Old Louisville Whiskey Company was founded by Amine and Beth Karoud. Amine started out as an engineer and got tired of the corporate life and purchased Red Castle Liquors. He later decided with his wife, Beth, to start a liquor company. They sold the liquor store and several other properties and invested the money in whiskey barrels and started Old Louisville Whiskey Company. The brand took off and they purchased Warehouse F on the old Seagram property in Shively, Kentucky. Matt and I attended a BARDS meeting there the other day and met Amine and toured the facility. It is an impressive operation with plenty of storage space for barrels and a bottling line. We tasted several of their whiskeys from the barrel and were impressed with the quality of the whiskeys. I had already purchased a couple of bottles of their whiskeys and Matt and I tasted them. Here are our tasting notes.
Old Louisville Whiskey Company Rye -51% rye, 49% Malted Barley
Proof: 119.8
Age: Eight Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Rye grass, vanilla, citrus, apricots and oak wood.
- Matt: Rye grass, vanilla, citrus, mint and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Rye grass, vanilla, apricots, allspice and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and it becomes very fruity with blackberries, raspberries and cherries. Tasted with a pecan and caramel and chocolate come out in the taste.
- Matt: Vanilla, lemon zest, red hot cinnamon candy and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the cinnamon and lemon zest. The pecan brought out caramel, marshmallow, apples and cinnamon.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood and allspice. The dried cranberry made the finish long with oak wood and berry fruit. The pecan made the finish long with oak wood and caramel.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood, lemon zest and cinnamon. The dried cranberry made the finish longer. The pecan made the finish long and spicy with oak wood and cinnamon.
Old Louisville Whiskey Company Bourbon
Proof: 126.8
Age: Nine Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel, marshmallows, dates, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, banana, allspice and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, dates, cherries, cinnamon and oak wood. The dried cranberry added red pepper flakes to the taste. The pecan brought out a note of dark chocolate.
- Matt: Vanilla, lemon zest, cherries, red pepper flakes and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the lemon and cherry. The pecan brought out caramel and chocolate.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood, cherries and cinnamon. The dried cranberry made the finish long and spicy with oak wood and red pepper flakes. The pecan made the finish long with oak wood, cinnamon and chocolate.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood, lemon zest and red pepper flakes. The dried cranberry made the finish long and spicy with oak wood and red pepper flakes. The pecan made the finish long with oak wood and chocolate.
I would pair these whiskeys with a My Father the Judge cigar. The vanilla and chocolate in the smoke would enhance the vanilla and chocolate in the whiskeys.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller