Review: King of Kentucky Straight Bourbon 17 Years Old (2025)

We’re eight years into Brown-Forman’s King of Kentucky project, and once again the age is ticking up: This single barrel bourbon now boasts a 17 year old age statement, with 63 barrels selected by Chris Morris for inclusion in the release. With proofs ranging from 124.4 to 135, Morris picked from the 4th floor of Warehouse J and the first floor of Warehouse G at the Brown-Forman Distillery. All barrels hail from two production dates in 2007. 5,000 bottles total were produced.

Our sample does not indicate the barrel from which it was drawn, but it has a proof level of 127.

Here goes!

King of Kentucky Straight Bourbon 17 Years Old (2025) Review

The nose of King of Kentucky is often dark and exotic, and this year’s release doesn’t break that chain. Heady with overwhelming notes of perfume and oiled wood, the aromatics swing from the garden to the drawing room and back again, immersive and dizzying — and deeper and deeper as it sits in the glass. Settling time only amplifies the experience, the aroma developing to reveal notes of menthol and cedar, with heavy elements of tobacco, clove, and black cherry all evident.

The palate’s a gem. Rich and undulating, this has the austerity of a bourbon with advanced age on it but also a surprising freshness that somehow feels young. You can thank the burst of fruit for that — again, big with cherry notes, laced with maple and spice box notes that lean hard into cloves and ginger. Wood remains prominent, again oily and polished, but with a fine mist of sawdust hanging in the air. The dark caramel of a bold apple pie is what lingers on the palate the longest, winding its way well into the finish.

The whiskey doesn’t drink hot, but I enjoyed it even more with a splash of water, which tempers the extreme richness of the spirit and lets the fruit come through with more elegance and finesse. I can’t remember a time when King of Kentucky wasn’t an absolute knockout experience, and with or without water, this release continues that tradition. Fair warning: We have no control over what this price ends up looking like.

127 proof as reviewed.

A / $399 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

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