SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — The Maven Distillery has introduced The Maven Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a 7-plus-year-old, 94-proof bourbon produced from a blend of six whiskeys and incorporating five varieties of oak.
The bourbon has a suggested retail price of $199 and is available beginning this month at select Kentucky retailers.
The Maven’s whiskey inventory was developed over approximately a decade through self-distillation, custom-specified sourcing and barrel acquisitions. The distillery says the inventory includes different mashbills, whiskey styles, barrel types and oak profiles.
Master Distiller Kevin Curtis, Master Blender Steve Hughes and Associate Master Blender Ashley Moore lead the distilling and blending team.
“With The Maven, we set out to move beyond the singular mindset that has defined the bourbon category for most of my career,” Hughes said. “We built a library spanning different mashbills, whiskey styles, barrel types and oak profiles, giving us an entirely new palette to work from.”
The Maven’s maturation process uses toasted barrels and five varieties of oak: American oak, Chinkapin oak, Garryana from the Pacific Northwest, French oak and Mizunara from Hokkaido, Japan.
The final bourbon combines whiskeys aged in toasted American oak with whiskeys initially matured in traditional charred oak barrels and later finished in toasted oak casks.
Hughes developed a proprietary toasting profile with the distillery’s barrel supplier. Toasting exposes barrels to heat for a longer period at lower temperatures than charring and can produce different interactions between the whiskey and compounds in the wood.
The Maven is bottled at 47% alcohol by volume, or 94 proof.
According to the distillery’s tasting notes, the bourbon has aromas of apricot jam, baked apple, graham cracker, toasted coconut, crème brûlée and dark chocolate-covered almond.
The palate is described as having dried stone fruit, caramelized vanilla, toasted almond, bittersweet chocolate and gingerbread spice. The finish includes dark chocolate, gingerbread, toasted coconut, caramelized sugar and toasted oak.
The Maven received a 99-point score and Double Gold medal at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
The Maven Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is initially being distributed through select Kentucky retailers. The distillery said distribution will follow in New York and California, with nationwide availability planned through online retailers. The suggested retail price is $199.
