Get Excited! It’s September, National Bourbon Heritage Month. This month we celebrate bourbon as America’s “Native Spirit”. 
Kentucky has quite the history and is home to globally renowned bourbons. As you may know, there has also been a tremendous boom in artisan distillery development in Kentucky as well!
During this month, Lana Toler, Spearhead’s Marketing & Innovation Manager based in Louisville, Kentucky, is taking part in Bourbon & Banter’s 30 Bourbons in 30 Days Challenge (follow her on Instagram @lanatoler). In addition to sharing her 30-Day tasting adventure in the spirit of celebrating bourbon, she wanted to share her top five favorite bourbons.
1. Knob Creek Single Barrel: Anyone who has experienced bourbon with me knows that my all time favorite bourbon is Knob Creek Single Barrel. I’m currently drinking a barrel selected by Kroger Wine & Spirits (warehouse Z, floor 06, rick 12, barreled on 1/19/2011 and selected on 6/1/2021). I love it on ‘a rock’ or with a sphere of frozen cabernet.
2. Rabbit Hole Dareringer, Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in PX Sherry Casks: Not only is the packaging beautiful (and has a purple label!), but the liquid is beautiful as a sipper or as the star of an Old Fashioned.
3. Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch: I have been fortunate to meet Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest CEO, twice and have now met Victoria Eady Butler, Uncle Nearest Distiller and Master Blender, too! I am in love with the brand story as well as the Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch. I drink it neat… in my Bacarat Crystal rocks glass of course.
4. Widow Jane 10-Year: After meeting, tasting, and learning about Widow Jane from Distillery President and Head Distiller & Blender Lisa Wicker at The 2021 Bourbon Women SIPosium in August, I am in love with Widow Jane 10 year straight up in my clear Norlan glass.
5. Starlight Distillery Barrel Pick (Bourbon Women): Although you will not be able to get a bottle, I wanted to share a fun experience with the Starlight Distillery team. I was fortunate to be part of the Bourbon Women 10th Anniversary barrel pick at Starlight Distillery just over the state line in Indiana. Almost unanimously chosen by the Bourbon Women group, we chose Starlight’s Bourbon Finished in Cognac Barrels. It is a robust and complex profile that takes me on a sensorial adventure which goes down so smooth
“I have been living and working in bourbon country for over 20 years and I am continually impressed with the old and the new arts of distilling, blending, and aging of bourbon. I have always been a bourbon appreciator, but I am on a quest to try as many bourbons as possible. Meeting folks in the bourbon industry that love the art and science of bourbon craft have been a huge influence on my passion for the liquid and the processes to creating the best liquid on earth!” – Lana Toler, Marketing & Innovation Manager