I'll be honest — when a bourbon lands on my desk with a name like The Story Of... Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, I'm immediately curious about what story they're actually trying to tell. The branding is bold, the name is a mouthful, and at £39.95 for a NAS Kentucky Straight Bourbon at 42% ABV, it's sitting right in that accessible sweet spot where a lot of decent everyday bourbons live. The question is whether it earns its place on the shelf or gets lost in the crowd.
What we know: this is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon, which under American whiskey law tells us quite a bit even without confirmed distillery details. It must be made from a mashbill of at least 51% corn, distilled to no more than 160 proof, entered the barrel at no higher than 125 proof, and aged for a minimum of two years in new charred oak containers — all within the state of Kentucky. That "Straight" designation is doing real work here. It means no added colouring, no added flavouring, and a baseline of maturation that NAS bourbons without the Straight label don't guarantee. For the price, you're getting legal assurance of quality that actually matters.
At 42% ABV, this sits just above the legal minimum of 40% for bourbon. That's a common bottling strength for approachable, session-friendly whiskey. It won't blow your head off, and it's not trying to. This is a bourbon built for drinking, not for showing off at a tasting event. The slightly restrained proof suggests the producers want this to be smooth and easy-going — the kind of bottle you reach for on a Tuesday evening without thinking twice about it.
Tasting Notes
I don't have detailed tasting notes to break down for you on this one, so I'll hold off on inventing what wasn't there. What I can say is that a Kentucky Straight Bourbon at this proof and price point typically delivers on the corn-driven sweetness you'd expect — think caramel, vanilla, maybe a touch of baking spice from the oak. The new charred barrel influence at 42% tends to be present but polite rather than aggressive. If you're coming to bourbon for the first time, this style is an excellent starting point.
The Verdict
The Story Of... Bourbon earns a solid 7.8 out of 10 from me. It's not reinventing the wheel, and it doesn't need to. What it offers is a genuine Kentucky Straight Bourbon at a fair price with all the legal guarantees that designation carries. The 42% ABV keeps things approachable, and the £39.95 price tag means you're not gambling your rent money on an experiment. There are flashier bourbons out there, sure, but there's something to be said for a bottle that knows exactly what it is and delivers on that promise without pretension. It's honest whiskey at an honest price, and that counts for a lot in a market full of overpriced hype.
Best Served
This is a natural Old Fashioned bourbon. At 42%, it won't fight with a barspoon of sugar and a couple of dashes of Angostura — it'll work with them. Build it over a large ice cube: two ounces of The Story Of..., a quarter ounce of rich demerara syrup, two dashes of aromatic bitters, and an expressed orange peel. The lower proof means the dilution from ice won't thin it out too quickly, giving you a long, slow drink that holds together from first sip to last. If cocktails aren't your thing, it'll do perfectly well neat or with a single cube — no water needed at this strength, but a little chill never hurt a Tuesday night pour.
