BLACK MAPLE HILL
Small Batch (2026)MASH BILL – Unstated
PROOF – 95
AGE – NAS
DISTILLERY – Rare Character sourcing from an unstated Kentucky distillery
PRICE – $57 (discounted from $81)
WORTH BUYING? – At the price I paid, yes. At msrp, maybe once.
Black Maple Hill counts among the legendary bourbon labels associated with that unicorn of unicorn brands, Van Winkle. In the 1990s and early 2000s, before anyone cared, Julian Van Winkle III was selling his lingering stocks of Stitzel-Weller bourbon to anyone who would bottle it. Black Maple Hill first hit shelves in 2000, courtesy of CVI Brands, a wine and spirits importer based in San Carlos, California. Perhaps sensing the coming rise of bourbon’s popularity, or hoping to stoke it, CVI contracted Julian Van Winkle to create a boutique line of bourbons.
In 2009 the label shifted its sourcing from Van Winkle to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers. Known today as Willett Distillery, for a period of time KBD operated as a significant non-distiller producer. They put out bourbons of up to even 22 years of age under CVI’s Black Maple Hill label.
In 2014 the brand moved again, this time to Stein Distillery in Oregon. By many reports, the high quality that had been established in the Van Winkle and KBD days declined notably at this point. As that word got about, the new bottles coming out of Oregon began to sit on shelves at lengths their Kentucky predecessors never did—if they’d even made it to the shelf at all before getting snapped up!
Now the label has been taken up by Rare Character, the NDP project founded by Pablo Moix and Peter Nevenglosky in 2020. Rare Character came about when the COVID-19 shutdowns forced so many people in the restaurant and bar industries to find other employ. Moix had worked for years and to great success and renown as a bar owner, restauranteur, and spirits expert. Nevenglosky was the CEO and Co-Founder of Drifter Spirits, representing Avuá Cachaça, Paladar Tequila, Svöl Aquavit, and others. They put their combined tasting and branding expertise toward founding a company that would showcase unusual bourbon and rye projects of—as their name suggests—rare character.
One early Rare Character project was Fortuna, an attempt to faithfully recreate the flavor profile of a long lost brand from the 19th and early 20th centuries:
Rare Character’s stated hope in taking up the Black Maple Hill label is not to replicate past flavor profiles, but rather to return it…
…to its spiritual home in Kentucky—honoring the heritage that first made it a cult favorite among bourbon enthusiasts. The revival centers on a renewed dedication to sourcing premium Kentucky whiskey, reconnecting the brand with the profile that built its reputation. The initial phase introduces two core expressions: a Kentucky Straight Bourbon at 95 proof, as originally bottled, and a 16-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon at 95 proof, crafted from rare, long-aged Kentucky stocks. Together, these expressions signal a deliberate step back toward the quality and identity that made Black Maple Hill a sought-after name in the first place.
Of course, all of that is marketing. Any number of NDPs have come and gone with claims of honoring heritage or bottling “premium” whiskey. What gives me hope in this instance is that Fortuna, that attempt to replicate a bygone flavor profile, was indeed very good. I’ve tasted other Rare Character releases of legitimate quality since then. And the brand continues to be well regarded on the bourbon social meds.
So here we are, three weeks after uncorking and two pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using both a simple brandy glass and traditional Glencairn.
And for regular readers of the blog, this bottle is also notable for being the first of twelve purchases I’ve allowed myself for the yearlong period of June 2026 to June 2027. (Wha-? Deets here.) That just means an added feeling for me of toasting the first fruit off the tree of my experiment, and so an added sense of hope and anticipation.
Let’s take a sip.
COLOR – soft and dusty medium-oranges, very drippy in the glass
NOSE – cinnamon and allspice, oak, pulpy orange rind and zest, vanilla, dry caramel fudge
TASTE – the oak amps up, the vanilla and dry caramel fudge, the pulpy orange zest adding its sweet citric accent
FINISH – immediately darker oak and vanilla, the orange zest steps back, a nice lingering warmth
OVERALL – If this ain’t Knob Creek I’m a monkey’s uncle
I may be a monkey’s uncle. Who knows with sourcing these days. But that oak / cinnamon / orange zest triad that dominates this bourbon takes me right to Jim Beam, and the Knob Creek corner of their endeavors most specifically.
It’s good. I’m glad I didn’t pay msrp. Because why pay more for this rather than pick up a solid 7 or 9-year Knob Creek? Rare Character has also put out 11 and 16-year editions under their revived Black Maple Hill label. I’d be curious if those come from the same source.
But anyway they’ve done a fine job of selecting and blending some solid Kentucky bourbon here. The bottle and label are elegant and attractive. The price is too high for the experience, the wide world of the post Bourbon Boom era considered. But that’s how Rare Character rolls and they’re far from alone in that regard.
I’ll sip this neat on my back porch or in my garden. The 95 proof is very approachable, with enough heft to offer solid support to the flavors. Like Knob Creek, I imagine this too would make a great rustic Old Fashioned, though I have cheaper bourbons on hand for that task. And at some point I’ll crack open some Knob Creek and do a comparison. Until then…
Cheers!
Last Call
So I went ahead and cracked open a Knob Creek Single Barrel I had on hand. Aged 10 years and bottled at 120 proof. I brought it down to ~95 proof with some water and let it sit, then compared it next to some Black Maple Hill.
The color isn’t something to compare fairly, given the elements of added water in the Knob Creek and it being a single barrel in contrast to the Black Maple Hill’s blend. But they do share a certain range of oranges, with the proofed-down Knob Creek showing a few notches darker overall.
On the nose, the oak and baking spices are a dead match. No question. (Well, question. I really can’t confirm by my little ol’ nose alone.) The Knob Creek also offers some cherry and dark chocolate that I don’t get in the Black Maple Hill.
On the taste, also very similar. Here they both have a chocolatey quality, with the Black Maple Hill leaning milk chocolate and the Knob Creek leaning dark. The cherry note I got on the Knob Creek’s nose is now very subdued, eventually easing back in for a return on the finish. There is not much of the Black Maple Hill’s orange zest note on the Knob Creek, unless I search carefully and even then it might be suggestion or proximity pulling it out.
Though certainly not twins, these are comparable enough experiences to strongly suggest they are siblings. The Knob Creek is suffering a bit from my watering it down. I tasted it at its full 120-proof throttle on uncorking it, and its oak / baking spice / cherry combo was exceptional. I’ll not likely water it down going forward. But for the sake of pseudo-science, here we are.
So, source confirmed? No. Only Rare Character can do that. But I’m convinced. And anyway now I have two good bottles of Kentucky bourbon on hand—one at a nice 95 proof, the other at a surprisingly easygoing 120 proof, both excellent.
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 