Bourbon Lens

Is rye whiskey having a moment? Jake Lewellen reviews Proof & Precedent, a brand-new 11-year-old straight rye whiskey from Illinois bottled at 121.6 proof (60.8% ABV). It's a small batch blend of Illinois ryes, created with Brian Harris of Sipping Corn, Matt Cusack, and Marcus Neiman.

In this Five Minute Fridays tasting, Jake covers:
🥃 Why rye is surging, with Angel's Envy's Peach Brandy Cask finished rye, Silverthorn's 13-year, Dark Arts' 15-year, and Joseph Magnus' batched rye
🥃 Nose: apricot, peach, brûléed sugar, candied orange, honeysuckle, and a "hot toddy" aroma
🥃 Palate: fruit cocktail syrup, star anise, warm baking spices, and heavy oak on the finish
🥃 Why this high-rye rye drinks with the complexity of a high-rye bourbon, which makes it a good pick for bourbon drinkers who find rye too spicy
🥃 Jake's verdict: one of the top rye whiskeys he's had in 2026

⏱️ Chapters
0:00 Intro: a new Illinois rye from Proof & Precedent
0:42 Why this release matters
1:10 Rye whiskey is having a moment
2:02 Nose: apricot, peach & candied orange
2:53 First sip: 121.6 proof
4:13 Verdict: rye for bourbon drinkers
5:15 Final thoughts & rating

Have you tried Proof & Precedent? Tell us in the comments!

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How did Bardstown go from a quick distillery stop to a true bourbon destination? Bourbon Lens hosts Jake and Scott sit down with Sam Lacy, Executive Director of the Bourbon Capital Alliance (BCA), to break down the growth of Bardstown bourbon tourism, from new hotels and downtown tasting rooms to the Bourbon Capital District, where you can carry your drink from bar to bar.

Sam shares the story behind the Bourbon Capital Alliance, the nonprofit uniting 10 partner distilleries, and how National Bourbon Week grew from a 30-minute lawn ceremony in 2018 into an eight-day event in 2026. He also shares new data showing bookings from 37 states and 70% of them from out of state.

You'll also hear about the new Bourbon Capital Diplomat Certification Program, a hospitality course that teaches bartenders and servers about bourbon, Bardstown history and proper pours. We get into why it matters, what Jake and Scott scored on the exam, and what's coming for National Bourbon Week 2027.

⏱️ Chapters
0:12 – Welcome and meet Sam Lacy
1:17 – What the Bourbon Capital Alliance does
2:41 – How the BCA started (2016–2026)
5:34 – New hotels, restaurants and the premium shift downtown
7:37 – The Bourbon Capital District (open carry downtown)
8:33 – Downtown tasting rooms: Chicken Cock, Old Steel House, Boundary Oak, The Bard
14:14 – The history of National Bourbon Week
18:53 – 2026 data: 37 states, 70% out-of-state bookings
23:19 – The Bourbon Capital Diplomat Program
35:24 – Why proper glassware and "pour, not shot" matter
41:06 – What's next for National Bourbon Week 2027
49:16 – How to sign up: Academy, Guild and National Bourbon Week

Resources mentioned
Bourbon Capital Academy (Diplomat Program, $75): BourbonCapitalAcademy.com
National Bourbon Week: NationalBourbonWeek.com
Bourbon Capital Guild (member lottery): BourbonCapitalGuild.com

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Keywords

Bardstown bourbon tourism, Bourbon Capital Alliance, Sam Lacy, Bourbon Capital of the World, National Bourbon Week 2027, Bourbon Capital Diplomat, Bourbon Capital Academy, Bourbon Capital Guild, Bourbon Capital District, Bardstown Kentucky, Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Bardstown distilleries, Bardstown tasting rooms, Bardstown hotels, things to do in Bardstown, bourbon certification program, bourbon education, bourbon hospitality training, Potter Jane Distilling, Limestone Branch, Heaven Hill, Maker's Mark, Lux Row, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Kentucky Bourbon Festival, bourbon podcast, Bourbon Lens, Jake Lewellen

Steve Beam of Limestone Branch joins Bourbon Lens to pour and break down the brand-new 2026 Yellowstone 101, a limited edition blend of 14 and 8 year old Kentucky straight bourbon double finished in Ruby and Tawny port casks.

