Distillery’s First Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon celebrates the 400th Anniversary of Distilled Spirits in the United States

KO Distilling today announced the launch of its Bottled-in-Bond Distiller’s Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Hand-crafted from local Virginia corn, wheat, and malted barley in one distilling season, the bourbon is aged for four years in charred new American Oak barrels. The result is KO Distilling’s first Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon, which also pays homage to the 400^th anniversary of distilled spirits in the United States.

“Four centuries ago, the first American whiskey was distilled in Virginia, giving birth to a new industry which has endured against unfathomable odds,” said Bill Karlson, Co-Founder & CEO, KO Distilling. “That spirit of perseverance, distilled through 400 years of craft, is proudly presented today as our Bottled-in-Bond Distiller’s Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey.”

KO Distiller’s Reserve will be initially available in Virginia, DC, and Maryland in early November. It will also be available online for shipments where legal.

KO Bottled-in-Bond Distiller’s Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Facts

• 4-Year-Old; 100 Proof
• Distilled by KO Distilling in one distilling season
• Hand-crafted from Virginia-grown grains:
  • 70% corn, 20% wheat, and 10% malted barley
• Certified Kosher, Craft Distilled, and Virginia’s Finest
• SRP: $69.99 (750ml)

Tasting Notes

On the nose, KO Distiller’s Reserve begins with warm vanilla, layered over soft green oak. The vanilla quickly turns to caramel, accompanied by hints of baking spice and dried apricot. After more time and two or three drops of water, the caramel morphs into rich English Toffee with hints of toasted almonds and a dusting of dark cocoa. The overall aroma is soft and inviting with a richness expected in a Bourbon with a little more time in the barrel.

KO Distiller’s Reserve joins an ever-expanding portfolio which today includes three American-style gins and ten small batch American whiskeys:

• Battle Standard 142 Gin (Navy Strength) (57% ABV) (750ml $34.99)
• Battle Standard 142 Gin (Standard Strength) (45% ABV) (750ml $29.99)
• Battle Standard 142 Gin (Barrel Finished) (45% ABV) (750ml $36.09)

• Bare Knuckle American Whiskey — unaged (45% ABV) (750ml $23.99)
• Bare Knuckle Straight Wheat Whiskey – aged at least 2 years (45% ABV) (750ml $35.99)
• Bare Knuckle Straight Rye Whiskey – aged at least 2 years (45% ABV) (750ml $45.99)
• Bare Knuckle Straight Bourbon Whiskey – aged at least 2 years (45% ABV) (750ml $39.99)

Single Barrel – Hand-selected by our head distiller for its unique and favorable characteristics.

• Bare Knuckle Straight Wheat Whiskey – aged at least 3 years (45% ABV) (750ml $38.99)
• Bare Knuckle Straight Rye Whiskey – aged at least 3 years (45% ABV) (750ml $65.99)
• Bare Knuckle Straight Bourbon Whiskey – aged at least 3 years (45% ABV) (750ml $49.99)

Cask Strength – Bottled as it comes out of the single barrel.

• Bare Knuckle Straight Wheat Whiskey – aged at least 3 years (60% ABV) (750ml $49.99)
• Bare Knuckle Straight Rye Whiskey – aged at least 3 years (60% ABV) (750ml $65.99)
• Bare Knuckle Straight Bourbon Whiskey – aged at least 3 years (60% ABV) (750ml $55.99)

About KO Distilling

Founded by long-time friends and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy classmates Bill Karlson, “K,” and John O’Mara, “O,” KO Distilling is a craft producer of clear unaged spirits, including three gins and a white whiskey, and aged small-batch whiskeys. Produced in Manassas, Virginia, at a state-of-the-art distillery, KO spirits are currently available online, at retail outlets in Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Delaware, as well as at package stores for the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard.  For more information about the craft distillery, visit www.kodistilling.com.

Media Contact: 

Laura Peet, PeetCom Inc.
917-860-6285
lpeet@peetcom.com
Samples and hi-res images are available upon request

Virginia’s Fighting Spirit: A Look at KO Distilling & Bare Knuckle Whiskey

April 23, 2020   /   by Nanci Hellmich

Bill Karlson, MS Software Systems Engineering ’94, is distilling a new solution to fight the coronavirus.

In late March, when he heard that other craft distilleries across the country had begun making much-needed hand sanitizer during the coronavirus pandemic, Karlson and his team decided to join the sanitizing army with their business, KO Distilling in Manassas, Virginia. Its original products are Bare Knuckle whiskeys and Battle Standard 142 gins.

“Hand sanitizer requires 80 percent ethanol, of which we can produce a lot,” says Karlson, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “Last year, we produced about 65,000 proof gallons of distilled spirits using approximately 350 tons of Virginia grains. So, we gladly and quickly made the pivot.”

Karlson initially plans to donate Bare Knuckle Hand Sanitizer to Manassas-area first responders, hospitals, charitable organizations, and nursing homes. Additional quantities are being sold through government channels or to essential businesses to help cover production costs and support the continued employment of the distillery’s 15 employees.

To manufacture hand sanitizer, KO Distilling incorporated some changes in their facility. “Thankfully, we didn’t have to completely retool the distillery,” Karlson says. “What we did have to do is modify our mashing, fermenting, and distilling processes to be able to produce 170 proof ethanol, which we had never done before. That proof is needed because compounding with other sanitizer ingredients dilutes the ethanol down to 160 proof.”

They bought a few thousand pounds of hydrogen peroxide, glycerol, and a denaturant, which makes the alcohol undrinkable. They also needed to stock up on thousands of five-gallon pails, lids, and many other supplies, he says.

Karlson and his team set up a 4,000-square-foot area, which is about the size of a basketball court, in the distillery for employees to safely and efficiently compound, label, fill, seal, palletize, and ship hand-sanitizer pails.

They switched to a 10-hour, seven-day production schedule to make about 1,600 gallons of hand sanitizer a week. “We opted to go with five-gallon pails, each of which has a secured lid with an extractable spout, which will allow for easy and safe pouring and refilling,” he says.

The company is limiting its sales to the Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland-area.  “We already have a substantial pipeline of large orders from local customers.”

KO Distilling is still making and selling its other products.

Karlson, who is retired from a career as an executive with a government contracting company, says his education at Mason helped in the business world. “What I learned at Mason was how to apply the knowledge you learn in a classroom to solving real-world problems.”

He’s not sure how long they’ll be making Bare Knuckle Hand Sanitizer.  “Like everyone else, we are hoping the pandemic subsides quickly, but we are prepared to make hand sanitizer not only during the remainder of the pandemic but for weeks and even months after the pandemic is over because sanitizer product supply chains will take a while to rebound.”

In the meantime, he’s thankful that he and his team can help. “When you make and sell spirits, you get satisfaction from knowing you are making a quality product that people will like,” Karlson says. “By producing hand sanitizer, it is gratifying to know that we are doing something that actually might help another human being from getting infected by the virus.”

Manassas Distillery Modifies Equipment To Produce Hand Sanitizer