Brown-Forman Distillery Gets into the Super-Premium Bourbon Category with “King of Kentucky”

Posted on March 21, 2018
By Distillery Trail
In Blog

Brown-Forman's King of Kentucky, Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

50 years after its demise in 1968, Brown-Forman Distillery is bringing back a once dead bourbon brand, King of Kentucky. For its second reign, the King is going from what might have been considered a bottom shelf Court Jester in the 19th century to a top shelf super-premium bourbon for the 21st century.

The King of Kentucky’s roots can be traced back to 1881. Brown-Forman acquired the brand from Selected KY Distillers, Inc. in 1936 and continued production until its demise in 1968. Looking at some labels of the early 1900s bottles the proof varied from 86 to 90, the blend varied from Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey to Whiskey and Grain Neutral Spirits and the age varied from 12 months to four plus years. Look at The Sun newspaper advertisement below and you’ll see that in 1905 this product was even sold by the quart. Well, this time around, that’s all about to change.

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2018 “King of Kentucky” Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Brown-Forman Distillers - King of Kentucky, Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Front Label

The 2018 King of Kentucky is a 14 year old, single barrel, cask strength bourbon. It was made with a mashbill of 79% corn, 11% rye and 10% malted barley. This first release is from a select group of only 16 barrels. The Angels were greedy over the years leaving behind a yield of about 30% per barrel. The actual proof will vary between 125° and 135° since these are in fact single barrels.

When and Where to Find a Bottle of King of Kentucky

Brown-Forman says, “As with all rare products, the hunt will be part of the excitement. The price reflects the rarity of the product, but allows it to be accessible to whiskey connoisseurs.” It is expected to start shipping in early June and will only be available in Kentucky (with a few exceptions here and there). There will be approximately 960 bottles with a retail price of $199.