The Beam whiskey family tree is hundreds of years old with deep roots around the state of Kentucky and product that has traveled all over the world. The roots of the tree are deep and the tradition of making bourbon whiskey go back centuries.
“I always felt like it was an unfinished chapter for my family,” says Steve Beam, of the 200 years of family story that preceded him.
So Steve and brother Paul Beam reopened the book, and started making history again and opened Limestone Branch Distillery in 2011. The distillery is known for its Moon Pie Moonshine, T.J. Pottinger Sugar Shine and Precinct No. 6 whiskey but, that’s about to change.
In October 2015, Limestone Branch Distillery will be rekindling a little bit of history with the (re)introduction of Yellowstone Limited Edition. With only 6,000 bottles produced, this ultra-premium bourbon is the marriage of a seven-year rye, a seven-year wheated and a 12-year rye – a combination that creates an exceptional depth of flavor and complexity.
Brothers Steve (at left) and Paul (at right) with their father Jimmy Beam at Limestone Branch Distillery
“I hand-selected the barrels of the 12-year bourbon to add just the right notes and create a truly distinct, well rounded flavor profile,” says Steve Beam, president and distiller of Limestone Branch Distillery. “Given our partnership with Luxco and the access they have to high-quality bourbon, we were able to hand-select ‘honey barrels’ for this small batch to find the best complementary flavors to enhance the seven-year bourbon and create just the right combination so the bourbon hits different areas of the palate for a superior experience.”
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Once he found the perfect bourbons, Beam added his own distinctive spin to the final product. “Some of the bourbon was chill-filtered, some of it was not; but what makes this combination unique is that we took the 12-year rye bourbon out of its barrels, and poured the seven-year bourbon into the 12-year barrels to enrich it and extract more flavors. This process of reusing the barrels allowed the younger bourbons to pick up the more mature notes, adding a cinnamon and caramel taste as well as some smoky notes.”
Yellowstone Limited Edition, bottled at 105 proof, celebrates the 105th anniversary of Steve Beam’s great grandfather, Minor Case Beam, selling his Old Trump Distillery to Joseph Bernard Dant, a pioneer distiller and relative from his mother’s side.
“It’s been a dream for my brother Paul and I to return the Yellowstone brand back to our family,” says Beam. “With this bourbon, both sides of our family – the Beams and the Dants – and their distilling heritage, come together. It was one of the main reasons we partnered with Luxco, to bring Yellowstone back home and begin distilling and bottling it right here at Limestone Branch.”
Yellowstone Limited Edition will be officially launched during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, held in Historic Bardstown September 15-20, 2015. Suggested retail price for the bourbon is $105.
