 Yellowstone Limited Edition bourbon is good, but it’s not drop everything and find a bottle good. It has some great aspects to the nose and palate that I enjoy and is overall a decent bourbon. If I were to make a guess at the 3 bourbons in here I’d say they were Jim Beam, Rebel Yell and some Heaven Hill bourbon as those are the 3 that kept popping into my mind while smelling and tasting this. Though the bottle looks like the Old Rip Van Winkle 10 bottle so I can’t help but wonder if that’s their nod to one of the whiskeys in it being from Buffalo Trace.
Like with Blood Oath, Luxco has pieced together an interesting and tasty bourbon that’s a one-and-done release and so it commands a higher price than it probably should. It’s really hard for me to say any bourbon is really worth more than $60-$70 and that’s my only real issue with the whiskey; it’s about 2x the price of what it should be. However, that seems to be the way the industry is going these days and instead of ranting about it, again, I’ll just say this. It’s a decent limited edition bourbon that’s worth a try and let you, the reader and hopefully taster-before-buyer, decide if the price is right for you.
SCORE: 86/100
*Disclosure: This sample of Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
