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Home Distilling Could Become Legal… Plus Kentucky Senator Bourbon Release #7 Review
Apr 28, 2026
Whiskey might be changing in a big way. A recent appeals court ruling could potentially make home distilling legal in the United States - a move that could reshape the entire whiskey landscape. But that’s not the only shift happening right now. This week on Bourbon Bytes, I break down: • The home distilling ruling and what it actually means • MGP slowing production and what that signals for bourbon supply • A potential deal between Sazerac and Brown-Forman • Sazerac’s newly named Tennessee distillery and future plans And of course, I’m reviewing Kentucky Senator Bourbon "Jim Bunning" Release #7 to see if it lives up to the hype. Is the whiskey boom changing direction? And more importantly… is this bottle worth your money? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Timecodes: 00:00 Intro – Whiskey Industry Shakeups 00:56 Home Distilling Ruling Explained 03:29 MGP Pauses Production at Lux Row & Limestone Branch 06:11 Sazerac Eyes Jack Daniel’s + Announces AJ Bond Distillery 09:13 Kentucky Senator Charity Single Barrel News 11:47 Byte-Sized Review – Kentucky Senator Release #7
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Today on the Bourbon Bites podcast, the world of whiskey is about to change forever because
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we've got a major legal ruling that could make home distilling possible
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One of the biggest producers in the country is slowing things down. And Sazerac is making moves that could reshape the entire industry
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hello everyone and welcome back to the bourbon bites podcast whiskey news and reviews with a
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gaming twist i'm your host clifton and this is the week of thursday april 16th 2026 we went from
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a very light couple weeks of whiskey news to a whole whammy of updates this week so i'm going to
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try to distill it down into some bite-sized news for you as well as a bite-sized review coming here
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at the end of the episode. So let's start with a big one. This is a major update to the world of
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home distilling in the U.S. The U.S. appeals court has declared a 158-year-old ban on home
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distilling unconstitutional. So this ban originates back in what was called the Reconstruction era of
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the U.S. and while it was intended to address liquor tax evasion, it actually reduced the tax
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revenue of spirits. In a U.S. appeals court ruling that came out last Friday, they say that this ban
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is an unnecessary and improper means for Congress to exercise its power to tax. Now, this ruling
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actually took place in New Orleans and it was in favor of the non-profit Hobby Distillers Association
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and four of its 1,300 members. Now, their major argument was people should be free to distill
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spirits at their home, whether it's a hobby or just for personal consumption. When this was passed
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back in 1868, which was shortly after the Civil War, violators could face up to five years in
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prison and a $10,000 fine if they were called distilling at home. And they use the argument
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that Congress could criminalize virtually any in-home activity that might evade certain taxes
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including things like remote work and home-based businesses. They're saying that distilling is
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basically in the same category as these. Now, the lawyer that was representing the Hobby
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Distillers Association, his name is Devin Watkins, and he said that the ruling was an
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important decision about the limits of federal power, but an even better quote, I think, Andrew
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Grossman, who argued the nonprofit's appeal, called the decision an important victory for individual
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liberty that allows the plaintiffs to pursue their passion to distill fine beverages in their homes
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and I look forward to sampling their output. Now, this doesn't immediately mean that home
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distilling is now legal. It still has to go through, ultimately, the Supreme Court to make a decision
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But this is something that I think is a huge win. I mean, people have been making beer at home and even wine at home for for years. And I know that home distilling has always kind of been seen as taboo. You either had to make the argument, oh, I'm making gasoline for my lawnmower. It was one of the excuses I feel like I've heard people say. And you know, oh, it's just olive oil, things like that. But this is actually really exciting
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Now, of course, this just includes personal consumption and hobby consumption. I don't think this is going to qualify someone to open up a home distillery and ship bottles around the country
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That's a whole nother conversation. But for a hobbyist to really be able to craft their own distillate and age their whiskey and, you know, enjoy themselves and share it with some friends
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I think that's actually really cool. And I look forward to a future where that's not frowned upon by the government
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Now on the flip side of that, one of the biggest whiskey producers in the country is hitting pause
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So MGP Ingredients or MGPI or however you know them, MGP out of Indiana, one of the biggest distributors for non-distilling producers
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is actually closing down operations at some of their distilleries. And this kind of hurts my heart a little bit
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So starting on May 1st, they're going to pause distillery operations at Limestone Branch Distillery and Lux Row Distillery
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I am a huge Luxe Row Distillery fan. And I know when they were bought up by MGP a couple years ago, people had this, you know, fear
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Like, they're a new craft brand. Like, what is MGP going to do to it? And I was really hopeful that MGP was just going to continue to elevate and increase distribution of this brand
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And unfortunately, we're seeing some of the side effects, not necessarily of being part of an acquisition, but the whiskey industry in general
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I mean, we've been talking about it on this podcast and I know several others as well about how, you know, the whiskey or alcohol market in general is facing a pretty severe decline, especially with younger generations
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You know, they're going to other alternative substances rather than alcohol. And it's something that I think is just an inevitable change of things
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But this is actually starting to affect me personally with this decision because I really do love Luxro and the stuff they've been putting out
