Kentucky-based Limestone Branch Distillery (LBD) is bringing its historical Yellowstone Select Bourbon and Minor Case Rye Whiskey to the UK on-trade and specialist premium retailers this month, further reinforcing the American whiskey boom in the UK.
Named after the Yellowstone National Park, award-winning Yellowstone Select Bourbon is a small batch of four and seven-year aged straight Kentucky bourbon whiskey made with locally grown white corn, rye, malt and limestone water.
First produced by Master Distiller, Steve Beam’s ancestors in 1872, Yellowstone was Kentucky’s biggest selling bourbon in the 1960s. The original family recipe was resurrected in 2010 by Steve Beam and his brother Paul Beam with the first barrel filled in 2015.
Minor Case is a two-year old straight rye whiskey distilled using 100% American heartland grains and finished in a sherry cask. A nod to its namesake, exceptional distiller, Minor Case Beam (Steve’s great grandfather), Minor Case today is an authentic reproduction of Minor Case’s original recipe.
LBD is based in Lebanon, Kentucky, in the heart of Bourbon country and is a founding member of the Kentucky Craft Bourbon Trail.
I met Steve at the recent Whisky Show in London and I got the opportunity to sample their Yellowstone Select Bourbon and I have to say it’s an amazing bourbon! Nothing like the ones I have tasted previously.
It has a lovely, rich, creamy palate with smooth vanilla fudge flavours and a little pepper at the end. No fieriness at all!
LBD’s intention is to craft the finest whiskey in small batches, honouring the long Beam family heritage. With a history of distilling on both sides of their family – Beam and Dant – the brothers are seventh-generation distillers.
The craft whiskeys are distilled utilising the same method Beam’s previous generations used, with the yeast dating back to 1850. The whiskeys are hand labelled and hand-bottled and the focus is on quality, with just a barrel per day produced.
In the UK there is a huge demand right now for authentic bourbon and rye whiskeys, from both the on-trade and also specialist whiskey retailers. We are delighted to be able to introduce our Yellowstone Select and Minor Case Whiskeys to the UK market.
Bourbon and Rye whiskeys offer an ideal entry to the category and the increasing popularity of classic American whiskey-based cocktails such as the Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour and the Manhattan, are further fuelling demand.
– Steve Beam: President and Distiller, Limestone Branch Distillery
In 2015, LBD partnered with Luxco to assist in delivering its fine whiskeys around the world.
Yellowstone Select and Minor Case are distributed in the UK by Woolf Sung. RRP for both is £49.00 in 70cl. bottles.
For more information about Limestone Branch Distillery and its whiskeys, please visit: limestonebranch.com and on Twitter @limestonebranch .
Yellowstone Select Bourbon has won the following awards:
SF 2018 GOLD,
SIP PLATINUM 2017
2017 BERLIN GOLD MEDAL
2017 SIP AWARDS SILVER CONSUMERS CHOICE AWARD
Minor Case 2-yr old straight rye whiskey has won the following awards:
SF 2018 GOLD
2017 GOLD SIP AWARD
2017 MASTER AT THE GLOBAL LUXURY MASTERS
2017 SILVER SAN FRANCISCO WORLD SPIRITS COMPETITION