So I reviewed this quickly just out of excitement but i wanted to come back and gove more thoughts on this one because I am just so damned excited about this one. I had no hype going into it i had actually hoped it was mediocre because Ive been so disappointed with so many "high caliber" bottles lately that I was going to use this as my excuse to just stop buying modern day bourbon and just focus exclusively on dusties. So Christmas afternoon I cracked the king of kentucky 16 year bottle 74/90 129.4 proof fully expecting to be underwhelmed and I was so happy that I loved it. The bottles recently that had just completely disappointed me were ECBP C923 and Michters 10 year bourbon 23A. Both were just meh and nothing special. The M10b wanted to be great but whoever proofed it down clearly hates the palate of a whiskey. Im not a proof ***** Im a wild turkey fan. I like lower proof Barrel proofs. The Russell's 2003 is exception whiskey at 89.5 proof. This years king of kentucky has restored my faith that modern bourbon can be amazing. It just sucks it has to be this limited.'It's a bad sign for the future. 40+ years ago you could find a bourbon of this quality for under 30 bucks and there would be 10s of 1000s of bottles of it. Today we get 3800 bottles released in a few states and you have to fork over 1600 bucks to get it but if you ever were to splurge on a whiskey ever do yourself a favor and make it a king of kentucky 16 year. It is the best modern whiskey Ive ever tasted.
King of Kentucky 16 Year Bourbon (2023 Release)
About this bottle
Distilled at The Brown-Forman Distillery, King of Kentucky is a brand which was resurrected in 2018 and relaunched as a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. It is released annually as single barrel at barrel strength. The 6th expression in the series is a bourbon that was distilled on July 19, 2007 that entered the barrel at 125 proof. It is made from a mash bill of 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley. It was released in fall of 2023 with a minimum age of 16 years, limited to 51 barrels with approximately 3,800 bottled produced. Note: proof varies by barrel bottling, typically between 125 to 135 proof. (SRP $300)
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 4 parsed reviews.
Fantastic with loads of rich oak, peanut butter, dark chocolate, caramel, maple syrup, molasses, Christmasy, and port-like flavors. It may be super oaky at first but sweetens over time. Nose: Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Molasses, Cinnamon, Strawberries, Nutmeg, Licorice, Gingerbread, Plums, Raspberries, Peanut Butter, Vanilla, Roses, Brown Sugar Palate: Caramel, Walnuts, Oranges, Cinnamon, Molasses, Maple Syrup, Leather, Cloves, Tobacco, Baked Red Apples, Cherries, Nutmeg, Ginger, Hazlenuts, Blackcurrants, Cranberries Finish: Dark Chocolate, Bananas, Cloves, Nutmeg, Toasted Vanilla, Leather, Pecan Pie, Maple Syrup, Tobacco, Demarara Syrup, Peaches, Peanut Butter, Cherries, Cranberries
I’ve slung around some five start reviews but my god, this is the only one deserving. Need to reassess my scale… Perfect! 129.4 proof
Perfection
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
