I am always happy to see the revival of an old label. Bourbon de Luxe is the latest old label that has been revived by Rolling Fork Spirits, an independent bottler of whiskey. The brand dates back to 1911 and was part of the American Medicinal Spirits Company’s portfolio of brands during Prohibition. This later became National Distillers and later still, a part of Jim Beam. The Rolling Fork Spirits was founded by Turner Wathen and Jordan Morris in 2016. They were bottling rum to start with and recently secured the Bourbon de Luxe brand. They sent me a sample bottle recently and Matt and I sat down to taste it. Here are our tasting notes.
Bourbon de Luxe Bourbon
Proof: 119
Age: Eight Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, pears, baking spices, oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, marshmallows, tangerine and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, pears, apples, cardamom, allspice and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and cinnamon comes forward. Tasted with a pecan and caramel and milk chocolate with some white pepper come out.
- Matt: Caramel, tangerine, red hot cinnamon candy and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out pepper jelly notes. The pecan enhanced the pepper and oak wood.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak, cardamom and lingering vanilla. The dried cranberry brought out apple in the finish. The pecan made the finish long with oak, pepper and chocolate.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and cinnamon. The dried cranberry enhanced the cinnamon. The pecan added pepper spice to the finish.
I would pair this Bourbon with a NUB Habano cigar. The rich tobacco and vanilla in the smoke would enhance the vanilla and spice in the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller