Kentucky Prince Bourbon

ReviewsAmerican WhiskeyBourbonDustyKentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD)

Jun 18

This wonderful, wonderful bourbon was tried blind as part of that crazy advent calendar I did in December 2020. Of the 24 whiskies included, it’s one of only a handful I went after for my own collection, and boy am I glad I did.

This particular bottle (and mine) are from 1991 Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, also known as KBD, and now known as Willett (under different ownership and process). I’ll be honest - I really don’t enjoy Willett products that much. Not the fancy ones, at least. Green or purple wax? Pass. Old Bardstown or Johnny Drum? All day. I know, I’m weird, but that’s my palate.

As I said, I tried this blind. All I had to go on was that it was a whiskey of some kind. The first smell just from pouring it let me know it was a bourbon - it was that powerful. Dark, sweet, dense, and complex, this is easily one of the best noses I’ve ever smelled on a bourbon or otherwise. Needless to say, read through the notes - it only got better from there.

Something bothers me about this, though…and it’s the same thing that bothers me about a lot of whiskies that aren’t made anymore but have an active lineage, so to speak.

Why isn’t Willett putting this on their site as a piece of history? A single page, that’s all it takes, but it would be such a valuable resource for people like me who can’t recite old distilleries by DSP number off the top of my head. I’m glad people I knew had more info on this bottle, because it doesn’t really exist online.

Now, it’s possible that Willett simply doesn’t want to distract from its current brands. But, given the rise in historical interest in bourbon, it’s in their best interest to do a few hours of digging and get a page up on this and some other now-defunct brands. This is bourbon - who interested in bourbon doesn’t like a good story?

Kentucky Prince Bourbon: Specs

Classification: Bourbon

Origin: Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (now Willett)

Mashbill: Unknown

Proof: 101 (50.5% ABV)

Age: NAS

Location: Kentucky

Kentucky Prince Bourbon Price: $450 (Secondary only)

No Official Website

Kentucky Prince Bourbon Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Grade A Maple Syrup. Medium rims and thin legs.

Nose: Bourbon and maple candy - tons of dark rich sweetness. Fresh peanut brittle still cooling. Lots of cooked vanilla. Tart fruit, like just underripe yellow nectarines or white plums. Strawberry Twizzlers, then fresh strawberries. Maple dominates for a few seconds, like pouring syrup over pancakes topped with fresh strawberries in summer. Wow what a nose.

Palate: Super fruity as soon as it hits the tongue. Berries, watermelon and grape candies, and a light heat that’s delicious and indicates both oak and proof. Back palate develops leather and fig newton centers. Maple-infused brittle, pancakes and syrup and fresh strawberries. Mouthfeel is viscous and coating, tiny bit of heat carries the flavors farther.

Finish: So fruity and fresh, like going to a juice/smoothie cart in the middle of summer. Heat disappears quickly while the sweet, fresh fruits stick around.

Overall: This is fantastic - incredible even. Tasting blind, I’m leading towards a Four Roses LE with an aged Barton product as a backup only because of the overwhelmingly fresh fruitiness. The scent memory of pancakes with strawberries and syrup is so strong. Whatever this is, I want a bottle tomorrow. The only thing that I could “complain” about would be that I want the mouthfeel to be a little thicker and the finish a little longer, but honestly if I were making this whiskey I also probably would have stopped right here and said “this is where it’s meant to be”.

Final Rating: 8.8

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)