BLADE AND BOW KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

The Blade and Bow project started three years ago with intentions of honoring the heritage of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery site.  There is currently no major distilling there today (a micro-still is in the works) but it does still have several warehouses, which is where Diageo ages most, if not all, of its North American whiskey.  The name, Blade and Bow, comes from the anatomy of a key (the blade is the long section and the bow is the end or ornamental part) and the Five Key symbol that has always had a strong presence at Stitzel-Weller.  The Five Key symbol stands for the five steps of making Bourbon (grains, yeast, fermentaion, distillation and aging) and was later used as a symbol of southern hospitality. The design of the bottle also honors the Five Key way of doing things. Five of its six sides are dedicated to the five steps of crafting Bourbon, leaving one side for the labeling. This Bourbon has already scooped up a couple major awards winning “Best Straight Bourbon” and a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

The Bourbon inside this limited offering is not from Stitzel-Weller nor would the folks at Diageo tell us the exact name of the distilleries it came from.  But they did share the juice is from two distilleries, one located on 17th and Breckinridge in Louisville (current address of the Bernheim Distillery) and the other one residing at 1001 Wilkinson Boulevard in Frankfort (current address of the Buffalo Trace Distillery). Although Diageo wouldn’t officially say there are four ingredients (corn, rye, wheat and malted barley) in the mashbill for Blade and Bow, they wouldn’t deny it either. This leads us to believe there is a good chance it’s a four grain recipe since Bourbon made at Stitzel-Weller was wheated.