Steve shares how he builds these limited releases from scratch: sourcing barrels through brokers, buying the port at the liquor store to test flavor pairings, blending in graduated cylinders, and why he "makes bourbon that I like to drink." Jake and Steve trade tasting notes (blackberry, cocoa nibs, charred oak, dark fig, and a peanut butter and jelly finish), and Steve explains why Limestone Branch is narrowing its focus to core products in 2026 and beyond.

Also in this episode:

🥃 The hand-painted Recollection Series, recreated from a late-1800s porcelain barback bottle found on eBay

🇺🇸 The US 250th Lady Liberty release: hand-picked single barrels in a throwback cylinder tube

📜 154 years of Yellowstone, sold continuously even through Prohibition ⏱️ Why a single LTO takes 18 months to 2 years from first idea to bottle 🥃 How Steve drinks whiskey: neat, wide-nosing glass, never on ice

Whether you're a longtime Yellowstone fan, a port-finish curious sipper, or planning a stop at the distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky, this conversation is a great look at the craft behind one of bourbon's oldest brand names.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 Welcome and Limestone Branch's 2026 focus
• 3:47 154 years of Yellowstone 5:15 The hand-painted Recollection Series 8:43 The US 250th Lady Liberty bottle
• 11:30 Yellowstone 101: how the limited editions are made
• 17:38 Tasting notes: nose, palate, finish
• 25:06 Blending vs. finishing: how this one was built
• 32:53 How long an LTO takes
• 34:24 What's next for Limestone Branch

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#YellowstoneBourbon #Yellowstone101 #LimestoneBranch #SteveBeam #BourbonLens #BourbonReview #PortFinish #KentuckyBourbon #BourbonPodcast #WhiskeyPodcast #LimitedEditionBourbon #BourbonTasting

This week on Thursday Thoughts, Jake sits down with Coby and Ben Franzini, co-founders of Chevalier Casks, to unpack one of the least understood — but most critical — corners of the bourbon industry: bulk spirits. Ben is also a co-owner of Bluegrass Distillers, and Coby spent 25 years as a commercial banker in central Kentucky before moving into bourbon finance, giving the two a unique combined view of how barrels actually move through the industry.

The conversation covers how distilleries quietly offload excess barrel inventory, why privacy matters so much in these deals, and how the wholesale barrel market has shifted dramatically in the last 18 months — with prices on some aged barrels dropping from thousands of dollars to a fraction of that. That shift, they argue, is opening the door for a new wave of small, independent bourbon brands who can finally make the math work again.

In this episode:

• What "bulk spirits" actually means and why it keeps bourbon on shelves
• How Chevalier Casks and Bluegrass Distillers work together
• Why distilleries sell barrels quietly — and why privacy is starting to matter less for some brands
• How barrel prices have shifted in the last 18 months, and what it means for small brands
• What trends are showing up in demand right now (hint: wheated bourbon)
• How Chevalier Casks' online marketplace works for both buyers and sellers
• The hidden costs (storage, tax, insurance, freight) brands often don't budget for
• How a new brand can get started working with Chevalier Casks

Subscribe to Bourbon Lens for more conversations with the people shaping the bourbon industry.

