Calumet Farm 18 year Bourbon Review
100 Year Anniversary
After watching the Bourbon Junkies do a Calumet Farm 18 year bourbon review, I immediately knew that I wanted a bottle. And finding it at MSRP (which is pretty high!), I bit the bullet and ordered a bottle. No only did the Junkies rate it pretty high, it was featured in Forbes as “The World’s Best Bourbon Whiskey – According to the 2025 WSWA Wine & Spirits Tasting Competition.” Winner of “Best in Show,” “Double Gold,” and a 98.5 Rating. I’m looking forward to sipping this!
Calumet Farm was initially established as a traditional farm in 1924, but transitioned to breeding and racing horses in 1933. Over the next 100 years, Calumet Farm became one of the most successful breeding and racing outfits in modern thoroughbred racing history, boasting 2 Triple Crown winners, 8 Kentucky Derby winners, 8 Preakness winners, 2 Belmont Stakes winners, and 11 horses enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
In 2013 they produced their first small batch of bourbon, and since that time they have released several age-stated releases including 8 yr, 12 yr, 14 yr, 15 yr, 16 yr, 17 yr, and now the 18 year bourbon.
To celebrate their 100th anniversary, Calumet Farm released a Centennial Collection of 6 bottles:
- Calumet Farm 18-Year-Old Trophy Decanter Centennial Bourbon – 118 Proof
- Calumet Farm 17-Year-Old Glass Decanter Centennial Bourbon – 117 Proof
- Calumet Farm Ceramic Decanter Centennial Bourbon – 86 Proof
- Calumet Farm Bottled-In-Bond Centennial Bourbon – 100 Proof
- Calumet Farm Origin Release Centennial Bourbon – 100 Proof
- Calumet Farm Centennial High Rye Whiskey – 100 Proof
Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Age: 18 years
Proof: 118
Batch Designation: Small Batch
Proof Designation: na
Filtered Status: Non-Chill Filtered
Mash bill: 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley
Barrel Char Level: 4
Distillery: Undisclosed, but rumored to be Barton 1792
Company: Western Spirits Beverage Co.
Bottled By: Three Springs Bottling Company, Bowling Green, KY
Distilled/Aging Location: Bardstown, Kentucky
Master Distiller: Steve Nally
Release Date: 2025
MSRP: $499
Availability: Low/Rare
Calumet 18 Year Bourbon Review
June 11, 2025
My tasting reviews are unique in that I include the notes of several well-known whiskey critics. The hope is that this format will help me and others to explore and expand their tasting experience. After you have taken your own tasting notes, read the reviews and see if there is a flavor note that others discerned that now you can detect as well.
For this tasting: Opened Bottle (about 3 hours), Glencairn Glass, Neat, Room Temp, Breathe: 5 minutes.
Legs
Beads began to form on the crown at about 12 seconds, the legs began to form at about 33 seconds, and a few reached the bowl at about 59 seconds.
Nose
The nose is amazing! Dark caramel, butterscotch, dark vanilla, creme brûlée, a hint of licorice, fig, leather, old oak, tobacco, chocolate.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Mash & Drum: Cherry, almond, oak, a ton of baking spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, Luzardo cherry or cherry syrup, brown sugar, dark fruit. It is an exquisite nose. It’s really, really good.
Bourbon Junkies: This smells absolutely fantastic. Cherries, marshmallow, vanilla cola, oak, char, and depth.
Drums & Drams: Wow! This whiskey smells absolutely incredible. It reminds me of Russell’s 15. Dusty, vintage, antique oak and leather notes. Dark fruits, mixed cherry, with a syrupy richness and almost bittersweet concentration of those notes. This checks so many boxes of the things that I like in a great whiskey. It’s dark, it’s oaky, it’s rich. It also shows a lot of spice, a little bit of a Dr. Pepper spice, and a banana cream note.
Palate
Dark caramel, vanilla, old oak, mocha, baking spices, anise, nutmeg, dark cherry, fig, leather.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Mash & Drum: Mmmm. Oak, a lot of spice. The Luxardo cherry and almond combination does filter through to the palate. It’s really well done, a lot of spice up front, a long finish on the back. This is good. On second sip, it gets a little bit sweeter. Almond, cherry, brown butter, brown sugar, a little bit of a dark honey note.
My fear is that as I work my way down the bottle, that strong, pleasant cherry note might turn more into a medicinal cherry note, like sometimes happens with cherry profiles.
Bourbon Junkies: It smells and tastes very old. It’s really well put together. It has a tobacco, cedar, spiciness to it. Cola, vanilla creme brûlée. That’s really good whiskey. This is BTAC-level whiskey. It drinks well below its proof.
Drums & Drams: Oh my goodness! This whiskey is ridiculously good. This is what I want from a top-tier whiskey. Right away you’re hit all the spice. Dr. Pepper spice, oak spice, and white pepper. Then it very quickly transitions to all of those bittersweet dark fruit notes.
But, as it moves to the mid palate, it becomes a vanilla cream bomb. I love the way that it transitions, it becomes extremely sweet, extremely decadent.
Finish
Long finish, molasses, luxardo cherries, orange peel, baking spices, oak tannins, and a hint of banana cream at the very end.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Mash & Drum: The finish is more layered than the 17 year Calumet, and it lasts a long time. It has an old leather bomber jacket note.
Bourbon Junkies: Almost a little mapley on the finish, like from a natural maple syrup made from wood sugar.
Drums & Drams: On the finish there is a return of the dark fruit notes, and a big dose of that furniture polish, varnish, heavy antique kind of oak.
Mouthfeel
The mouthfeel is Creamy and pleasant.
Mouthfeel Rating Guide: Thin = Watery | Silken = smooth & slippery, but not mouth coating | Creamy = coats the tongue like heavy cream does. | Rich or Unctuous = coats the entire palate like quality olive oil
The Burn
4 out of 5. This means that the burn from the alcohol is lower than what I would expect it to be. I would guess this to be around 107 proof, not 118 proof.
Calumet 18 Year Bourbon Review Tasting Summary
Sweetness briefly makes an impression but is quickly followed by a complex spiciness that is a combination of baking spices and oaky spice. That lingers for a moment and then transitions into a lovely sweetness with dark caramel and creme brûlée. It has a fantastic depth of flavor and nice complexity. It is well-balanced between the spice, the oak, and the sweetness. It also has a very rich mouthfeel. Fabulous!
My Rating
The higher the score the better the whiskey is in my opinion. For reference, my best rated bottle so far is the George T. Stagg 2022 (138.7p) with a score of 9.7.
| Score Type | Score | Examples |
| Likability Score | 9.3 | 1.0 – 10.0 |
| Availability Score | 2 | 1-Rare, 2-Hard to Find, 3-A Little Hunting, 4-Easy to Find |
My Tasting Notes
Below are my tasting notes for the Calumet 18 review. A blank version of this tasting notes wheel is available in both a color and a black & white version in the member’s area.
You might also enjoy reading the Calumet 16 yr review. If you found this Calumet 18 year bourbon review helpful, forward it to a friend!