Copper & Kings American Brandy opened its doorways in 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky, only a quick distance from historic Whiskey Row. From day one, the distillery got down to return America’s authentic spirit to a spot of prominence by making standout home brandy. By a mixture of in-house distillation and choose sourcing from distilleries throughout the nation, Copper & Kings has stayed dedicated to that purpose — an endeavor all of the bolder in a metropolis and state outlined by bourbon.
Whereas the distillery has launched a broad vary of brandies made underneath its personal roof, it has by no means provided a house-distilled bourbon, nor has it ever prompt that such inventory existed. But a narrative started circulating in mid-2021 when PM Spirits, working as an unbiased bottler, reportedly acquired two little-known 60-gallon #2 char barrels of bourbon. These barrels had been later bottled as a two-barrel mix: Mic.Drop. L22-01.
The whispers grew louder as soon as the label cleared federal approval and lovers started poring over its particulars. For the 2022 launch, PM Spirits acknowledged that the bourbon was distilled in 2015, double-distilled on a copper pot nonetheless in Louisville, and constructed from a peculiar mashbill of 60% corn, 13% oats, 17% wheat, and 10% malted barley. It had matured for at the least seven years.
At the moment, no Louisville distillery identified to the general public had been operating a copper pot nonetheless for bourbon in 2015, nor was any producing a four-grain mashbill of this kind. And 60-gallon #2 char barrels? That solely deepened the puzzle. The end result was a launch shrouded in curiosity — till distiller Alan Bishop noticed the label on the Coming Whiskey Instagram web page.
In 2022, Bishop was employed as Head Alchemist (Grasp Distiller) at Spirits of French Lick, however years earlier he had been a part of the distilling staff at Copper & Kings. He instantly acknowledged the fingerprint of the bourbon. In 2015, not lengthy after the distillery’s founding, Bishop had been given the possibility to run a small bourbon experiment on Copper & Kings Vendome copper pot nonetheless utilizing a mashbill he formulated himself: 60% corn, 13% oats, 17% wheat, 10% malted barley.
He later carried that very same recipe with him to Spirits of French Lick, the place it grew to become the idea for Lee W. Sinclair bourbon — aged in #2 char barrels. In 2020, Fred Minnick named that bourbon the “Greatest Non-Kentucky Bourbon of 2020,” aged lower than 7 years. Though there has by no means been official affirmation linking Mic.Drop. L22-01 to Copper & Kings, Bishop has acknowledged plainly that he believes it to be bourbon he distilled throughout his tenure there.
Since that period, Copper & Kings has continued specializing in American brandy. If extra bourbon from that one-off 2015 experiment or different restricted runs exist, none has been publicly acknowledged. What the distillery has finished, nonetheless, is launch well-selected sourced bourbon completed in brandy casks — barrels beforehand used for its personal brandy.
Beginning in 2023, Copper & Kings launched a remarkably mature mix of Kentucky bourbons constructed from three mashbills, all completed for at the least a yr in apple brandy casks. One element was a really previous bourbon constructed from a mashbill of 74% corn, 18% rye, and eight% malted barley. It had spent 15 years in new oak earlier than receiving an apple brandy cask end of at the least one yr.
In August 2025, Bourdon Spirits Firm bought Copper & Kings from Constellation Manufacturers. Together with a formidable inventory of American brandy, Rob Bourdon inherited an cache of bourbon barrels — together with some initially earmarked for that 2023 mixing challenge. Copper & Kings has lengthy been admired for its distillery unique single barrels, and never lengthy after assuming possession, Bourdon stumbled upon a putting instance from these inherited shares.
This barrel held Kentucky bourbon distilled in 2017 from the 74/18/8 mashbill. It matured for 15 years, 2 months, and 28 days in new oak earlier than being moved right into a 6-year-old Copper & King’s apple brandy cask for one more 3 years, 3 months, and 18 days. The bourbon entered the ending cask at 128 proof on August 2, 2022, and was bottled on November 20, 2025. In all, it spent 18 years, 6 months, and 16 days resting in cooperage.
Kentucky — formally a state since 1792 — has seen its share of fascinating bourbon, however this barrel stood aside. Bourdon believed it was too exceptional to mix, so it was launched by itself as a distillery unique single barrel cask power providing.
Copper & Kings kindly equipped Drinkhacker with a bottle for evaluate. The distillery has launched many memorable single barrels over time, however does this one eclipse all of them? Is a brandy-focused Louisville distillery about to catch the bourbon world off guard? Let’s discover out.
Copper & Kings Single Barrel Kentucky Bourbon Distillery Unique Evaluation
After greater than 18.5 years in oak, the aroma opens with darkish chocolate and concentrated cola syrup. Even on the primary cross, it’s clear that this whiskey isn’t odd. Practically twenty years of barrel time contribute a pronounced be aware of toasted pecans. A bit later, the apple brandy cask makes itself identified via the scent of well-oxidized Honeycrisp slices. The nostril stops you for a second — an invite to take your time earlier than shifting on.
The primary sip brings a concentrated Honeycrisp discount, quickly joined by the influence of a buttery, completely baked pie crust. Halfway throughout the palate, darkish chocolate — round 60% cocoa — takes maintain earlier than giving option to a measured cinnamon accent. The feel carries a satisfying weight with out changing into syrupy.
The end introduces a contact of black pepper paired with baked purple apple peel. Because the whiskey persists, traces of cinnamon mud and burnt orange peel stay. From opening aroma to last fade, this distillery unique single barrel delivers with astounding finesse.
Bourbons aged this lengthy usually fall exterior my most popular zone, but this one maintains a putting sense of composure. There’s no harshness, no coarse tannin, nothing that feels exhausted by time. The apple brandy cask performs its half with poise — totally current, by no means overbearing, by no means misplaced.
Every so often, a bourbon halts your consideration the second it touches your tongue. The final time that occurred for me was in 2022 at The Bar at Willett with fellow Drinkhacker author David Thomas Tao, once we tasted a 27-year-old Willett Household Property bourbon distilled by Heaven Hill. That second has stayed with me ever since.
Likewise, tasting this Copper & Kings distillery unique on Thanksgiving Day 2025 — sitting on the desk in my visitor bed room — carved out one other lasting reminiscence. Sir Thomas Extra as soon as remarked, “It’s the a part of the sensible man to withstand pleasures, however of a idiot to be overcome by them.” Anybody fortunate sufficient to pour this bourbon goes to be made a idiot.
127.6 proof.
A+ / $250
Copper & Kings Single Barrel Kentucky Bourbon Distillery Unique
USD250
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