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Now, from my understanding, this just means they won't be distilling new whiskey at these locations
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They say that their other operations, including warehousing, bottling, and visitor experiences
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will remain active So it sounds like they just going to delay production until the inventory level supports the additional whiskey being made Now unfortunately this will affect 33 employees They will be laid off unfortunately due to this I always hate to hear that I wish that they would
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find other roles for these people during these times versus, you know, getting rid of them. I
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think, especially with only 33 people affected, I think that they could find something for them to
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do instead of laying them off. Fortunately, it does sound like they are not expecting this to
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affect the availability of their products. They just think they were overproducing for the future
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whiskey markets. Because again, whiskey is not made for current drinkers. It's being distilled
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for drinkers in five, six, ten years down the road. You know, if you don't expect the whiskey
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market to be as demanding as it is today, then of course slow down your production. I just hate to
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see people lose their jobs over this. I wish they would partner with other distilleries maybe to
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move them over there if they can't afford to have them on their own. So bummer there. But yeah
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I just wanted to report on that because that's a pretty big deal. Limestone Branch and Luxrow are
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just pretty significant parts of the Kentucky bourbon industry. They're not, you know, no-name
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distilleries. I would say they're definitely lesser known than the big boys, but still
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I'm a big fan of them. And then there's this, which might be the biggest long-term story of all
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So Sazerac, who is the owner of Buffalo Trace and other major whiskey brands, is actually eyeing
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Jack Daniels. They've been approaching Brown Foreman about purchasing out this distillery
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and brand. So previously, Pernod Ricard was looking at buying out Jack Daniels
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but now there's rumors that Sazrak is entering the picture as well. Now, there's some recent
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articles that include interviews with investors or people that are familiar to the matter
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and they're still saying they think the Pernod deal is more likely to go through because it's a better fit for the lineup. But it is interesting to see Sazrak make a play at this
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as well. And it's even more interesting because of the news story that I'm going to tell you following this. So stick around. I promise this is relevant. Sazerac actually just recently
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announced that they are opening their first Tennessee whiskey distillery. Yes. Okay. See
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the connection there. So they say nearly a decade in the making. The new Tennessee whiskey is coming
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soon. So they say in this press release that I received from Sazerac that Sazerac's first
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Tennessee Whiskey is preparing for a summer 2026 debut. So they are opening a Tennessee whiskey
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operation called A.J. Bond Distillery, and they're saying this is a major milestone as the company
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plans to debut its Tennessee whiskey this summer. They say that this name honors the bond between
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visionaries Alyssa Henley and the late John Lunn, who shared passion and decades of experience to
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help bring Sazerac's Tennessee whiskey ambitions to life. They say that the company first entered
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this category in 2016 with the acquisition of the Popcorn Sutton Distillery Facility and retained
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the skilled production team that was led by Henley and Lunn. So of course, Popcorn Sutton is a
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legendary figure in the world of moonshining, and he had a distilling operation in Tennessee that
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was purchased by Sazerac, apparently, back in 2016. So since that time, they've been making and aging
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their own Tennessee whiskey, and this is going to be a really big deal, and especially relevant
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because of the Jack Daniels news situation. They say that this reflects Sazerac's broader vision
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to invest in exceptional people, places, and traditions that shape the future of American
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spirits. And Tennessee whiskey is no exception. Now, while there's not specific details about this
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flagship Tennessee whiskey coming from the A.J. Bond distillery, this is a huge announcement
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because Sazerac's never really been involved in the Tennessee whiskey market. And now with them
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opening this distillery and having a big release this summer, it makes sense why they would look
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into the world of Jack Daniels and maybe they're planning to do a big Tennessee whiskey push. I
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think it just makes sense for them to maybe move into the Tennessee market. I'd be very curious to
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see how this AJ Bond distillery does. I'm very interested in trying the whiskey. I love trying
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new spirits from up-and-coming brands and it sounds like the people behind this distillery
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have been working together for 20 years to help make this happen. So I'm excited to give it a try
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I will let you know as soon as I hear more about that whiskey because it's kind of a big deal
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Now I do have one final piece of news that ties in very nicely with our bite-sized review
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So if you saw the title and the thumbnail of this, you know I'm reviewing the new Kentucky Senator
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Bourbon, but I actually just saw a press release go out this week that says the Kentucky Senator
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is partnering with the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. So they are a 501c3 charity that
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provides financial assistance to more than 50 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic
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on-track injuries, predominantly paralysis and or brain injuries. It was started back in 2006 and
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the fund has given them over 15 million dollars. Well, they are partnering up with Kentucky Senator
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Bourbon for a new single barrel bourbon that's going to be benefiting fallen riders. So they're
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saying that this is a 140 bottle single barrel release that's part of this Kentucky Senator
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Jim Bunning release that we about to review here shortly But this is a single barrel release of that product that is benefiting the people that were affected by injuries on the racetrack Now what cool is this barrel was personally selected by current jockey Julian LaPeroux I think I pronouncing that right PDJF President Joe Klabels and Kentucky
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Senator Bourbon founders Damon Thayer and Andre Regard. Now LaPeroux is the winner of the 2026
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George Wolfe Award, which recognizes the rider selected by his peers whose career and personal
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character exemplify excellence in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing. This limited single
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barrel release is aged eight and a half years just like the blend that we'll be trying here shortly
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and it's going to be bottled at 126.4 proof. The mash bill of which is 75% corn, 21% rye
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and 4% malted barley and it's being aged at Bardstown Bourbon Company. Now these go on sale
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on April 20th as part of the annual Frank and Dinos PDJF fundraiser. They're also going to be
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available to purchase at Frank and Dino's in Lexington and Blinker's Tavern in Covington
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So I always think it's great to see a release like this being a tribute to an organization that I
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think many of us have never even thought of existing or needing to exist. This is great. I
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would love a chance to support this. Like I said, the one I'm reviewing today is just the
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batched version, but it's really cool to see that they did a special one-off single barrel release
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that was part of this blend specifically for that organization. Very, very cool. So
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hats off to those folks. But now I think it's time to get into our bite-sized review
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All right, well, that news story gave us a little bit of a preview of this bourbon. This is the
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newest release of Kentucky Senator. This is release number seven honoring Jim Bunning. By the way
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I do want to mention that this bottle was sent to me by the folks at Kentucky Senator to give it a
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review so huge shout out to that team. But what's really exciting is the bourbon is seriously good
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I mean two of these releases in the past have made my top 10 whiskeys. They are sourcing from
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various distilleries so I never know what it's made up of and I doubt these are very commonly the
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same mash bill but it's always fun to try a new release especially because this one's coming in at
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eight and a half years old. As with other releases, it's 107 proof, and all we know is it was bottled
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by Bardstown Bourbon Company. Now, what makes this release especially interesting is this is the exact
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same bourbon that was in last year's release, the John Edwards Kentucky Senator bourbon. They just
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aged it an additional year. So the match bill is 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Again, we
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don't really know what went into this. It could be a blend of different bourbons, but we do know that
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There are approximately 4,000 bottles of this, and the suggested retail price is $119.99
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As you know, with each of these releases, they have a historical senator in the state of Kentucky that they honor with the release
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They tell you a little bit of their story on the back of the bottle. They say that Jim Bunning was a true Kentucky original
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He had an over 17-year Major League Baseball career and earned nine All-Star selections and pitched a perfect game for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964
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He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996 and later served two terms in the U.S. Senate from 1999 to 2012
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Now what's cool is he is responsible for designating September as National Bourbon Heritage Month
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He also is responsible for calling bourbon America's native spirit. That tagline has stuck around since he was in office
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That's a really cool contribution. It's something that affects us day to day in the world of whiskey. By the way, this release is available now at Select Kentucky retailers, bars and restaurants, or you can buy it online at Bourbon Outfitter or Kentucky Senator Bourbon
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They're also going to be featuring a limited quantity of it at the Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, D.C. and the Premier Drams Bottle Shop
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So I encourage you to go check out their website, KYSenatorBourbon.com, and read out more about Jim Bunning because he seems like a Kentucky legend
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But that's all we really know about the bourbon, so I'm really excited to get it open and give it a review
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Now unfortunately I don't still have my bottle of last year's release but it did make my top 10
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whiskeys of the year. I do really remember enjoying that one so I'm excited to see what it tastes like
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at an extra year older. I'm hoping it brings extra depth to it. I remember I got a lot of heavy oak
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notes on it as well as a bit of a tea even like a black sweet tea note so I'm excited to see what
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this has done after an extra year of aging. Let's give it a nose. Oh yeah still very oaky. I mean
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one would expect something that I thought was extremely oaky back you know a year ago is going
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to still be extremely oaky with an extra year of aging. It almost goes a level deeper though it's
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not just the oak it's almost like a bit of a charred piece of maybe like beef and I'm almost
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thinking like a bit of a beef jerky like a teriyaki beef jerky kind of nose there that's kind of a