• 0:00 – Intro: what bulk spirits are and why they matter
• 1:19 – How Chevalier Casks got started
• 3:24 – How Chevalier and Bluegrass Distillers work together
• 5:23 – How barrels quietly move from distillery to broker
• 7:00 – Privacy, NDAs, and why some brands now talk openly about sourcing
• 10:49 – How barrel prices have shifted in the last 18 months
• 13:29 – Why it's a good time again to start a small bourbon brand
• 15:48 – How NDPs actually buy lots (and how fast double-digit ages move)
• 19:57 – What's trending: wheated bourbon and blending strategies
• 26:23 – Getting started with Chevalier Casks
• 28:9 – The hidden costs of building a brand (storage, tax, freight)
• 29:37 – How Chevalier's online marketplace works for buyers and sellers

This week, Bourbon Lens heads to Bardstown, Kentucky to sit down with Whitney Rye — founder and CEO of The Parlor Room, host of The Mash Bill podcast, and better known on Instagram as Bourbon Duchess. Whitney built The Parlor Room around a simple idea: teach people the story behind the bottle, not just tasting-note jargon, in a space designed for rare, allocated, and vintage pours.

In this episode, Whitney walks Jake and Scott through the tangled, dramatic history of Barton Distillery — from its 1889 roots as one of the first distilleries to reopen after Prohibition, through a 1940s fire and rebuild under Oscar Getz, a name literally drawn out of a hat, a trademark lawsuit from Woodford Reserve that forced a mid-run name change, and the 2013 pivot to Sweet Wheat. Along the way, the group tastes through a vertical flight of Barton-family whiskeys spanning nearly 40 years — culminating in a first taste of the brand-new 1792 Straight Rye.

In this episode:

• Whitney's origin story — from My Old Kentucky Home State Park to founding The Parlor Room
• Why she intentionally leaves formal "tasting notes" out of her classes
• The real (and litigious) history behind the Barton/1792 name
• A vertical tasting: a 1986 Very Old Barton, a vintage Tom Moore, Ridgemont Reserve 1792, and the new 1792 Straight Rye
• Why 1792's rye whiskey is also the backbone of several Buffalo Trace rye releases
• A broader conversation on bourbon oversupply, aging whiskey, and why age statements may be bourbon's next chapter

🥃 Featured pours: Very Old Barton (1986), Tom Moore 5-Year, Ridgemont Reserve 1792 8-Year, 1792 Straight Rye 📍 Location: The Parlor Room, Bardstown, KY

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It's Bourbon Heritage Month, and on this episode of Five Minute Fridays, Jake goes straight to where it all started: Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, one of the most talked-about — and most divisive — releases in the bourbon world. This year's edition lands at 11 years old and 97 proof, released earlier this month.

Fresh off Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Jake sits down (with a little personal timing — his daughter's birthday is just days away) to break down the nose, palate, and finish of this year's Birthday Bourbon, compare it to Old Forester's recent "Kentucky Boy" release, and explain why he thinks this might be one of the best versions of Birthday Bourbon he's tasted yet.

In this episode:

• Why Birthday Bourbon is one of the most controversial releases on the market
• Tasting notes: burnt sugar, crème brûlée, brown sugar, caramel, French vanilla custard, tobacco, and cherry cordial
• How this year's release compares to Old Forester's "Kentucky Boy"
• Why Jake thinks Old Forester and Brown-Forman are "on a heater" right now
• The team behind the blend — Caleb, Melissa, and Chris
• Final verdict: would Jake buy it at SRP?

• 0:00 – Intro: Bourbon Heritage Month & Birthday Bourbon's controversial reputation
• 0:58 – This year's release: 11 years old, 97 proof
• 1:29 – Why today's tasting is personal (daughter's birthday)
• 2:11 – Nose: burnt sugar, crème brûlée, caramel, French vanilla, baking spice, tobacco
• 2:49 – On the 97 proof and the blending conversation from Kentucky Bourbon Festival
• 3:36 – Palate: oak, tannin, brown sugar, caramel
• 4:21 – Finish: tobacco, cherry cordial
• 4:58 – Comparison to Old Forester's "Kentucky Boy"
• 5:38 – Final verdict and the team behind the blend

Special edition of Thursday Thoughts, recorded live at Kentucky Bourbon Festival! Bourbon Lens sits down with Walter of Whiskey Thief for breaking news straight from the farm.

In this episode, Walter announces that Whiskey Thief is officially sourcing whiskey — a major strategic shift for the brand after explosive growth (60,000+ visitors last year, 65,000+ expected this year at the farm, and 100,000+ at their Louisville-area location). Rather than release younger whiskey to keep up with demand, Whiskey Thief is going straight to the best barrel warehouses in Kentucky to bring fans exceptional juice while their own production scales up.

