The Old Forester King Ranch Edition Blends Kentucky Bourbon With Texas Flavors

The long-lasting King Ranch brand is well-known throughout America, particularly in Texas, its dwelling. It’s wavy W design is displayed throughout a variety of merchandise (Ford vans, clothes, saddles, and even turfgrass). But the roughly 169-year-old cattle ranch has by no means lent its title to a whiskey till at the moment. The limited-release Previous Forester King Ranch Version bottle of 105-proof, straight Kentucky bourbon cures that oversight.

Launched solely in Texas, the collaboration sees two legendary manufacturers hyperlink up and have fun their heritages and unusual historic connections. For eight generations, the King household has been ranching the Texas plains, and for seven generations, the Brown household has been making whiskey within the hills of Kentucky. In addition to their respect for one another’s legacies, the Kentucky Derby connects the 2. Previous Forester is the primary ingredient within the over 120,000 Mint Juleps bought on the Churchill Downs over Derby weekend, and King Ranch has owned three Kentucky Derby winners, together with the 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault.

Discussions between the 2 manufacturers began a number of years in the past because the Texas distilling business began to flex its muscle and develop into a nationwide participant. Tito’s Handmade Vodka was the primary model to place the state on the map nationally. A number of different manufacturers (Deep Eddy Vodka, Balcones, and Garrison Brothers) have made a splash since. The latest addition of Longbranch, a collaboration between actor Matthew McConaughey and Wild Turkey, is one more signal that greater distillers are tapping into the Texas market.

To create a product that highlighted the mixed heritages behind each manufacturers and put a singular Lone Star State spin on it, Previous Forester despatched Cole Irvin, one in every of their whisky innovators, to the ranch.

“We knew it needed to be massive, daring, and genuine to seize the essence of each manufacturers,” mentioned Irvin. “After I was on the ranch, I discovered they’d an abundance of honey mesquite wooden. It grows like a weed there and is definitely unhealthy for his or her surroundings. So, we thought, why not resolve two issues directly? We took 5 to seven-year-old mesquite wooden and slow-roasted it for half a day over a hearth to create a singular charcoal. Then we introduced it again to the distillery and used the charcoal chips to filter our bourbon earlier than placing it into some extraordinarily charred oak barrels for closing growing older. The resultant bourbon is loaded with spices that has a clean end. It is excellent for sipping after an extended day.”

This yr’s bottle is the primary rising from a long-term partnership deal the 2 have signed. It is just being bought in Texas with no on-line gross sales deliberate at $69.99 for a 750ml bottle. Based on the staff at Previous Forester, the subsequent launch is already within the pipeline and will likely be dropped someday subsequent yr. Till then, the residents of Texas will be capable of savor one thing that the remainder of the world can solely examine from afar.

“Bourbon lovers throughout Texas are in for a uncommon and particular deal with that each whiskey connoisseurs and hardworking individuals can savor,” mentioned Robert Hodgen, CEO at King Ranch. “We’re happy with the product in addition to our partnership which captures American historical past in a bottle.”