‘A Flavorful, Well-Balanced Bourbon’: Latest Annual Yellowstone Limited Edition Whiskey Aged in Hungarian Tokaji Casks Debuts

The Yellowstone Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey from Limestone Branch is blended and aged in Hungarian Tokaji casks. (Photos: Limestone Branch Distillery)

Limestone Branch announced its annual release of the Yellowstone Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Fred Minnick reported Monday.

The 2023 expression is a blend of 7-year, 13-year and 16-year-old bourbons finished in Hungarian Tokaji casks. The offering was bottled at 101 proof and will be available in August with a limited allocation offered nationwide.  The suggested retail price is $99.99 a bottle.

“With each year’s Yellowstone Limited Edition offering, I seek a finish that I both personally love and believe will make for a flavorful, well-balanced bourbon,” Limestone Branch Master Distiller Steve Beam said, according to Fred Minnick. “This year, I found the perfect finish in Tokaji casks sourced from northern Hungary.”

Tokaji is a dessert wine from Hungary. The spirit is made from a variety of grapes native to the region, such as a silvery, aromatic grape named Furmint. The grapes are then infected with a fungus called botrytis, which dries the berries and makes them sweeter prior to being vinified, according to Wine Folly. The resulting wines are richly sweet and syrupy with a slightly nutty and oxidative quality.

Limestone Branch chooses to produce the Yellowstone Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey each year, with an intention to make a bourbon that is “a little bit different than what everyone else is doing,” according to the brand.

The distillery is family-owned and run by two brothers, Stephen and Paul Beam, who are seventh-generation family members.

Its facilities are based out of Lebanon, Kentucky. Limestone Branch makes its whiskeys using open-pollinated white heirloom corn. The brand claims the heirloom varietal yields a lighter-flavored whiskey and uses its proprietary yeast strain that dates back several generations through the Beam family.

The bourbon producer celebrated Yellowstone National Park’s anniversary in March 2022 with a limited-edition offering.

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2023 Tasting Notes, According to Limestone Branch

Nose: Honey, green grapes and freshly baked cinnamon.

Taste: Dry spice, followed by caramel, dark cherry, citrus and white pepper.

Finish: Dry tobacco, honeysuckle and smoky oak.

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