Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Kentucky Green Lights Direct-to-Consumer Bourbon Shipping

Sam Slaughter
By

Going on vacation is supposed to be a time to relax and indulge after working your ass off for weeks on end with no respite from the 9-5. If you’re a whiskey lover living in the U.S., vacation might mean packing up and heading to bourbon country. Not only are cities like Lexington and Louisville (which was one of our Manual Awards 2018 picks) hot beds for good food and better times, but you have the chance to head to the source and see how your favorite bourbons are made.

This is where vacation might get a little less enjoyable. Yes, tasting at the distillery is wonderful, but what about you forward-thinking folks that want to take bourbon home with you? If you drove, you’re golden. You can just find some space and pack it in the car (Junior didn’t really need that third stuff animal anymore, did he?) But what about those that are flying? You can only take so many bottles with you, which forces you into a “pick your favorite child scenario.” Do you go with the limited release from Distillery A or do you hold out to see if Distillery C has that once-per-year special edition? Decisions, decisions.

Recommended Videos

Now, thanks to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, the decision is likely to get easier. Recently, the Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 400 (nicknamed the “Bourbon Without Borders Bill”), which allows for the shipment of distilled spirits to other states.

Related

“House Bill 400 is a bold, historic step in modernizing our signature bourbon and distilled spirits industry. The number one question from nourbon tourists is, ‘Why can’t I ship my bottles home?’ Now, with the passage of HB 400, they can very soon,” said Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.

“With the ability to ship bottles home, we’re confident that number will increase with visitors purchasing more bottles, which will boost tourism and add valuable tax dollars to local and state coffers. It’s a win-win for bourbon and our beloved Commonwealth,” he added.

If you visit a distillery, you will be allowed to ship up to six 750 ml bottles (4.5 L) per day. You’ll also be allowed to sign up for a “bourbon of the month” type club, if offered by the distillery (which would total 12 bottles over the course of the year, shipped according to the distilleries individual programs.)

Kentucky wineries are impacted by this law, too, as visitors would now be able to ship up to four cases of wine per day or join wine clubs that would send up to twelve cases per year.

Before everyone gets excited, though, there is a caveat. If passed (the governor still needs to sign off on the bill), Kentucky will still only be able to ship to Washington, D.C. and six other states: Arizona, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Rhode Island, which are all places that have similar laws enacted.

According to Gregory, it’s only a “matter of time” until other states will follow in Kentucky’s steps, allowing for an even greater range of reciprocity. (We’re with you on that one, sir.)

As for the Governor’s signature on House Bill 400, it seems like this one should be in the bag. When you consider Kentucky produces 95-percent of the world’s bourbon why wouldn’t he sign?

Editors' Recommendations

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
Kentucky’s New Riff Distillery Has Released a Peated Bourbon and Rye
New Riff Distillery

New Riff is a newcomer to the Kentucky whiskey scene, but has made quite a name for itself already. The bourbon and rye it distills are both bottled-in-bond, meaning they are at least four years old and bottled at 100 proof. The mash bill for the bourbon is high-rye (65% corn, 30% rye, 5% malted barley) while the rye is 100% rye (with 5% malted rye). The latest additions to the lineup are two whiskeys called Backsetter, a bourbon and a rye that use peated malt in their production. The whiskey is also bottled-in-bond and not chill filtered. New Riff co-founder Jay Erisman said that this project came about back in 2015 in a sort of understated fashion. "I wish I could say there was some grand, overarching strategy to make an absolutely unprecedented whiskey," he said, "but really it was a matter of a creative, intrepid team of distillers at a young distillery determined to make a new riff on an old tradition. Backsetter is a collision of old and new; a cover tune, perhaps of a Scottish Hebridean reel filtered (or rather, unfiltered) through Kentucky bluegrass and a Marshall stack."

The name Backsetter is really just a reference to the classic Kentucky sour mash process, where a portion of the stillage left over from distillation is added to the next batch, kind of like a sourdough starter. "We strain off a portion of the stillage, and 'set it back' to add into the next mash," said Erisman. "This is called (in old time Kentucky distilling parlance), 'backset.' Some 25 percent of the liquid content of a mash consists of backset. What makes these Backsetter whiskeys so unique is the nature of that backset: it was from a peated malted barley distillation."

Read more
Knob Creek Reintroduces Age Statement Bourbon to its Lineup
Barrel Proof Whiskeys

If you're a whiskey drinker, you are probably used to age statements disappearing from bottles over the past few years. Brands often attribute the reasons for this to increased demand leading to diminished stock to pull from. While there is some truth to this, it is also saves a distillery money to be able to blend younger barrels into a product and not have to wait as long to release it. But the other thing you should know as a whiskey fan is that age doesn't always matter; just because a whiskey is old does not necessarily mean it's good. While consumers have been disappointed by the removal of age statements (which signify the youngest liquid in the blend), it's safe to say many people would likely not be able to tell the difference between the NAS and age statement versions in a blind taste test. That being said, it's understandable to feel like you are losing out on something when a bottle loses its age statement, both in terms of flavor and brand transparency.

However, some whiskey brands have been adding back age statements to beloved bottles over the past few years, much to the delight of longtime fans. The latest is Knob Creek, part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection. Back in 2016, the brand's flagship Kentucky Straight Bourbon lost its 9-year-old age statement, which Beam said was due to a lack of inventory. “We had an imbalance in aging stocks a few years ago that prompted us to remove the age statement temporarily," said master distiller Fred Noe, "so I could mingle barrels both older than nine years and slightly younger to achieve our consistent, full-flavored taste ... and meet the high demand from our fans. Now that our stocks are balanced out around the nine-year mark, I wanted to get that age statement back on there as soon as possible.”

Read more
Basil Hayden’s Bourbon Collaborates with Utah Cheese Maker
Basil Haydens x Beehive

Cheese pairing has gone way beyond wine these days, with bourbon, tequila, and Scotch all comprised of different expressions that complement the flavors of various types of cheese in unique ways. Basil Hayden's Bourbon, part of the Jim Beam Small Batch collection, has taken this one step further by collaborating on a new cheese with Utah cheese maker Beehive Cheese.

The new addition to the lineup is called Pour Me a Slice, a semi-firm, Jersey cow's milk cheese that has been infused with Basil Hayden's. The process involves actually soaking the cheese for a period of time in bourbon to infuse it with the sweetness and slight spice of the high rye whiskey, while not altering the creamy texture of the cheese. "Our goal is to craft cheeses that bring people together through their elevated, artisanal flavor," said Pat Ford, co-founder of Beehive Cheese, in a prepared statement. "We're excited to partner with Basil Hayden's because the trademark spice of this bourbon adds a really unique flavor to the cheese."

Read more