Reviewing Riley Green’s Bourbon: Duck Club Appears to Be More Than a Cash Grab for the Country Music Star

Country music singer Riley Green poses with both of his Duck Club Bourbon bottles. (Photo: Duck Club Bourbon)

Country music singer Riley Green recently entered the whiskey business with the launch of Duck Club, a bourbon brand released in November 2025. The brand debuted with two expressions: a 92-proof entry-level bourbon and a higher-proof 55%-ABV release called “High Brass.” Both are positioned at accessible price points and sourced primarily from an undisclosed Kentucky producer (or multiple producers), with the entry-level expression also including a small portion of Indiana bourbon from MGP.

Duck Club is available in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, and is sold online direct-to-consumer in 42 states.

I tasted the bourbons and are here to report back with what I thought.

Duck Club Bourbon (92 Proof, $29.99)

Duck Club Bourbon is a four-grain blend composed of 88% 5-year-old Kentucky bourbon distilled from a mashbill of 67% corn, 23% rye and 10% malted barley, along with 12% 6-year-old wheated bourbon from Indiana’s MGP distilled from 51% corn, 45% wheat and 4% malted barley.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Peanut brittle leads, supported by vanilla and orange peel.

Palate: Moderate mouthfeel. The profile is woody with accenting notes of vanilla, cinnamon and pepper.

Finish: Peanut shells, ash, dark chocolate and espresso.

Overall

This is a nutty bourbon that’s not too sweet. The 92-proof bottling gives it a bit more mouthfeel than many entry-level releases bottled at the minimum proof of 80 — an indication that Green cares about the brand and not purely about money. Duck Club Bourbon is not particularly complex, but it performs adequately neat and works well in classic bourbon cocktails.

For a full breakdown of Duck Club Bourbon, read the complete review here.

Duck Club “High Brass” Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys (110 Proof, $39.99)

Duck Club High Brass is a blend of straight bourbon whiskeys composed of 82% 5-year-old Kentucky bourbon (67% corn, 23% rye, 10% malted barley) and 18% 8-year-old Kentucky bourbon (75% corn, 15% rye and 10% malted barley).

Tasting Notes

Nose: Vanilla, peanut brittle, fudge and sawdust.

Palate: Moderate mouthfeel. Vanilla bean, dark chocolate-covered cherries, espresso, cinnamon and light minerality.

Finish: Coffee grounds, cocoa powder, cinnamon, brown sugar and coconut.

Overall

High Brass delivers concentrated flavor without excessive heat. While not especially complex, it’s well-proofed and balanced at a solid price point.

For our full tasting analysis, read the complete review here.

Where Duck Club Fits

Celebrity whiskey brands continue to flood the category. Duck Club enters the market at competitive pricing, with both expressions positioned as everyday purchases rather than limited releases. While the bourbon itself is mostly just fine in my opinion — not bad by any means — I appreciate a few things about the brand:

• The mashbill, proportions and age are disclosed, exceeding the transparency expectations I have for your average celeb brand.
• The proof. As I mentioned before, it’d be so easy to just bottle Duck Club at 80 proof and sell it. Instead, we get it at 92 proof. What’s more, there’s a 110-proof counterpart that doesn’t cost much more.
•  The blend. Beyond just disclosing the blend, I think it’s telling that this is a blend of bourbons from multiple distilleries at multiple ages. Like the proof, this is an indication that Green cares about the brand and not just a cheap buck.
• The price. $29.99 and $39.99 for 92-proof and 110-proof bourbons aged mostly five years (with a solid chunk of 8-year-old in the High Brass!) are totally reasonable price points.

All of that to say: This comes across as a passion project and not a money grab from Green, which is something I love to see from a celebrity brand.

For fans of Green, Duck Club offers a natural extension of his public persona, and the branding is pretty cool, leaning into the outdoorsy hunting aesthetic that pairs naturally with country music.

For bourbon drinkers, the value proposition is straightforward: the base expression is serviceable and fairly priced, while High Brass offers greater intensity and a bit more depth at a modest step up in cost.