I like what Steve Beam is dong at Limestone Branch Distillery. He is making some excellent whiskeys. Most of his whiskey is being made for him at Luxco Distillery in nearby Bardstown. He partnered with them several years ago and it allows him to have whiskey made in greater quantities than he can make at Limestone Branch. His Limestone Branch distillery is still a very small distillery making about a barrel a day. Steve Beam is in charge of making the Yellowstone brand. The brand is part of his Dant family heritage and he is very proud of that history and the brand. This latest expression of Yellowstone lives up to his expectations and I recently got a bottle of this whiskey and Matt and I sat down to taste it. Here are our tasting notes.
Yellowstone Toasted Oak Bourbon
Proof: 100
Age: No Age Statement
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel apples, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, ripe apples, tobacco, cinnamon spice and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, tobacco and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the caramel becomes a rich toffee and wild berry fruit comes out to join the party. Tasted with a pecan and the caramel becomes a butterscotch candy with tobacco and cinnamon.
- Matt: Caramel, apples and pears, tobacco, cinnamon and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out blackberry notes. The pecan brought out chocolate and hazelnuts with a rich, deep mouth-feel.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood and cinnamon spice. The dried cranberry made the finish longer with oak wood, cinnamon and tobacco. The pecan made the finish very long with oak, cinnamon and lingering butterscotch.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood and tobacco. The dried cranberry made the finish longer. The pecan brought out hazelnut, tobacco and oak wood.
I would pair this fine Bourbon whiskey with a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series, Maduro cigar. I think the rich vanilla and cedar spice of this cigar would pair well with the caramel and spice of the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller