The Year's Most Anticipated Bourbon Collection Includes the Oldest Jim Beam Ever

Bardstown, KY, is the bourbon capital of the world. It features the greatest concentration of bourbon distilleries in Kentucky, including Heaven Hill, Lux Row, and Willett. Every year, the town joins together to release a one-of-a-kind bourbon series: the Bardstown Collection. Featuring bourbons from seven distilleries, the 2024 Bardstown Collection reveal will happen during the first annual National Bourbon Week, starting June 11.

Less than 500 bottles from each 2024 Bardstown Collection will be made available from each distillery, making the bourbons true collectors items. Last year’s six bottle collection is currently selling for $4,000. To just get a taste of these whiskeys, you have to head to Bardstown on June 11 and buy a ticket for the Bardstown Collection Release Party, taking place at the mansion and former plantation known as My Old Kentucky Home on June 11. Alternatively, bourbon fans can visit each of the participating distilleries during the release dates.

What bourbons are part of the collection? 

• Preservation Distillery + Farms will release a cask-strength blend of their own wheated pot distilled Kentucky bourbon. 
• Heaven Hill’s 2024 Bardstown Collection release consists of three carefully blended barrels aged between 7 and 16 years and featuring a mashbill of 78 percent corn, 10 percent rye, and 12 percent malted barley, bottled at 105 proof. 
• The Lux Row bottling will feature three single barrels from their wheat recipe (68 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, 12 percent malted barley) that have been aged six years, and gone through an additional toasted finishing process with toasted caramel honey staves. 
• Limestone Branch’s Bardstown 2024 selection is a six-year-old, 100 percent  pot-distilled wheated bourbon, made with 28 percent red winter wheat and using a mash bill that dates back to the 1930s. 
• Log Still’s bottle is a 9-year-old Kentucky High-Rye Bourbon. 
• Bardstown Bourbon Company’s offering is a layered, complex balance of ripe cherry with toasted oak leads, cinnamon, maple, and spearmint. 
• Jim Beam’s release is perhaps the gem of the collection as the James B. Beam selection is the oldest whiskey that the iconic brand has ever released, at almost 20 years of age.

“In Bardstown, bourbon isn’t just a drink; it’s a way of life,” says Jeff Crowe, Bardstown tourism chairman. “The Bardstown Collection 2024 is a testament to the traditions and dedication that define our town as the heart of bourbon culture. The attention to detail, level of craftsmanship, and most importantly, superlative flavor profiles are why we say that ‘Bourbon comes from Bardstown.’”

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