Pinhook Bourbon has introduced the new Bourbon War Vertical Series, with the first bottle in the nine-year-long project arriving this week.
The series follows a group of bourbon barrels laid down in the fall of 2015 in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, all distilled with a mash bill of 75% corn, 20.5% rye, and 4.5% malted barley. This month, the first release, totaling 150 barrels of four-year-old bourbon, will hit shelves in 23 states. Each subsequent year, 150 barrels aged one year more will be released, culminating in a 12-year-old bourbon to be released in 2027.
The first release, a 4-year bourbon, is being proofed at 98%, although the proof will vary from year to year. The Pinhook team plans to create the best expression they can for each release, tasting the barrels as they age.
The brand offers tasting notes for the 4-year of “a bright nose of tropical fruit, butterscotch and cedar [leading] to a rich and vibrant palate of dried fig, cocoa, roasted peanut and clove.”
This is the only time the 4-year will be released, but it is a larger release than most limited bottlings currently on the market. Over 38,000 bottles of the 4-year Bourbon War are arriving on shelves this month across every state in which Pinhook is distributed, with a suggested price of around $50. Each progressive release will increase an estimated $5-10, to reflect the cost of storing the barrels as they age.
This isn’t the first vertical release from the brand. Pinhook launched in 2014 with Bourbon Courage, a 6-year bourbon that was followed by six releases from the same batch of bourbon every six months. Bourbon Resolution, which hit shelves in the fall of 2017, was the last release of that batch of barrels. Pinhook has also teased the launch of a rye whiskey Vertical Series, with the first 50 barrels of 4-year rye arriving on shelves next spring.
Like all Pinhook releases, Bourbon War is named after an active racing thoroughbred horse. Bourbon War (the horse) is a colt who ran in this year’s Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
