Brad Paisley Launches Tour-Aged Bourbon Brand, American Highway
He went along way to set this spirit apart!
Country hit maker Brad Paisley has joined the flow of stars with their own alcohol brand, and he’s done it with a creative, over-the-road twist.
Nodding to his life as a touring musician, his new American Highway Reserve Bourbon was aged differently than any other spirit we know — with real oak barrels in a semi-trailer which followed his bus across the nation.
Aged during his 2019 concert tour, which saw it cover 7,314 miles across 25 states from coast to coast, Paisley’s new bourbon went a long way to set itself apart. According to an official announcement, towing the barrels around like that did something very important to the bourbon’s taste. The “fluctuating climate” conditions made each barrel expand and contract, pulling the alcohol into the wood and then pushing it back out, which gives it a unique “oak and char” taste. Paisley says the “well-traveled batch” was then blended with three-year, 13-year and 15-year-old Kentucky bourbons from Bardstown Bourbon Company, to create a smooth final product.
“Bourbon is like songwriting, it’s a blend of things coming together to make something incredible,” Paisley says. “These are really special barrels that saw more of the United States than most people I know.”
Describing the taste as a “Rye-forward blend” of four bourbons “born in Kentucky, aged across America,” Paisley was deeply involved in American Highway Bourbon’s creative process, and it doesn’t come cheap. Each 750 mL bottle sells for $99.99, and with only 30,000 bottles made for the first run, it will so far only be available in 21 states (online at www.seelbachs.com). The country star seems to have enjoyed the work though, because a new batch aged in Paisley’s “Rolling Rickhouse” during his 2021 tour will come out next year.
“It’s so similar to what goes into a great guitar,” Paisley adds. “The right woods, the right craftsmanship, the right alchemy that makes this intangible, magical thing, and that’s what makes this so great to me.”
With his new role as boozy kingpin, Brad Paisley joins a whole range of his country star peers with their own signature alcohol. Those brands include Old Camp Whiskey (Florida Georgia Line), Wolf Moon Bourbon (Jason Aldean), Smithworks Vodka (Blake Shelton), Two Lane Lager (Luke Bryan), Dos Primos Tequila (Thomas Rhett) and more.
