Tasting notes

nose

clover honey, cocoa and orange marmalade, with amaretto-like almond, maple and a hint of roast coffee

palate

round and velvety; cola and sticky dates up front, then cocoa powder, candied pecan, maple and toasted clove

finish

lingering; milk chocolate, walnut and cola stay, with crushed white pepper, a minty lift and crème brûlée, drying toward leather and pipe tobacco

Mash bill

75% Bruce's Blue corn, 20% malted rye, 5% malted barley. Bruce's Blue is an heirloom corn variety developed by Bruce Nethery, who runs the family's farming operation, and it is planted and harvested only on the Nethery farm in Shelbyville. The split of corn, malted rye and malted barley matches the distillery's Bottled-in-Bond recipe; the corn variety is what changes.

Why it's craft

Bruce's Blue is made from a corn variety the Nethery family developed and grows only on its own farm, so no other distillery can make a bourbon from it. Jeptha Creed, opened in Shelbyville in 2016 by Joyce Nethery and her daughter Autumn, plants its grain, ferments, distills and bottles on site rather than buying bulk whiskey. Joyce, the master distiller, named this release for her husband Bruce, who leads the family's farming.