Also in this episode:

• Two new stills acquired — production is ramping up fast
• Master blender Lisa Wicker is leading Whiskey Thief's first blended releases
• Ultra-limited "Outtakes" bottles — small-batch releases made from the flavorful, oxidized whiskey left behind after barrel-thieving (only ~30 bottles per release)
• The new "Hazmat Rye," an early-pulled twist on their Mayday Rye
• Whiskey Thief's 14th anniversary celebrations happening throughout October
• Whiskey Thief Fest — two days of music on October 9–10, presented with Adam Duritz of Counting Crows' Underwater Sunshine Festival (rebranded "Underwater Moonshine Festival" for this event)

Whiskey Thief has always been single-barrel, straight-from-the-barrel, uncut and unfiltered — and Walter promises full transparency (mash bill, proof, everything) continues even as sourced products roll out.

📍 Visit Whiskey Thief right off I-64, just half a mile from Keeneland — perfect for a game day / Keeneland / Whiskey Thief triple-header this fall.

Subscribe to Bourbon Lens for more bourbon industry news, distillery visits, and conversations with the people behind your favorite pours.

• 0:00 – Live from Kentucky Bourbon Festival, welcoming Walter
• 0:28 – Breaking news: Whiskey Thief is now sourcing whiskey
• 0:56 – The growth behind the decision (60K+ to 100K+ visitors)
• 1:56 – Two new stills, production investment
• 2:24 – Lisa Wicker and the move into blended whiskey
• 2:54 – Older-than-the-distillery bottles on the way
• 3:23 – Staying Kentucky-focused (for now)
• 4:19 – What's next: labels, bottles, and a 2027 headline
• 4:49 – The "Hazmat Rye" release
• 5:19 – The "Outtakes" series explained
• 7:07 – Why fall is the time to visit Frankfort
• 7:32 – Whiskey Thief Fest, October 9–10, with Adam Duritz's Underwater Moonshine Festival

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To celebrate their landmark 400th episode, The Bourbon Lens crew heads to one of the most hallowed sites in American whiskey — Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively, Kentucky — for a sit-down with Nicole Austin, Diageo's Director of American Whiskey Liquid Development and Capabilities. Nicole pulls back the curtain on the mystery of why decades-old bourbon aged in Stitzel-Weller's rickhouses defies the conventional wisdom that American whiskey "expires" past a certain age. The conversation covers barrel consolidation (topping off), the historic rickhouse design patented by Frederick Stitzel, and the launch of the new Blade and Bow 12-Year Solera — a 104-proof, sub-$65 bourbon built using a fractional-blending Solera process borrowed from sherry and adapted for American whiskey.

• The "magic" of Stitzel-Weller's rickhouses — why extreme-age American whiskey (25–40+ years) is proving possible here, and how airflow, rickhouse architecture, and shade trees may matter as much as the mash bill.
• Barrel consolidation ("topping off") — a labor-intensive practice borrowed from Scotch and Canadian whiskey that halts the "snowball effect" of angel's share loss and staving damage in half-empty barrels.
• The Solera method, Americanized — how Nicole adapted sherry's fractional-blending system into a 12-year-minimum-age bourbon blend using vintage cognac, port, muscatel, and Bordeaux vats.
• Craft philosophy over collectibility — Nicole's approach favors consistent quality and drinkability over hype-driven, numbered limited releases.
• Proof point and dilution culture — a pushback on "proof-chasing" in the bourbon community, and why a 104-proof whiskey can outperform higher-proof releases in balance and accessibility.
• Bourbon history and place — Shively's forgotten legacy as a distilling capital, and Stitzel-Weller's connection to figures like Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle.

Nicole Austin — Director of American Whiskey Liquid Development and Capabilities, Diageo. Former general manager and master blender at Cascade Hollow (George Dickel), now overseeing extended-age and innovation projects at Stitzel-Weller, including the Stitzel Reserve line and Blade and Bow.

