Kentucky Owl Confiscated

Kentucky Owl was founded in 1879 by Charles Mortimer Dedman. For decades, it produced "The Wise Man's Bourbon" under Distilled Spirits Plant Designation “No. 16,” one of Kentucky’s original distilleries and part of a booming industry.

The Kentucky Owl continued to flow until Prohibition put an end to the party. In 1916, as total Prohibition loomed, local distilleries had a lot of perfectly good bourbon sitting around. In the case of Kentucky Owl, something like 250,000 gallons of it in various stages of aging. Federal agents descended on the Dedman’s distillery, seized the bourbon, and shipped it up the river to the state capital in Frankfort for “safekeeping”. One night, that warehouse mysteriously burned down in a few short hours, though many believe a fire fueled by that much whiskey should have burned for days. Rumors persist that, rather than fueling a fire, those barrels were spirited away by Al Capone or another gangster operating in the area. The Dedmans never received a penny for the lost bourbon and Kentucky Owl disappeared into the pages of family history.

Growing up in his family's Beaumont Inn, Dixon Dedman had heard the story of his great-great grandfather's rise and fall in the bourbon business many times. In between washing dishes and serving whiskey to travelers along Kentucky's Bourbon Trail, he'd dream of one day bringing back Kentucky owl. In Confiscated, he’s created a bourbon whiskey C.M Dedman would be proud to put the family name on.

Nose: Gardenia, banana bread, toasty sourdough bread crust and red apple.

Palate: Graham crackers, citrus, toffee, and muted sweet cinnamon spice.

Finish: White grape notes and a hint of cayenne. 

750ML