Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon Review (2019)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

This year’s installment of the annual Yellowstone Limited Edition series is a mix of 9 year and 12 year old bourbons, so technically just a 9 year old. No finishes, just some hand-selected, middle-aged, sourced bourbon. As it just so happens, Steve Beam did a good job selected his stock and putting it together for this particular release, because even if the numbers behind what is in the bottles wouldn’t be all that extraordinary by the standards of a decade ago and only somewhat special today, what is in the bottle is pretty fine.

The Bourbon
This year’s consignment ran to 12,500 bottles at 101 proof (50.5% ABV), so it’s not exactly a rarity. In the glass, the liquid has a lighter look than one might expect, coming across to me as copper. The swish left behind a curtain of slow-rolling tears.

The nose gave me some core elements for a middle-aged bourbon: brown sugar, vanilla, a dash of cinnamon, a pinch of musty wooden shavings. But then, just for giggles, there was a hint of something else that I had to spend some time nailing down how I felt about it, and ultimately decided it was akin to mulled wine with orange zest in the spices.

That mix came across on the palate as well. The heart of this bourbon’s flavor is still sweet, like a cinnamon graham cracker made with brown instead of table sugar. That personable hint is still there though, now joining with the musty woodiness to come across as a drop or two of an especially woody, dry red wine. From there, the finish kept on going in that vein, lingering on as nothing so much as a woody-tinged cookie.

The Price
Officially, this should fetch about $100, and my quick survey of online retailers revealed no one pricing it higher than $110.