The Duke Club - April 2022
Guided by wisdom and crafted with knowledge… meet The Wiseman, a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
THE WISEMAN
KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY
DISTILLERY: Kentucky Owl
LOCATION: Bardstown, KY
PROOF: 90.8%
MASH BILL: Kentucky Owl 4-year old wheat and high-rye bourbons + 5.5 & 8.5 year-old Kentucky-sourced bourbon
NOSE: Rich caramel, allspice, and citrus dominates the nose. Creamy vanilla custard lingers in the background.
PALATE: Light to medium in body, original aromas give way to similar flavors; as the allspice fades the caramel continues to the finish.
FINISH: Very light alcohol burn in the finish, but is quickly wrapped up in vanilla oak.
ADD WATER: Orange citrus comes through much more, but a toasted sugar note plays through.
RECOMMENDED SERVING: Always neat. A few drops of water opens up the nose. Served on a BFC (big freakin’ cube), the finish gets a little light and uninteresting.
WHY WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS WHISKEY
First of all, it’s a revitalization of a classic brand. The Kentucky Owl brand was also recently purchased by the Stoli group, and is a collaboration with Bardstown Bourbon Co.
Second, it’s a great bottle for the Spring season. The lightness of the body makes it easy to enjoy around a firepit or sitting on the front porch.
Kentucky Owl was founded by Charles Mortimer Dedman in 1879, and operated until Prohibition in 1916. Unfortunately, at one point, the government seized approx. 250,000 gallons of Kentucky Owl for “safe-keeping”. One evening, the warehouse where Kentucky Owl was stored burned to the ground. Interestingly, this wooden warehouse filled with flammable liquid only burned for a few hours, leading many to believe that the entire KO stock had been swiped to fuel the booming speakeasies of the day. 100 years later, the great-great-grandson of C.M. Dedman revived the family business and began blending a whiskey deserving of the Kentucky Owl name and since 2017, many unique batches have been produced.