With its roots firmly set on the banks of the Kentucky River since 1879, the Kentucky Owl Bourbon distillery flourished until the early 1900s when prohibition shuttered its operations—and indeed those of its peers in the US libation business. The brand itself was dusted off a full century later, give or take, by the great, great grandson of the original founder, who began by blending barrels from existing distilleries. In 2017, however, Kentucky Owl had properly returned, distilling its own whiskey with the help of Master Distiller John Rhea.
“I found the one thing that would bring me out of retirement,” Rhea once remarked, where the brief was to make the best straight bourbon and the best straight rye worthy of the Kentucky Owl name. As a steward of the tipple, there may be none better—Rhea is one of only five lifetime members of the Kentucky Distiller’s Association Board in its 142-year history.
Malaysia receives two statements to begin with, The Wiseman Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (RM488) and The Wiseman Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (RM488). Where the Bourbon presents strong and lingering caramel and allspice, the Rye is an interesting character of buttered toast with some char, carried by a rich and bold rye flavour. The Straight Bourbon and the Straight Rye are no untested amateurs either, picking up a Double Gold and a Gold respectively at the 2022 edition of the World Spirits Competition.
And why was the humble owl chosen to grace the name of this distillery and to adorn every bottle from it? According to founder Charles Mortimer Deadman, the owl is a wise animal—and only the truly wise will drink his whiskey.
