> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bourbonbanter.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Silk Velvet Bourbon Is Far More Assertive Than Its Name Implies - URL: https://www.bourbonbanter.com/silk-velvet-bourbon-is-far-more-assertive-than-its-name-implies/ - Published: 2026-08-19T09:00:38.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-19T13:45:22.000Z - Description: In year 7, big spice, chocolate depth and rich fruit rule the palate. Its transformation from the 6 year release is comparable to teens leaving home for freshman year in college, and returning for summer break noticeably more mature. - Author: Steve Coomes - Tags: Bourbon Reviews, Bottle, Silk Velvet Single Barrel Bourbon Bottle Details - **DISTILLER:** Green River Distilling Co. - **TYPE:** Bourbon, Single Barrel - **MASH BILL:** 75% Corn | 21% Rye | 4% Malted Barley - **AGE:** 7 years - **YEAR:** 2026 - **PROOF:** 105 (57.5%) - **AVAILABILITY:** Select markets in Kentucky and Indiana, and online at Seelbach's - **MSRP:** $79.99 - **BUY ONLINE:** [Silk Velvet Bottle Shop](https://www.silkvelvetwhiskey.com/the-bourbon?ref=bourbonbanter.com#buy) TASTING NOTES **NOSE:** The nose starts off as an adult candy bar: chocolate, caramel and spicy whiskey. Flamed cherries, orange zest and some passionfruit unite before letting some lighter floral and tropical fruit notes emerge. **PALATE:** Spice hits hard on the first two sips before letting tobacco, charred oak and some leather have a say. Fruits mentioned above are also vivid here. Mouthfeel is vibrant and busy, not coating, yet refreshing all the same. This is great neat, and it stands up very well to rocks. When it becomes a cocktail soon, it should push through a Boulevardier like a champ. **FINISH:** Warm and tingling with lingering baking spices, plus a dessert-like dose of milk chocolate. Reviewer's Verdict **RATING:** Bottle. No doubt. **WORTH THE PRICE:** Easily. Not only does it deserve the $80 sticker ask, but it also deserves it way more than a lot of other single barrels out there. **WHO IT'S FOR:** Any and every bourbon fan, especially those who like high-rye mash bills and bourbon cocktails. **REVIEWER'S VERDICT:** My first taste of Silk Velvet Bourbon came in a food and whiskey pairing trial for an event in 2025\. Zach Hargis, a Henderson, Ky., native who, along with his two brothers, had revived the Silk Velvet label, which originated there in 1880\. The 40 years that followed saw Silk Velvet become a prominent bourbon brand in the U.S. until Prohibition stupidly ripped apart the fabric of all U.S. distilling. Hargis brought a few Silk Velvet single-barrel options to the barbecue-centric tasting, and they paired well with the food. Other goodies supplied were the terrific Hemingway Rye and a 7-year-old bourbon WKD Bourbon made by Jacob Call, the former master distiller at Green River. (Hargis also had worked at GR, and his Silk Velvet stocks are sourced from there.) The two friends and coworkers became partners in Western Kentucky Distillery, a whiskey maker I'm confident you'll hear a lot about in the coming years. Back to the 2025 pairing: By themselves, those 6-year bottles of Silk Velvet were really good, but a little sweet on the finish for me. In year 7, that strawberry taffy sweetness is all gone and replaced by big spice, chocolate depth and rich fruit. How that happens in the course of only a year, I don't know, but the transformation is amazing. It's like how teens leave the home for freshman year in college, and return for summer break noticeably more mature. As our elders used to say, "Time does a body good." The added boldness is its best new attribute. It's like a new structure is under construction to contain this whiskey's future complexity. Oak here is deep and dark, but without tannins that disrupt its fruit and chocolate characters. That its proof has slipped from 120 at entry to 107 is amazing (clearly Call knew where the barrels he wanted lay when he started sourcing from his former employer). Given its terrific spice uppercut, I'd have never, ever guessed its 107 proof. That's one of many reasons I'm eager to roll it into a good cocktail. If any readers are going to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival next month, make sure to visit the Silk Velvet Bourbon tent to try this 7-year. Disclaimer --- This bottle found its way to us compliments of the brand. What ends up on the page is ours alone — and they knew that going in. Around here, honesty isn't a policy. It's the whole damn point. About Our Rating System --- Bourbon & Banter uses a three-tier rating system created over a decade ago: **Bottle**, **Bar**, or **Bust**. - 🍾 **Bottle** — Buy it. This one deserves a place in your cabinet. *(Approximate equivalent: 85 and above on a 100-point scale)* - 🥃 **Bar** — Worth trying, but not necessarily worth owning. Find it at a bar before committing to a bottle. *(Approximate equivalent: 70–84)* - 💀 **Bust** — Skip it. Life is too short and your shelf space too valuable. *(Approximate equivalent: below 70)* Numeric scores imply a precision that doesn't exist — and most publications never score below 80, making half the scale meaningless. We'd rather answer the question that actually matters: buy it, try it at a bar before you buy, or skip it. The approximate equivalents above are for reference only.