Kings County Distillery Peated Bourbon Whiskey

What is Peated Bourbon? It’s bourbon whiskey that conforms to the American requirements for bourbon but is made with malted barley that has been exposed to peat smoke, a practice more common in Scotch whiskies—the malt we use for the peated bourbon was even grown and kilned in Scotland. So it’s a hybrid whiskey of the two traditions, flavorful and robust from having aged in a new barrel, with an added light smoky finish reminiscent of single-malt. If scotch and bourbon had a baby, this is what it would taste like. As far as we can tell, this was the world’s first-ever peated bourbon and will appeal to the adventurous whiskey traveler who has tried everything.

he dram is salt-forward from start to finish, interspersed with rich bursts of flavor. Hot rubber, pretzels, slightly bitter baker’s chocolate, warm leather, and hard candies define the palate…peat is not a primary element, but it is clear that this is an exceptionally complex spirit.