Back in November I received a sample of the Yellowstone Limited Edition and wrote it up, so if you are interested in my lazy attempt at explaining the history of the Yellowstone brand (as well as my thoughts on that expression), you can check that out. I’ll wait here why you do so…
Welcome back! Ok, so now that the brand has been revived by some Beams at Limestone Branch Distillery, Yellowstone just released its second expression: Yellowstone Select. Given that the distillery was founded in 2010, and this bottle contains some 7-year-old juice, this one was obviously distilled elsewhere. Hopefully we’ll see what Limestone Branch has to offer in future expressions of Yellowstone, and I’m VERY interested to see some of the results of the super hands on barrel program they just announced.
Yellowstone’s barrel program should be going live in the fall of this year, and will “allow participants to choose their own mash bill, barrel size, barrel char level and aging level, as well as allowing them to choose their level of involvement in the process.” After picking out all the specifics, the participants will also be able to travel to the distillery to fill the barrel and eventually bottle the booze. Hey Yellowstone, if you’re reading this, Barrels and Mash wants to do this! We don’t really have any money given that this is just a little blog from Oklahoma, but let’s chat so we can work something out, this program sounds awesome!
Alright, enough about all that, let’s see if I’m into this bottle more than the LE.
Disclaimer: This product was provided at no cost to Barrels and Mash with no strings attached.
Company: Luxco
Distillery: I dunno (NDP)
Mash bill: Blend of 4-year and 7-year Bourbons
Age: 4/7 years
ABV: 46.5% (93 proof)
Released: December 2015
Price: $50
Color: Bright honey
Nose: Fruity green apple and lemon are balanced well by dry oak and rye spice. Some tobacco and leather are in there too, serving to make a pretty complex little nose on this guy.
Taste: Much less fruity than the nose, the oak, leather, tobacco, and rye come through much more up in your mouth and some hot cinnamon joins the party. The balance isn’t quite as good as in the aroma, but it’s close with flavors of honey, vanilla, and light brown sugar helping even things out.
Finish: For me, the fruity green apple came back and joined the oak and heat which really made the finish a great combination of the aroma and taste. There is also an interesting lemon-y punch that comes in that makes this a pretty refreshing end to a somewhat hot and dry sip.
Overall: So in that Yellowstone LE review I made the comment “It’s so damn hot and dry that I wonder how much of that 12-year is in here and would love to try a version of this with just the 7’s in the mix.” Well this isn’t exactly that given that there is a 4-year-old in the blend, but the younger mix of Bourbons here really makes a huge difference and solved the crap out of those balance problems that the LE had. I’ll be looking forward to seeing more expressions like this coming out of Limestone Branch.
Rating: 4/5
