A Kentucky Pour Worth Bringing South of the Line

Brown-Forman has released a new bourbon called Kentucky Boy, and it's a blend. Into one bottle go three whiskeys from the company's own top tier: Woodford Reserve, Birthday Bourbon and King of Kentucky. Robb Report tasted it and concluded the marriage holds up, and that's the news here. Blending three bottles that already stand fine alone is a bet that the whole can beat its parts, and by that early verdict the bet paid off. That should interest anyone who keeps a serious bar, whether it sits behind a hedge on the island, under a ceiling fan on Fifth Avenue South, or somewhere in Miami that's still pouring when Naples has gone to bed. Bourbon is Kentucky's craft, made with care a long way from our coast, and the respectful way to meet a new one is to pour it neat and see what the three voices sound like together. In a state that does its drinking in the shade, a bottle like this goes on the shelf as something to talk about when the guests arrive.

With reporting from Robb Report.