Very Olde St Nick Immaculata Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (2023) 75cl

Very Olde St Nick Immaculata Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (2022) 75cl

A highly regarded brand of bourbon that uses older aged bourbon compared to the others unless you look at Pappy Van Winkle or comparable types of bourbon. Very Olde St Nick is like the Chichibu of Bourbons with a little more cultish following. 

The Very Olde St. Nick brand is an unusual one. Long a staple of the Japanese (and sometimes European) markets, the brand has quietly been around the American market for some time, but it's a rarity that you ever see it - though that is beginning to change.

Per Preservation Distillery’s MO, little is known about the origins of the bourbon beyond it being sourced from Indiana and Kentucky distilleries, contains bourbon up to 15 years old, and once again, is not labeled “straight.” Often with blends stating they contain double digit age statements, the actual percentage of the older stock tends to be on the low side. Very Olde St. Nick Immaculata doesn’t seem to share that mentality, as it tastes mature and its accompanying flavor profile seems to back that up.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: Deep and robust scents of cherry, raspberry, and cranberry, before moving to mature oak, nutmeg, and leather. It's well constructed and the scents work very well in conjunction with one another.

Palate: Cherrywood smokiness, and while it never ventures into pure smoke territory, it gives off hints of it. Layers of seasoned oak begin midpalate and continue throughout the rest of the sip before ending on a lingering mature oak accent. The rest of the sip puts further emphasis on its dark and heavy flavours of black currants, cacao nibs, leather, and clove. It’s a well rounded sip that nicely balances all of its flavours.

About Very Olde St Nick

The distillery for Very Olde St Nick is based in Bardstown Kentucky. It specialises in rare and very aged bourbon. It has rarely ever left the United States due to its popularity. Could be said to be rarer and harder to get a hold of than a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle. 

Established in 1986, the Very Olde St. Nick (VOSN) brand was started by Marci Palatella to capitalise on the growing demand in Japan for ultra-aged bourbon. As Julian Van Winkle III’s agent in the Japanese market, Palatella sourced stocks from Old Commonwealth distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY., before transitioning to also bottling sourced stocks from Even Kulsveen at the KBD (Willett), and other sources when Van Winkle started producing whiskey in partnership with Sazerac. Famed for sourcing amazing older whiskies the brand quickly gained popularity in bourbon and rye enthusiast circles.  However, as demand for aged stocks of bourbon and rye skyrocketed across the board supplies for VOSN dried up and so for many years the brand lay dormant. Frustrated with being unable to source the ‘magically intense barrels of yore’ in 2015, Palatella purchased a tobacco farm in Bardstown KY and transformed it into a small craft distillery with a visitors centre. Named the Preservation Distillery, Palatella’s dream of bringing back brands such as VOSN and Rare Perfection had become a reality and with production beginning in October of 2017,

You’ve heard about it, read about it, and maybe even been fortunate enough to taste some over the years,  but when was the last time you were able to lay your hands on a bottle of Very Olde St Nick Rare Bourbon and Whiskey?   A highly peculiar brand, always produced in small lots using odd bottles, OSN is known for bourbons and whiskey of exceptional quality.  It has been almost impossible to find any releases of Very Olde St Nick and Olde St Nick products the past few years, and today those highly coveted bottles sell for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, and are traded among those who know fine spirits.  Stocks disappear as fast as they are released, scooped up by global bourbon and whiskey fanatics.

Consumers repeatedly ask, What happened to those rare and fabulous, legendary bottles of Very Olde St Nick?  Somehow with the shortage of real good bourbon, a brand that was created a very long time ago as a holiday special representing the true flavours and spirit of older American bourbon and whiskey,  over a number of decades became a collectible cult brand sought out by bourbon aficionados all over the world!

The Old St Nick legend has taken on a life of its own with the advent of the internet, many claiming inside information, or knowledge about who first developed the product and why, it’s original pedigree, the source of its bourbons, and the story behind the eclectic style.  The Very Olde St Nick myth is a reality with a wonderful story…in fact many stories.  As many as the infinite miniscule number of releases from this highly prized producer for more than 30 years!!

Good news for bourbon drinkers:  Olde St Nick Distillery will officially be part of the new micro craft bourbon operation opening as the First Official Craft Distillery in Nelson County, Ky.  If you’re a wine buff, Nelson County is the Napa Valley of the bourbon world with the incredibly charming historic city of Bardstown as its county seat.  The distillery’s opening will also be the official first craft operation in the Bourbon Capital of the World, Bardstown.  Small, highly selective releases will still be part of the Olde St Nick brand’s culture, as will the production of specialty bourbons, ryes and other grain whiskey

*please allow 7-14 days for delivery on this item

59.05% ABV

75cl