Green River Full Proof Single Barrel Bourbon Review
Photos via Green River Distilling Co.
Before I launch into a review for this new bottle of Green River Full Proof Single Barrel Bourbon, allow me to re-use the recap of the company I wrote only a couple months ago when they released their first wheated bourbon expression.
Things can move pretty quick in the American whiskey game. It was just over a year ago that I initially reviewed Green River Distilling Co.’s straight bourbon whiskey, a flagship launch for the revived distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky, housed in one of the oldest distilling facilities in the state. A decade ago, that facility was effectively a ruin, but it was bought by South Carolina-based Terressentia in 2016, who renovated it and brought it back to its original glory. At the time, it was rechristened as the O.Z. Tyler Distillery and immediately began contract distilling for others while they aged their own in-house bourbon. In 2020, the name changed to Green River Distilling Co., and they progressed to releasing their solid value of a flagship bourbon (5 years old, rye mashbill, 90 proof, about $35) under master distillery Jacob Call in 2022.
The last year, though, has brought on another transformation, as Green River Distilling Co. was acquired by nascent powerhouses Bardstown Bourbon Co. in June of 2022. The companies have been kept separate from one another, with no blending (as of yet) of their own proprietary recipes or distillate, although it’s not hard to imagine special releases combining the two in the future. What Green River has now done is expanded its product lineup under new master distiller Aaron Harris, formerly of Ohio’s Watershed Distillery.
So there’s your get-up-to-speed. Continuing their string of new releases and Green River Distilling Co.’s expansion into 25 states in 2023, they’re dropping another first on us: Green River Full Proof Single Barrel Bourbon, the company’s first publicly available, cask strength single barrel expression. Also known as Head Distiller’s Pick #1, it rolled out in late July at a cask strength of 59.5% ABV (119 proof). Like other Green River expressions, this one carries an age statement of “at least five years,” at a pretty accessible MSRP of $60. That makes this a moderately aged and priced entry in the crowded field of cask strength Kentucky bourbons. So with all that said, let’s get to tasting.