There has been distilling on the Woodford Reserve Distillery site for more than 235 years, making it the oldest Bourbon distillery in Kentucky. Now owned by Brown-Forman — one of America’s largest wine and spirits companies — it has been refitted and set to expand. Since the beginning, the folks at Woodford have been influential in the development and codifying of Bourbon production. In short, they helped invent the spirit as we know and love it today and they have raving fans all around the world to show for their effort.

If you are a fan of Woodford products — and a lot of us are — then you think you know what to expect. And to be clear, the bottle of Woodford Reserve Malt Whiskey sitting on my desk looks a LOT like the Bourbons in their normal line up. But this is different.

Even though there are no official rules and regulations about the production of Malt Whiskies, we can use the langue of Whiskey to describe it. This is an American Straight Malt Whiskey. So, that should tell you that the mash bill is 51% malted barley. The rest is 47% corn and only 2% rye. And you also know that it is at least two years old — but Woodford routinely ages their Spirits more than seven years. In short, this is the Woodford you’re looking for, but with a new, innovative grain combination.