Green River Kentucky Straight Bourbon Review

About – Green River holds the distinction of owning DSP-KY-10, that makes them the 10th oldest registered distillery in the state of Kentucky. That is a rare distinction for a brand that you have likely never heard of. Terresentia purchased the property and began producing under the name O.Z. Tyler, taking on the Green River name in 2019. If you are thinking hey aren’t Terresentia those guys who use that weird terrepure rapid aging thing that is notioriously bad, you would be correct. It is important to point out that the whiskey produced under the Green River name does not use this process, and is traditionally aged. Green River has been mostly working in the private label space, but have a limited release of their own coming some time in the near future. No msrp has been announced. The sample I am reviewing is aged 4 years and was bottled at 100 proof.

Nose – Subtle floral notes catch my attention first. Next up is a honey sweetness that picks up a bit of spice in the way of black pepper. Cinnamon rounds things out with barrel spice ramping up as it has a chance to open up.

Palate – Honey from the nose as turned to caramel on the palate. Vanilla and bitter oak tanning come through on the mid palate. On the back end comes a blast of cinnamon. The finish is long and is quite literally Big Red chewing gum that slowly fades to cherry. There were some youthful undertones that seemed to fade as it sat in the glass.

Score – B-

Verdict – This is a straight up classic tasting bourbon with one hell of an exciting finish. If you don’t like Big Red then……well you probably won’t like this as much as I did. If you do like that flavor profile though this bourbon is surprisingly enjoyable. The only negative is the slight tinge of youth that faded with time. This is a four year old product so I am sure that will age out over the next couple of years. When we hit that point we could be looking at something remarkable. For now this is a solid pour.