Blade And Bow 22-Year Bourbon Returns for 2019

Blade and Bow 22-Year. Photo Courtesy Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

Blade and Bow’s marquee limited edition bottling of 22-year-old bourbon is returning for 2019 in keeping with an annual schedule precedent.

Blade and Bow 22 is arriving on shelves this week in 12 states nationwide ahead of bourbon drinking’s biggest tie-in event: The Kentucky Derby. It has appeared almost every year since its initial release in 2015, the year it won a double gold medal from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Blade and Bow is not currently produced from its Stitzel-Weller Distillery façade, but rather sourced from an undisclosed partner distillery (possibly Four Roses, given existing ties between them and Blade and Bow parent company Diageo). The whiskey however would not come from Indiana-based MGP, nor would it come from Diageo-owned Dickel in Tennessee, as Blade and Bow 22 is labeled as Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Tasting notes are a bit wordy, but here’s what Blade and Bow shared:

“Beginning with a pronounced nose reminiscent of toasted oak layered with vanilla bean, figs and a light touch of dark caramel, this limited-release bourbon’s taste is accented with notes of torched sugar and apples baked in honey and spices,” said North American Whiskey Educator Doug Kragel, in a quote provided by Blade and Bow. “It’s the kind of rare whiskey that makes you want to savor every note slowly, because at some point in the future, supply will run out.”

Blade and Bow 22 is on some shelves now, with the rest of the supply likely to hit between today and the beginning of Derby weekend. It should maintain the suggested MSRP of $300 a bottle. Search for it here.

G. Clay Whittaker
Clay is Editor at Large of The Bourbon Review. He has written about whiskey, food, drink, and culture for Esquire, Playboy, Men's Journal, Popular Science, Southern Living, Maxim, among others.