Last Updated on December 29, 2022 by Lydia Martin
Stellum Bourbon is a multi-award-winning new national brand of bourbon made from three blends of Indiana bourbon mash bills.
We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the bourbon, its price, and whether or not it’s worth it to get a bottle for yourself.
All You Need To Know About Stellum Bourbon
Stellum Spirits is a relatively new face in the industry and was first released in 2021. This bourbon was crafted for the modern age, using simple, elegant blends and single barrels to celebrate the modern-day whiskey drinker.
Stellum Bourbon is produced by Barrell Craft Spirits, known for their namesake product Barrell Bourbon. The label has the following inaugural flagship offerings: Stellum bourbon (blue label) and Stellum rye (green label), single-barrel bourbon, single barrel rye, and their limited release premium expression of black bourbon and black rye, all offered at cask strength.
Did You Know?
Brief History
Joe Beatrice, a passionate mountaineer, founded Stellum Spirits. He wanted to create a label that elevated the status of American whiskey upwards and onwards from barrel to lips, much like how he scaled mountains. The brand name derives from the Latin name for “star.”
Production & Maturation Process
Stellum uses a multi-step blending process to blend the bourbons. It uses no chill-filtering and is bottled at a cask strength of 114.98 proof (57.49 percent ABV).
The brand refers to this blending technique as “daisy chain,” wherein a large portion of the whiskey is blended together, with the rest topped and adjusted with other cask strength barrels for consistency in both proof and taste.
Mash Bill
The brand has not revealed its formula publicly — the only thing we know about it is that Stellum Bourbon finds its flavor in the blend of three Indiana bourbon mash bills: two of which are high-rye, and the last being almost exclusively corn. It is then blended with older barrels from both Kentucky and Tennessee.
Ownership
Stellum Spirits is owned and produced by Louisville-based company Barrell Craft Spirits.
Tasting Notes
Palate
The whiskey opens with a uniquely Stellum flavor profile, with lots of brown sugar, cinnamon baked apple, and other baking spices. The spice is supported by tart underripe blackberry, vanilla, and cotton candy.
Nose & Appearance
Stellum has a deep amber color. It has sweet aromas of honeysuckle, green apple, and nectarine, which contrasts perfectly with anise seed, light tobacco, and creamy macadamia nuts. The high proof also didn’t make us wince, which was a nice surprise.
Finish & Aftertaste
The toasted rye bursts forth in Stellum’s finish. The palate carries over into the finish, revealing spicy notes of candied ginger, black pepper, and cayenne pepper before slowly fading into syrupy sweet honey.
Price & Value
You can expect to pay around $50-ish for a 750ml bottle of Stellum. We think that’s a bargain, considering it’s a cask strength bourbon.
What Makes Stellum Bourbon Unique?
What makes Stellum unique is its use of three different bourbons sourced from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and the special blending technique.
Despite the whiskey coming from different blends, the “daisy chain” blending technique ensures that each bottle stays as good as the last one. They also produce this bottle all year round.
Is It MGP Bourbon?
Its component whiskey comes from Indiana, and although the brand has never confirmed it, we can assume it is MGP.
MGP’s got a bad rap, but we don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with it.
What’s MGP in Bourbon?
MGP stands for Midwest Grain Products — one of the bourbon industry’s best-kept secrets. This Indiana-based distillery sells its blends to other brands for reselling.
It’s said that the Indiana bourbon used in Stellum’s blend does come from MGP, which might make some purists scoff.
Personally, we think there’s nothing wrong with mass-produced whiskey, and it’s not like the brands are just bottling and labeling MGP to be sold — premium brands put their signature touch to it first.
Common Stellum Bourbon Prices
| Bottle Type | Size | Alcohol By Volume | Average Price |
| Stellum Bourbon | 750ml | 57.5 | Around $50 |
| Stellum Bourbon Single Barrel – Cygnus | 750ml | 59.7 | Around $53 |
| Stellum Black | 750ml | 54.6 | Around $85 |
Compared to Other Bourbons
Sam Houston Bourbon
Like Stellum, Sam Houston uses no chill filtering and has a solid proof at 103. [1] Their oldest bottle is aged 15 years, with sweet corn notes and a nice barley finish making it an easy sipper.
A 750ml bottle of Sam Houston costs about north of $100 — easily double the price of Stellum.
Blue Run Bourbon
Blue Run is a pretty rare bottle — it is said that only 2,600 bottles were released in the first run! The initial sweetness has an underlying rye spice, with layers of toffee, dry oak, and cinnamon-baked apples.
This rare bottle costs around $169.
Yellowstone Bourbon
Yellowstone bourbon features a blend of four and seven-year-old bourbons to create a spirit with an interesting plethora of flavors: oak, toffee, and old leather, with rye spice and black pepper.
A 750ml bottle of Yellowstone has more or less the same pricing as Stellum at $43 a pop. Learn about who makes Yellowstone bourbon here.
Popular Stellum Bourbon Cocktail Recipes
Queen of Wands
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 2 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Stellum Black
- 1 oz vermouth di amaro
- 0.5 oz Amaro Montenegro
- 0.5 oz Campari
- Cherry
Instructions:
Put all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir well until combined. Strain and pour into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a cherry.
Serving: 1
Crescent Coffee
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 2 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Stellum Bourbon
- 1.5 oz cold brew espresso
- 0.75 oz coffee liqueur
- 0.5 oz demerara syrup
- A dash of Pastis
- Candied pecan
Instructions:
Add all ingredients (except the pecan) into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake well. Strain and pour into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a candied pecan.
Serving: 1
FAQs
Where is Stellum bourbon from?
Stellum Bourbon comes from blending three Indiana bourbon mash bills (two of which are high rye and the other almost exclusively corn) with older barrels from both Kentucky and Tennessee.
Is Stellum bourbon top-shelf?
Yes, Stellum Bourbon is top-shelf! This one-of-a-kind liquor is an interesting choice to replace your favorites because it doesn’t have the flavor profile of classic whiskeys. It’s also pretty inexpensive for a high-proof whiskey.
Final Thoughts on Stellum Bourbon
Stellum Bourbon is a unique blended whiskey that combines three Indiana bourbons with barrels from Kentucky and Tennessee. It is more on the savory side, with intense clove, cinnamon, and ginger, with a long, smooth finish.
It uses a proprietary “daisy chain” blending process that ensures the final spirit stays consistent for the modern whiskey drinker.
If you happen to chance upon this bottle in your favorite liquor store, it’s something that you should try at least once.
Reference:
- https://www.winemag.com/2021/06/21/chill-filtered-spirits-whiskey-bourbon/
Lydia Martin hails from Redmond, Washington, where you’ll find some of the best cocktail bars and distilleries that offer a great mix of local drinks. She used to work as a bar manager in Paris and is a self-taught mixologist whose passion for crafting unique cocktails led her to create Liquor Laboratory. Lydia can whip up a mean Margarita in seconds! Contact at [email protected] or learn more about us here.
