Cream of Kentucky Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Cream of Kentucky Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the 100-proof standard-bearer of the revived 1888 brand, bottled at Kentucky Artisan Distillery. The mash is 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley, the same recipe as the cask-strength bottling, proofed to 100 so the fruit and custard stay in front of the char. The distillery that made the whiskey is unpublished. This is the everyday Cream of Kentucky bourbon, not the bonded rye and not a single barrel.

Orange zest and crème brûlée come first, with banana and a honeyed pome-fruit sweetness. Vanilla and soft oak fill the middle, and peanut shows up as the sip dries. The mouthfeel is smoother than the proof suggests. The finish lingers on honey and a fading nuttiness.