It’s that beautiful time of the year, with crisp notes in the air, an occasional frost on the ground, and trees beginning to explode in a palate of colors - it’s football season!!! Looking to enjoy time with family and friends at your favorite fall sporting event? We’ve put together a list of our 6 favorite bourbons that pair with [American] football!
Handles of Anything ($16 - $30)
If you’re pleasing a crowd, and you’re not wanting to break the bank, you’ll need bourbon in volume, and that calls for a 1.75 liter handle. It’s hard to go wrong with Jim Beam (white or black label) or Evan Williams. If you want even more versatility, Old Forester can be another great choice.
Maker’s Mark ($25 - $30)
Created in the 1950’s by Bill Samuels Sr., this recognizable red-wax-dipped bottle will decorate your table or mobile bar with the colors of fall. The mash bill of 70% corn, 16% soft red winter wheat, and 14% malted barley offers traditional bourbon flavors of caramel, vanilla, oak, and spice. Like a 1000-yard-season running back, this whisky is a consistent and smooth sipper.
Bradshaw Bourbon ($46 - $50)
For an authentic football experience, it’s easy to select the namesake bourbon of the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl winning quarterback - Terry Bradshaw. A corn-heavy mash bill of 70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley produces a straightforward and smooth-drinking bourbon with vanilla, some grassy and banana notes, light spice, and a long finish. This is a bourbon as solid as an offensive lineman.
Green River Bourbon
($25 - $35)
Introduced by Green River Distilling (and now part of the Bardstown Bourbon Company), this bourbon, along with its wheated sibling, is a respectable pour. Distillate from a mash bill of 70% corn, 21% winter rye, and 9% malted barley is aged for 5-6 years and bottled at 90 proof. In the glass, you’ll find warming spice notes, aromas of cinnamon, dried cherry, light leather, and flavors of vanilla, caramel, and chocolate mint. The squat bottle with a horseshoe on the bottom will remind you of your favorite linebacker of the day.
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit
($50 - $60)
Most Wild Turkey products are produced from batches of tens or even hundreds of barrels. Kentucky Spirit is a single-barrel expression of the iconic Wild Turkey 101. Starting with a mash bill of 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley, these carefully selected barrels are aged for 8-9 years. The label provides full transparency, including the barrel and rick number, along with the warehouse location and letter. If you’re lucky, you’ll find “CN-” as the warehouse location, denoting Jimmy and Eddie Russell’s favorite honey hole for aging bourbon - Camp Nelson near Nicholasville, Kentucky.
Wilderness Trail
($45 - $55)
Wilderness Trail is like the undrafted (or low-drafted) rookie quarterback that goes on to deliver outstanding results.There’s both a high rye expression made from locally sourced grains of 64% corn, 24% rye, and 12% malted barley, as well as a wheated bourbon made from the same mash bill percentages, but replacing rye with wheat as the flavoring grain. All their bourbons utilize a “fresh mash” process (as opposed to a “sour mash” process used by many larger distillers). To learn more about the unique process and the yeast strains used, check out one of the links to our in-depth reviews.
The result is craft bourbon that is well-aged, tastes good, and offers unique profiles. The traditional bourbon piles on vanilla, corn, butterscotch, marzipan, fruit, and spice, while it smooth-sipping sibling brings along buttery corn-on-the-cob, honey, and spice. Like many quarterbacks, this bourbon continues to impress it as it ages. If you’re lucky, you can find some 6-year, 8-year, and cask strength expressions, too.
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