🪵 Redwood Empire Lost Monarch – Bourbon & Rye in a Redwood Forest
This ain’t your grandma’s Kentucky bourbon tale. Redwood Empire Lost Monarch is a rye-forward blend from California’s redwood country — bright, spicy, a little minty, and balanced by sweet toffee and brown sugar. Affordable, young, and dangerously sippable, it’s proof you don’t need dusty shelves to find a forest of flavor.
Rickhouse Rant, Vol. 4 – Buffalo Trace: Soup, Cigars, and Cowboy Coats
What would a bourbon rant be without Buffalo Trace? This isn’t just a bourbon—it’s an entire lifestyle brand, bottled, labeled, and slapped on soup cans, cologne, and (checks notes)… Wrangler jackets? Urban cowboys unite. But behind all the scent-infused marketing and nostalgia-laced mystery lies a $26.99 bottle that actually delivers. Smooth, low-rye, sweet, and shockingly versatile for the price. It’s not wheated, it’s not rare, it’s not revolutionary—but damn if it isn’t reliable. Just don’t pay more than $35, and don’t call it a buffalo. They’re bison. So yeah—Bison Trace.
The Rickhouse Rant, Vol. 3 – Knob Creek 9 Year: The Blue-Collar Brawler of Bourbon
Knob Creek 9 Year isn’t here to win any fashion contests — it’s here to work. In a bourbon market drunk on limited releases and experimental finishes, this 100-proof, 9-year-aged bruiser from Jim Beam punches in daily and pours out classic Kentucky character. Toasted oak, roasted nuts, and a hint of dark cherry ride shotgun through a palate that’s more grit than glamour. It may not be Baker’s 7, but it’s the blue-collar brawler of the Beam family — and it deserves more respect than it gets.