King of Kentucky Small Batch 2 Bourbon

King of Kentucky Small Batch Bourbon (2026 Release - Batch 2 of 3)

Price

$499.95

✔ Authenticated by the house — seal, fill level, and label inspected before release
✔ Documented provenance on every bottle
✔ Climate-safe, collector-grade packaging

Age: 12 Years (Blended from barrels aged 12 to 18 years) | Region: Kentucky, United States | Proof: 107.5

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Adult signature (21+) at delivery

107.5

Proof

53.75%

ABV

2026

Released

Feb 2026

Announced

700 mL

Format

Kentucky

Region

King of Kentucky Small Batch Batch 2 sits at 107.5 proof, the middle strength of Brown-Forman’s 2026 release and, by Chris Morris’s own accounting, a little over one percent less water than the 105. It is a 12-year Kentucky straight bourbon on a mash bill of 75% corn, 15% rye and 10% malted barley, drawn from roughly 100 barrels aged 12 to 18 years and bottled at 700 mL. All three batches come from the same blend at the Brown-Forman Distillery in Shively, Kentucky under DSP-KY-354; only the bottling strength changes.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

107.5 proof, 53.75% ABV — the middle strength of the three 2026 batches.

Morris quantified the gap precisely: a little over one percent less water than Batch 1.

Where the texture turns. The finish moves off the silky register of the 105 and becomes velvety and expansive.

12-year age statement, from barrels aged 12 to 18 years across several of the distillery’s warehouses.

Same 75/15/10 mash bill and same proprietary yeast as Batches 1 and 3 — the recipe is not a variable here.

700 mL, suggested at $299 by Brown-Forman, into 36 markets.

Nº 02

The Small Batch Build

Small Batch 2026 Batch 2

The whiskey in Batch 2 spent its 12 to 18 years in heat-cycled warehouses, a Brown-Forman practice running back to 1874 in which the buildings are kept warm enough through winter that maturation never fully stops. Morris puts the floor at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and argues the result reads older than the age band would suggest, because every year in wood is a full working year rather than a partial one. That matters more here than it would on a younger bourbon: the barrels were spread across several of the distillery's warehouses and gave up unusually little liquid, which is why they were blended rather than bottled as single barrels. Brown-Forman combined roughly 100 of them into one profile at the Shively distillery under DSP-KY-354, divided the result three ways, and brought this portion to 107.5 proof with Kentucky limestone water.

Nº 03

The Batch

How the blend was built

Batch construction

Approximately 100 barrels blended to a

Single profile, then divided into three and bottled at different proofs

Proofing

Brought to bottling strength with

Kentucky limestone water

Mash bill

75% corn, 15% rye, 10% malted barley

Stated by Brown-Forman for the Small Batch Collection, and a departure from the 79% corn, 11% rye, 10% malted barley recipe used for the single-barrel King of Kentucky releases.

Yeast

One proprietary strain, shared across

All three batches

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

Nose: A hint of vanilla over darker fruit, with the chocolate that runs through all three batches still present underneath.
Palate: Vanilla holds, the fruit deepens, and oak has begun to assert itself without leading.
Finish: Velvety and expansive — the shift away from the 105’s silkier, shorter close.

Strategic Position

In a three-rung vertical the middle bottle is the one that proves the argument. The 105 and the 110 can be told apart by anyone; whether 2.5 proof points do measurable work is the question the collection actually poses, and Batch 2 is where it gets answered. Morris pitched the release on exactly that margin. It shelves with the other extended-age Kentucky bottlings in our mature bourbon archive at Midnight Whiskey.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

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Collector Note

Middle rungs are the ones that go missing. A buyer picking one bottle out of a graduated series reaches for the bottom or the top — the cheapest entry or the highest proof — and the 107.5 is neither, which means it moves last off the shelf and disappears first from assembled sets. That is a supply fact rather than a quality one: Brown-Forman put all three batches into 36 markets in equal measure, so scarcity here is a function of what buyers skip, not of what was made. If you are working toward the full vertical, this is the rung to secure while it is still ordinary. The 105-proof opening batch and the 110-proof batch above it complete the set.

→

How to Taste It

Second in the order, after the 105 and before the 110. Pour the same measure you poured for Batch 1 into the same glass shape and give it the same rest — the distance between these two bottlings is roughly one percent of water, and any inconsistency in how you serve them is larger than the thing you are trying to notice. Track the finish rather than the nose: that is where the 107.5 separates, moving from the 105’s shorter close to something broader that holds.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Distillery: Brown-Forman Distillery, Shively, Kentucky
Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Release: King of Kentucky Small Batch, Batch 2 of 3, 2026
Proof: 107.5
ABV: 53.75%
Age statement: 12 years on the label
Format: 700 mL

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Release	King of Kentucky Small Batch, Batch 2 of 3, 2026
Proof	107.5
ABV	53.75%
Age statement	12 years on the label; the blend is drawn from barrels aged 12 to 18 years
Mash bill	75% corn, 15% rye, 10% malted barley — stated by Brown-Forman for the Small Batch Collection, and a departure from the 79% corn, 11% rye, 10% malted barley recipe used for the single-barrel King of Kentucky releases.
Yeast	One proprietary strain, shared across all three batches
Batch construction	Approximately 100 barrels blended to a single profile, then divided into three and bottled at different proofs
Proofing	Brought to bottling strength with Kentucky limestone water
Maturation	Heat-cycled warehouses, a Brown-Forman practice dating to 1874
Region	Kentucky
Distillery	Brown-Forman Distillery, Shively, Kentucky
Regulatory ID	DSP-KY-354
Format	700 mL
Announced	4 February 2026

Nº 07

Records & Assurance

Authentication & Vault Preservation

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

What proof is King of Kentucky Small Batch Batch 2?

King of Kentucky Small Batch Batch 2 is bottled at 107.5 proof, or 53.75% ABV. It is the middle strength of Brown-Forman's 2026 Small Batch collection, between Batch 1 at 105 proof and Batch 3 at 110. Chris Morris described the step up from Batch 1 as a little over one percent less water.

How do the three King of Kentucky Small Batch batches differ?

Only by bottling strength. Brown-Forman blended barrels aged 12 to 18 years into a single profile, then divided that whiskey into three batches and brought each to its own proof with Kentucky limestone water: 105, 107.5 and 110. The mash bill of 75% corn, 15% rye and 10% malted barley, the proprietary yeast strain, the 12-year age statement, the Brown-Forman Distillery at Shively, Kentucky and the 700 mL format are identical across all three. Brown-Forman published a separate tasting note for each batch, describing the finish as shorter and silkier at 105, velvety and expansive at 107.5, and longest and most oak-forward at 110.

Where is King of Kentucky Small Batch distilled?

At the Brown-Forman Distillery in Shively, Kentucky, registered as DSP-KY-354 — the plant historically known as the Early Times Distillery, which Brown-Forman retained after selling the Early Times brand to Sazerac. The barrels matured across several of that distillery's heat-cycled warehouses and were blended on site before being divided into the three batches of the 2026 Small Batch collection.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Small Batch 2026 Batch 2

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King of Kentucky

The Elemental Distinction

The Small Batch Build