Barton 1792 Small Batch Bourbon - 46.85%

The Barton 1792 distillery complex was constructed in 1879 and today occupies a sprawling 196-acre site encompassing over fifty buildings including 29 maturation warehouses. The 1792 in the distillery’s name refers to the year that Kentucky became a US state. The distillery was originally known as Tom Moore distillery, but the name was changed in 1944 following one stop in a complex ownership merry-go-round.

Throughout much of the 20th century, owners Barton Brands made only local and regionally-distributed bourbons, but in 2002 the company launched a flagship bourbon called Ridgewood Reserve 1792. This attracted the ire of Brown-Forman, owners of Woodford Reserve, and the brand name was changed to Ridgemont Reserve 1792 in 2004 before becoming simply 1792 Bourbon. The distillery and the 1792 brand have been owned by Sazerac Company since 2009.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.