2XO "The Kiawah Blend" Bourbon Whiskey

Kiawah is where Dixon Dedman goes to recharge — his family's longtime island retreat in South Carolina — and the fourth blend in 2XO's Icon Series is named for it. Dedman is the blender who resurrected his great-great-grandfather's Kentucky Owl in 2014 and made it a cult, grew up in the test kitchen of his family's James Beard-winning Beaumont Inn, and launched 2XO — "Two Times Oak" — in late 2022 around one idea: every expression gets a second round of oak. The Kiawah Blend marries two proprietary Kentucky mash bills, a high-rye 35% bourbon and a moderate-rye 18% bourbon; the 35% rye is double-barreled into new charred oak at both #3 and #4 char for nine months to a year, building sweetness to balance the spice, then blended and bottled at 104 proof. It took Gold at both the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the 2024 ASCOT Awards. Drinkhacker called it another well-crafted release from Dedman — the clear standout at a tasting full of respectable staples, not an everyday sipper given its outsized personality, but a whiskey that keeps things interesting. Tortured Bourbon found stone fruit, brown sugar, and clove, a rich vanilla-strawberry-peach palate, and a peppery finish. 2XO's own notes: viscous and rich, moving from sweetness on the front to savory mid-palate to lingering pepper. Each Icon Series blend is a one-time release; when it's gone, it's gone. Neat.

Buy 2XO "The Kiawah Blend" Bourbon Whiskey online with fast shipping right to your door.