Hardin’s Creek Frankfort Bourbon Review

By Randall H. Borkus

Rating: A-

Beam Suntory’s Hardin’s Creek line of whiskeys, launched just last year, is back with a new trilogy called “The Kentucky Series.” The theme is exploring the impact of very specific buildings and locales inside Kentucky on maturation. All three bourbon whiskeys were laid down with the same mashbill 17 years ago yet aged at different rickhouse locations, Clermont, Frankfort, and Boston.

“The Kentucky Series is a testament to the influence of location and how nature plays such a vital role in liquid maturation,” said Freddie Noe, Eighth Generation Master Distiller of the Fred B. Noe Distillery. “While these three bourbons were made with the same mash bill and aged in Kentucky, the micro-climates and environments at each location are distinctly different, which greatly impacts the taste of each product. As my Granddaddy Booker Noe said, ‘Set it and let nature take over.’”

This time around, I am taking in Hardin’s Creek Frankfort, bottled at 110 proof. Frankfort is located west of Lexington, and the Jim Beam webpage tells us “humidity hangs heavy at our campus in Frankfort, seeming to slow the passage of time itself. It only makes the whiskey better [and] there’s less ventilation in the rickhouses in Frankfort.”

The Bourbon
This second Hardin’s Creek iteration has a dark amber coloring, with a noticeable brown tint. The nose is inviting with mature oak char hints, parched chocolate dusted with rock candy sweetness.

The palate has a significant round of burnt butterscotch, a unique floral tobacco note and a mature oak influence, with the mid-palate loaded with notes of Ben and Jerry’s vanilla ice cream blended into a sweet bubbly root beer float. The finish continues with the root beer float sugars sticking to my tongue, with overtones of fresh leather, tobacco and a mature oak dryness.

This is a really good bourbon whiskey which I could enjoy all night long.  I confess, I finished this bourbon whiskey sample and reach for a My Father Le Bijou 1922 Grand Robusto cigar and grabbed my bottle of Little Book Chapter 4: Lessons Honored, and I genuinely enjoyed the combination.

The Price
The retail price is $170 in Chicago, and well worth it if you can find it in the wild.