I.W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon

I.W. Harper is the bourbon Isaac Wolfe Bernheim founded in 1872 and America forgot — it spent twenty-plus years sold only in Japan, where it's a status brand, before Diageo brought it home in 2015 in the distinctive squat decanter. Bernheim, a German immigrant, built the Louisville distillery that still carries his name and put a fictional Harper on the label because he thought his own sounded too foreign; the brand was one of the biggest in bourbon by the 1960s, then left the US market in the 1990s. Today's Kentucky Straight is distilled at Bernheim in Louisville from a low-rye 86% corn, 6% rye, 8% malted barley mashbill, aged four-plus years in new charred oak, and bottled at 82 proof. The house notes: a subtle nose, hints of caramel and vanilla melting into velvety wood and spice, and a sweet, pleasant finish with soft fruit. The Whiskey Wash finds a light, sweet, corn-forward bourbon with vanilla and a touch of honey — the Japanese-market profile, built for highballs. Honest note: 82 proof and low rye make this the softest bourbon on the shelf by design — for the highball, the mizuwari, the person who finds bourbon too hot, and the collector of the bottle; the 15 Year is the one enthusiasts want. In a highball with soda, or on the rocks. Harper, 1872.

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