This Is the First Ever Blend of Bourbons From All 50 States

When Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski left their day jobs to found Vermont-based independent bottler Lost Lantern in 2018, they took a road trip across the country and visited 50 distilleries. The company’s latest release, United States of Bourbon, is an extension of that journey of discovery—it’s a blend of 50 straight bourbons from all 50 states, a first for the American whiskey category.

As a reminder, bourbon can be produced in any state. While Kentucky is the source of more than 90 percent of all bourbon, it can be legally made anywhere in the U.S. as long as the mashbill is at least 51 percent corn and it’s aged in new charred oak barrels. As an independent bottler, Lost Lantern does not focus exclusively on bourbon, with some American single malt and rye expressions in the lineup as well. But it has grown to include a deep bourbon lineup by following the model of scotch whisky independent bottlers, sourcing whiskey from different distilleries (mostly craft operations) and releasing them as single distillery expressions or blends. Some past examples include Desert Dessert from Arizona’s Whiskey Del Bac, a single cask rye whiskey from New Riff in Kentucky, and the Far-Flung Bourbon series which are blends of bourbons from several states around the country.

Three different versions of United States of Bourbon are being released, a project that Lost Lantern says started in 2021 when it began sourcing barrels with this blend in mind. The core expression was bottled at 100 proof without chill filtration, and includes whiskeys aged between two and 10 years. The complete list of component whiskeys can be found at the Lost Lantern website, but here are some of the distilleries of note: Triple Eight Distillery (MA), Kings County Distillery (NY), New Riff Distilling (KY), J. Rieger & Co. (MO), Balcones Distilling (T), Cedar Ridge Distillery (IA), Frey Ranch Distillery (NV), Woodinville Whiskey Co. (WA), High West Distillery (UT), Denali Spirits (AK), and Ko‘olau Distillery (HI).

We reached out to Lost Lantern to find out more about the blend, and Nora and Adam said that the largest component is from Cedar Ridge at 14.4 percent. “We had a couple of partner distilleries that just couldn’t make much whiskey available to us either because their whiskey was just starting to hit two years (a requirement for our blend of straight whiskies classification) or because they needed the whiskey for their own releases,” they told Robb Report. “It was important to us that this whiskey was truly a broad representation, without any one component dominating.”

Some of the distilleries have been longtime partners with Lost Lantern, while others were new relationships. The most important thing, according to Nora and Adam, was that each whiskey worked well with the others in the blend. “We find that even if a distillery makes whiskey that is delicious on its own, sometimes it won’t integrate well with other components, which does not work for any blend but especially for a blend of this size,” they said. “Second, we were looking for whiskey that had a sense of place. The goal of this whiskey is to give a birds-eye view of bourbon right now so having components that represent different climates is essential.”

There is also a cask-strength version of United States of Bourbon bottled at 122.9 proof. And lastly there’s the 1776 Edition, a pared down blend that is meant to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary. This 121.4-proof expression includes whiskeys from 13 East Coast states that were also included in the 50-state blend, but from different barrels: Painted Stave Distilling (Del.), Liberty Pole Spirits (Penn.), Sourland Mountain Spirits (N.J.), ASW Fiddler Distillery (Ga.), Litchfield Distillery (Conn.), Triple Eight Distillery (Ma.), Baltimore Spirits Co. (Md.), High Wire Distilling Co. (S.C.), Cathedral Ledge Distillery (N.H.), Reservoir Distillery (Va.), Kings County Distillery (N.Y.), Broad Branch Distillery (N.C.), and South County Distillers (R.I.).

United States of Bourbon is being released in a run of 6,780 bottles (SRP $80); the cask-strength version in a run of 3,300 bottles (SRP $100); and the 1776 Edition in a run of, you guessed it, 1,776 bottles (SRP $200). All are available now to purchase from the Lost Lantern website or select retailers in certain states.

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