Blade and Bow 12-Year Solera Bourbon

• Minimum age: 12 years (in new American oak)
• Proof: 104
• MSRP: $64.99
• Process: Fractional Solera blending across vintage cognac, port, muscatel, and Bordeaux vats

• Follow The Bourbon Lens on Instagram for bottle drop alerts
• Visit Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively, Louisville, KY

Explore the craft of American Single Malt whiskey with the team at New Riff Distillery. In this episode, we dive deep into New Riff's oldest whiskey release to date, exploring their hands-on approach to mash bills, barrel maturation, and complex blending strategies. Learn how different barrel types, unique yeast strains, and warehouse climate management shape the rich, evolving flavor profiles of Kentucky single malt.

We break down everything from cocktail versatility and annual release coding systems to the intricate maturation curve that turns experimental grain bills into award-winning pours. Whether you are a seasoned whiskey collector or curious about the rapid rise of American Single Malts, this deep-dive interview delivers essential insights into modern craft distilling.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Introduction to New Riff Distillery & Single Malt Program
• 01:07 - Unveiling Their Oldest Whiskey Release
• 02:21 - Mash Bills, Blending & Inventory Management
• 04:11 - Warehouse Management & Barrel Care Techniques
• 07:03 - Craft Distillery Expansion & Scaling Success
• 11:16 - Developing the American Single Malt Whiskey Program
• 25:01 - Defining Kentucky Single Malt Characteristics
• 26:15 - Barrel Types, Wood Casks & Maturation Impact
• 27:29 - Breaking Down Flavor Profiles & Tasting Notes
• 29:37 - The Blending Process & Vatted Malt Experiences
• 29:59 - Decoding the Annual Release & Coding System
• 33:39 - Cocktail Versatility & Pairing Ideas
• 50:28 - Yeast Strain Selection & Production Consistency
• 53:53 - Maturation Cycles, Aging & Flavor Evolution
• 01:13:31 - Final Release Details & National Distribution

🔔 Subscribe for more weekly discussions, tastings, and bourbon insights from the Bourbon Lens community.

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Chef and restaurateur Brian Landry joins Bourbon Lens to share his journey from line cook to multi-concept hospitality owner — and the story behind his new book exploring the deep connection between food and music.

In this episode, Brian walks through the origin of his acclaimed Kitchen Table restaurant, the Beam family history woven into its story, and why community focus — not trends — has been the real driver of his success across multiple locations. We dig into how storytelling shapes every menu and beverage program he builds, including a pizza program that highlights the yeast strain from Jim Beam's original yeast.

Brian also previews the upcoming Icons Dinner and its bourbon pairing menu, talks candidly about the challenges of expanding a hospitality group through COVID-19, and shares what's next for his growing restaurant ventures — plus the inspiration behind his new book on food and music.

In this episode:

• Brian Landry's culinary background and early restaurant experience
• The concept and true story behind the Kitchen Table
• Why community focus sustains restaurant success long-term
• The role of storytelling in food and beverage experiences
• A first look at the Icons Dinner and its bourbon pairing menu
• The inspiration and content behind Brian's new book
• How food and music intersect to shape culture and community
• Navigating restaurant expansion challenges during COVID-19
• What's ahead for Landry's hospitality ventures

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction to Brian Landry and his culinary journey
01:56 – How Brian got started in the restaurant industry
03:59 – The importance of community in restaurant success
05:59 – Details about the Kitchen Table and its story
07:59 – The connection between food, music, and storytelling
10:00 – Upcoming events: Icons Dinner and bourbon pairing
12:02 – The inspiration behind Brian's new book
14:02 – Future plans for Landry's hospitality ventures

🔔 Subscribe for more weekly discussions, tastings, and bourbon insights from the Bourbon Lens community.
📸 Follow on Instagram: @bourbonlens
🌐 Visit: www.bourbonlens.com
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Discord: https://discord.gg/pd6ys5nRSU