15 Stars Three Ports Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

The Non-Distiller Producer (NDP) called 15 Stars is a post-Pandemic foundation. Started in 2021 by a father and son team, Rick and Ricky Johnson, their first bottlings came out in late 2022. The Johnsons are a Columbus, Indiana family that is best known for their ownership of Black Jewell Popcorn, and they have based their company on aged stock and contract production with Bardstown Bourbon Company, but other Kentucky sources may be involved as well.

Take this expression, the 15 Stars Three Ports Bourbon. The whiskey draws on stocks of 9 and 15 year old bourbon, and BBCo did not exist even in imagination fifteen years ago. In fact, nine years may or may not have been long enough for BBCo’s in-house production to furnish that part of the blend.

The 15 Stars company name is a nod to Kentucky itself, which was the 15th state. That fact has been a lifelong source of some annoyance to me, because as a native Kentuckian I can tell you that quite a few of my neighbors believe Kentucky was the 14th state, the first not-Thirteen Colonies state to be admitted into the Union. It was an early example to me how a certain type of person never changes their mind about a plain, simple fact like that, even when you show them the fact printed in a book on their own shelves. The real 14th state was Vermont. Kentucky was next, and stood as the republic’s newest state from 1795 to 1818.

The Three Ports part of the title in this bourbon refers to giving the whiskeys involved separate finishes in all three major types of Port casks: ruby, tawny and white. The resulting batch and blend was bottled at 105 proof.

The Bourbon
Once in my Glencairn, the bourbon took a middle amber appearance. The nose pointed a way to a Port-finished bourbon where the fortified wine would provide a strong influence, which was quite underscored by my previous round of tastings with Port-finished bourbons. Those two whiskeys, which bookend this review, were both examples of the wood of the cask dominated the finishing, rather than the wine soaked into its fibers. But here, the nose leads with plums and golden raisins, underscored by honeysuckle and thick vanilla.

The liquid has a thick mouthfeel once it gets on the palate, and leads with golden raisins and dried figs. Behind that is a spicy current of musty wood, cinnamon and a pinch of pepper. The finish takes that boozy dried fruit character that has been present throughout and takes it to full fruitcake for just a moment, before rolling off into lingering musty oak.

I enjoyed this offering from the newcomer Johnsons, and I think they hit the ball out of the park with one of the better examples of a Port finished bourbon. Whether it is the combination of the trio of Port types or that they found some very good cask material to work with, that plus the combination of mature and middle aged bourbon produced a real winner.

The Price
This one is supposed to go for $179 a bottle, and given how it is a new, sleeper of a bourbon, you can probably find it for that amount.