Yellowstone 2020 Limited Edition

The last Saturday of Summer provided a gorgeous day for a drive from Louisville to Lebanon, Kentucky, home of Limestone Branch Distillery.   The distillery was packed with Bourbon fans there for the release of the Yellowstone 2020 Limited Edition Bourbon.

For 2020 the limited edition is a 7-year Bourbon finished in ex-French Armagnac casks.  Several of the previous limited editions have been finished in ex-wine casks.  So, the use of the brandy cask is an interesting (and, in my opinion, a successful) twist on the Yellowstone limited edition series.

A difference you’ll surely notice before you taste the change in the whiskey is the new packaging.  The new bottle design is gorgeous (as whiskey bottles go).  As Limestone Branch master distiller Steve Beam was signing my bottle, I asked him about the new packaging.  “The design guys did a great job on this.  We’re also lucky that the Yellowstone brand had such great artwork from back in the day”.

I couldn’t wait until 5 o’clock to crack this one open.  So, here are some tasting notes from my first one (or two) pours:

Nose: I get dried fruit and butterscotch as the primary notes.  Since this was finished in brandy casks, I tried an old brandy drinkers technique on this whiskey.  I dipped a finger in the whiskey and put a drop on the back of my hand and let it evaporate.  What remains is the essential aromas of the whiskey.  In this case it was a more intense note of dried fruits (primarily apricots).

Taste: The fruit is a little bolder as I taste more orange than the apricot on the nose.  Some rich toffee and a bit of pepper are also on the palate.

Finish: Some oak shows up here along with pepper and vanilla.  It’s a nice, balanced finish that sticks around a bit.

Overall, this is a fun and delicious whiskey.  Especially given the brandy influence, I’m curious to see how the flavor of this one might change as it sits in a glass for a while.  So far, I’ve not been patient enough to find out. Cheers!