As September’s Bourbon Heritage Month approaches, whiskey drinkers will have no shortage of bottles competing for their attention. But one emerging American whiskey brand is looking well beyond Kentucky to tell its bourbon story.
Ghostwood Whiskey, a Montana-based whiskey company built around the imagery of campfires, wilderness and the stories shared over a pour, is positioning its lineup of blended bourbons and whiskey as an option for fall drinking, holiday entertaining and whiskey gifting.
And there are already some significant awards behind the bottles.
Ghostwood’s Premium 4-Grain Blended Bourbon Whiskey earned Double Gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in both 2023 and 2024, while two other expressions have also earned medals at the competition.
For bourbon drinkers looking to venture beyond the usual names this fall, Ghostwood offers three distinctly different ways to do it.
Ghostwood Whiskey traces its identity to founder and master blender Lucas Perks and his childhood camping experiences. According to the company, nights spent around a campfire sparked Perks’ fascination with the contrast between the comfort of the fire and the mysteries waiting in the darkness beyond it.
That experience ultimately became the inspiration behind Ghostwood. The brand’s distinctive black-and-white bottle design carries the idea further.
Each bottle features the silhouette of an actual American white oak tree from the founder’s family ranch. The tree appears in white against a black label, creating the impression of a lone tree illuminated by a campfire. There’s also an obvious whiskey connection: American white oak is the wood used for new charred oak containers required in bourbon production.
For Ghostwood, however, the tree is intended to represent more than whiskey maturation. It symbolizes the stories created when people gather — from celebrations and adventures to ghost stories and holiday memories. The company’s tagline summarizes that philosophy: “Go Beyond the Firelight.”
Here are Ghostwood’s three-bottle progression for whiskey drinkers:
- The centerpiece of the Ghostwood lineup is its Premium 4-Grain Blended Bourbon Whiskey. The expression has also received the company’s highest-profile awards to date. Ghostwood’s 4-Grain earned Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2023 and again in 2024.
Earning consecutive Double Gold medals gives the bottle an attention-grabbing credential for whiskey drinkers encountering Ghostwood for the first time. Four-grain bourbons typically incorporate corn along with three additional grains, offering blenders another way to develop layers of flavor and texture. For consumers looking for a new bottle during Bourbon Heritage Month, the back-to-back Double Gold wins make Ghostwood’s flagship expression the logical place to start exploring the brand.
- Ghostwood also offers a Blended Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Chardonnay Casks, bringing another dimension to the lineup. Finishing bourbon in a secondary barrel allows the whiskey to extract additional flavors after its initial maturation. In Ghostwood’s case, Chardonnay casks provide that second maturation influence.
The expression earned a Silver Medal at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It’s also a bottle likely to attract whiskey drinkers increasingly interested in finished bourbons, where producers use wine, rum, sherry and other casks to introduce flavors beyond those traditionally created by new charred American oak.
- For whiskey enthusiasts who prefer their bourbon closer to its natural barrel strength, Ghostwood offers Barrel Proof Black Premium 4-Grain Blended Bourbon Whiskey. The expression takes the brand’s four-grain approach into barrel-proof territory and has earned Silver Medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in both 2023 and 2024.
Bourbon Heritage Month is celebrated each September, providing an opportunity for whiskey drinkers to explore America’s native spirit and the rapidly expanding number of producers and brands operating beyond bourbon’s traditional Kentucky center of gravity.
Ghostwood provides an example of how broadly bourbon culture has expanded. While the brand is based in Montana, its identity still revolves around one of bourbon’s most important ingredients: American white oak.
The campfire theme also makes Ghostwood particularly well suited to the transition from summer into fall. Cooler evenings, outdoor gatherings, fireplaces and holiday entertaining are precisely the settings the company has built into its brand identity.
Ghostwood Whiskey is available through select retailers and can also be ordered online for direct shipping to most U.S. states, subject to applicable state alcohol shipping laws and availability.
The company’s website also offers cocktail recipes and food recipes that incorporate its whiskey. For a relatively young whiskey brand, Ghostwood has already accumulated an impressive collection of competition medals. Now the Montana company faces a different challenge: getting bourbon drinkers to discover it.
With Bourbon Heritage Month approaching, fall around the corner and holiday whiskey shopping soon to follow, Ghostwood may have picked the right time to invite drinkers to venture a little farther beyond the firelight.
