O.K.I. Bourbon has officially returned!

In May, we reported that O.K.I. Bourbon is making a return to the bourbon world in the fall of 2020. Now the time has come as the team begins bottling operations, sealing the brand’s official rebirth.

Paying homage to O.K.I.’s roots and name, O.K.I. (which stands for Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana) plans to continue its sourcing strategy from MGP located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The hand-selected bourbon is then non-chill filtered and enters the bottle at barrel proof. This initial offering will be quite limited as only 10 barrels are currently available, but the owners, Jake Warm and Chad Brizendine, promise more juice will be available in the future.

KYBWS was fortunate enough to receive some samples from the O.K.I. team from upcoming single barrel release. Both samples have a 36% high rye mashbill that spent five years in the barrel. We tasted two samples from two different barrels, with almost the same proofs, however, the differences between the two were striking.

When sampling side by side we were once again reminded just how unique each barrel can be and how each barrel can have its own personality. The wood, char level, and even rickhouse placement all significantly impact the flavor profile.

We enjoyed both of these samples immensely. It is wise that this single barrel is a fall release as I immediately desired to be sitting by the fire on a cool evening, smoking a cigar and sipping on a generour pour of this O.K.I. 5 year single barrel. Both of the samples we received were fantastic, however, if we absolutely HAD to choose a winner here, we would love a bottle from barrel number nine because we thoroughly enjoyed and preferred its flavor profile and complexities.

You can learn more about O.K.I. Bourbon by visiting okibourbon.com and be sure to be on lookout for this release to start hitting store shelves and select restaurants around the end of September. Fingers crossed that we can pick up a bottle or three. This release has an MSRP of $69.99

Cheers! ?