Silk Velvet Bourbon is an old brand founded in1880 by A.S. Winstead in Henderson, Kentucky. The Winstead Distillery (DSP 19 2nd District Kentucky), according to the 1909 Mida’s Criteria Financial Index, was a small distillery with $100,000 to $150,000 in value and was also a rectifier of whiskey. Prohibition shut the distillery down and the brand was lost to history. In 2021, the Hargis family acquired the trademark and opened a distillery in Henderson. In 2023, they hired Jacob Call, an 8th generation distiller to make their whiskey. They have sourced this six year old Bourbon and revived the brand Silk Velvet. The Bourbon is 75% corn, 21% Rye and 4% malted barley. They sent me a bottle for review the other day and Matt and I sat down to taste it. Here are our tasting notes.
Silk Velvet Bourbon
Proof: 107
Age: Six Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, apricots, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Buttered popcorn, raisins, nutmeg and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, apricots, peaches, cardamom, ginger and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the fruit is enhanced. Tasted with a pecan and caramel, milk chocolate and cinnamon come out in the taste.
- Matt: Caramel, raisins, nutmeg, cloves and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the caramel. The pecan brought out orange zest, and black pepper spice.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood, and ginger. The dried cranberry added some lingering peach noted to the finish. The pecan made the finish long with oak wood, cinnamon and lingering caramel.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood and cloves. The dried cranberry added a nutty flavor to the finish. The pecan made the finish long and spicy with oak wood and black pepper.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a cigar with dried fruit notes and vanilla in the smoke. I would reach for a Fuente 8-5-8 cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller