Kentucky Owl Bourbon Batch 13

Batch 13 is billed as the last Kentucky Owl bourbon batch — John Rhea's final blend before the brand's parent went into bankruptcy — and Drinkhacker gave it an A-, calling the caramel foundation thick and the finish chocolate fudge. Kentucky Owl was C.M. Dedman's 1879 Bardstown bourbon, wiped out when Prohibition agents seized 250,000 gallons in 1916; his great-great-grandson Dixon Dedman revived it in 2014 with sourced Kentucky barrels, Stoli bought it in 2017, and John Rhea — the retired Four Roses COO and Bourbon Hall of Famer — has blended it since Dedman left. Batch 13 marries five Kentucky straight bourbons aged four to nine years, most of it eight- and nine-year stock, from rye and wheat mashbills, bottled uncut at 113.6 proof. Drinkhacker: buttery cornbread and yeast rolls with cinnamon sugar and praline on the nose; thick caramel with dark chocolate, coffee, and candied orange peel on the palate; and a finish of baking spice, barrel char, orange zest, and chocolate fudge. Breaking Bourbon and Bourbon Obsessed both found the oldest stock leading. Honest note: Kentucky Owl's price has always been the argument, and the bankruptcy makes this the closing chapter of a cult brand — for the collector who has batches on the shelf and the drinker who wants Rhea's last word. Neat, in a Glencairn, slowly. Kentucky Owl, the final batch.

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