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second layer on top of the the oak. A little sweet though a little bit spicy yeah I'm thinking like
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jacksling beef jerky which I a beef jerky fan I not going to complain about that Let go for a taste of this one Okay Yeah it doesn taste like beef jerky so that probably a plus for most people There is a bit of a kind of smoky thing going on It like the oak has gone so far that
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it's kind of a little bit ashy in a way and that's the note I typically get on something like a scotch
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so it's a little bit strange getting on a bourbon. It kind of threw me off with the first sip. It just
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reminds me of like a freshly put out campfire so it's a mix of oak and that you know char kind of
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element to it. I will say on the back part of the palette and going into the finish, it does still
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have some of those black tea notes that I lingered on the number six release, but it's way less sweet
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I mean, I wouldn't even say sweet tea. I would say this is more of like a unsweetened black tea
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but it's kind of subtle. You know, I was hoping a little bit more of those really brilliant
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great tea notes that I loved about the past release would show up a bit more. I mean
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it's really overshadowed by that kind of ashy smokiness that I'm getting on it. You know
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the first thing that I feel like might jump in people's minds to describe something like this
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is over-oaked, but I don't think that's what's happening here. It's not like it has a bitter or
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a tannic kind of oakiness that I've had on bourbons that I think have been aged too long
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I think that extra year of aging has just kind of transformed the palate quite a bit into something
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that's almost unrecognizable. I love an oaky bourbon and I love a sweet bourbon
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this one kind of feels like both are competing but not in a very distinct way it's like they're
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competing in the next room over you know people say La Croix is like a someone squirted a lime like
16:45
a hundred feet away from a sparkling water this is kind of giving that it's more of a subtle note
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I think the main thing here is unfortunately the ethanol is kind of kicking up mid-palate
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and it's kind of overshadowing those notes that I typically enjoy it just doesn't necessarily feel
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as well-rounded as I've had in past Kentucky Senator Bourbon releases. And that could just
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be personal preference. Maybe, you know, someone's preferring the Slaver profile. But I think what
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was released back in release number six at seven and a half years was really special. So that extra
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year changed it enough that I just don't quite vibe with this, if that makes sense. We all know
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that time in the barrel affects a whiskey greatly. And, you know, you would think going from seven and
17:27
a half to eight and a half years wouldn't do too much but clearly there's a pretty big distinction
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here from what I remember of the sixth release and I'll be honest this isn't a first impression
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of this one I actually tried it a couple nights ago had a similar reaction and decided to sit on
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it because like I said I've typically loved these in the past so I wanted to make sure that you know
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maybe it just wasn't my palate on first taste but I'm kind of getting the same experience here it's
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A bit hot in the mid-palette, a bit short on the finish, and overall, it just, unfortunately, this release isn't doing it for me
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It's not a bad bourbon by any means, it's just lacking quite a bit of sweetness that I usually expect
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I'm going to be honest, you know, I always am honest with these reviews, and it does kind of hurt my heart a little bit to say that
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because I loved the, you know, last year's release, and then a few years back, their whiskey actually was my number one whiskey of the year, I think back in 23, 24
18:17
four? I don't remember exactly, but yeah, unfortunately, this release just doesn't
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quite do it for me. I love the story. I love the packaging. You know, I think price is fine. You
18:26
know, eight, eight and a half years for 120. That's pretty on par with some of these limited releases
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I just think flavor wise, it's not really my jam. So as always, I'm going to give this a score based
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on all these considered availability, price, nose, palette, finish, just my overall opinion of it
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It's a fun bottle to collect. It's a once a year release. I think it's, you know, if you've had
18:46
previous releases. Maybe try this before you buy it. I just think this one is a little bit
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different than what I'm used to. So I'm gonna have to give this a four out of ten, unfortunately
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It's just to me, it's a bit below average. It's not my favorite for the flavor profile, for the
19:04
price. But again, this doesn't discourage me from enjoying Kentucky Senator releases. I appreciate
19:11
the fact that they sent me this bottle for review, and I'm always gonna give my honest opinion of it
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I'm excited for what's next. I just think that this one doesn't quite do it for me in terms of
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flavor profile. All right, well, thank you all so much for listening. This has been a very
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insightful episode in terms of news and thoughts and new opinions, but hopefully you all enjoyed it
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as much as I did. So thank you all for listening. Of course, if you want to leave me a message and
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a question for a future upcoming episode, you can always call into the Bourbon Bites hotline
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that's 916-642-9837 or 916-64-bytes. We'd love to get your questions and comments
19:51
and answer them on an upcoming episode. Or if you want to just interact and ask questions
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on our Discord server, you can go to bourbonbites.com and find us there
19:59
But thank you all so much for listening. This has been the Bourbon Bites Podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist
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Cheers, and I'll talk to you next episode
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