This Virginia Distillery Just Unveiled a New Bourbon That Packs a 135.1-Proof Punch

Jonah Flicker
·2 min read

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Barrel-proof bourbon is extremely popular these days, with nearly every whiskey brand located here and abroad releasing uncut expressions with ABVs soaring about the 60 percent mark. The latest comes from Virginia distillery A. Smith Bowman, and its third cask-strength bourbon clocks in at a hefty 135.1 proof.

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A. Smith Bowman is owned by Sazerac, the same company behind Kentucky’s Buffalo Trace Distillery. In fact, some of the bourbon produced there is originally distilled at Buffalo Trace and then shipped to Bowman for a third distillation in the smaller operation’s pot stills (nicknamed Mary and George). Bowman, founded just after Prohibition ended, is Virginia’s oldest distillery, although the state is now home to about 60 others. This is just the third year that the Cask Strength expression has been released, and it’s available in select markets nationwide and via a lottery that will run from January 3 through January 10.

This muscular 135.1-proof bourbon (more than 67 percent alcohol) was aged for a minimum of nine years before bottling. “When tasting through our barrel inventory, the nine-year-old barrels had a wonderful complexity and sweetness that I wanted to incorporate in this blend,” said distiller David Bock in a statement. “We believe our Cask Strength Whiskey is about crafting the best possible cask strength whiskey we can provide from our stocks. I’m excited for fans to try this year’s release.” We have not gotten to sample the whiskey yet, but the official tasting notes of this uncut and non-chill filtered bourbon describe candy apple and maple on the nose, followed by raisin, vanilla, and toasted toffee on the palate. Remember, this is very high-proof bourbon, so adding a little bit of water or pouring over a large ice cube might be the way to go here.

As mentioned before, you can enter an online lottery to purchase a bottle of A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength Bourbon Batch #3 (SRP $100). It starts at 12 p.m. Eastern on January 3 and ends at the same time on January 10. Winners will selected and notified on January 12, but you have to head to the distillery’s gift shop to purchase yours within three weeks of being notified. In the meantime, you can also find other expressions in the Bowman lineup at websites like Wine.com.

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