Roasted coffee bean | Cinnamon | Caramel | Green grape | Vanilla extract

Stone fruits | Citrus zest | Brown sugar | Toasted seasoned oak | Toffee | Hint of raisin

Baking spices | Stone fruits | Light leather | Wood spice

Silverthorn Reserve is an independent whiskey producer in Baltimore, Maryland, that debuted earlier in 2026. The company was founded by Drew Thorn, former CEO of Sagamore Spirit, where he served for over a decade helping shape the company. The company is focused on small scale batches and hand-selected single barrels, with their Blender’s Art series specifically using 10 barrels or less per release. Silverthorn Reserve is also deliberately transparent about the components of the blends, highlighting age, percentage, source information, and mashbill on the label and in their marketing materials. This Silverthorn Reserve 10 Year Blender’s Art Bourbon Blend is the first batch release in the series, is non-chill filtered, and combines a total of eight barrels in the blend, covering three distillery sources across three different states and 4 mashbills.  

While the exact sources are not openly disclosed, they are rumored to be Barton 1792 (Kentucky), MGP (Indiana), and a ghost distillery from Georgia. The inclusion of 10% of the Georgia bourbon component in the blend is likely what gives it a bit of an unfamiliar edge, as it doesn’t necessarily taste specifically derived from the more familiar-tasting rumored MGP or Barton 1792 sources, though that edge is nuanced. It has a pleasant synergy to it, and does well integrating a hint of roasted coffee bean and green grape on the nose with citrus zest and stone fruits on the palate and a lingering wood spice note on the finish. Caramel, vanilla, brown sugar, baking spices, and leather are also present, but the combination of everything is what stands out.

This is just the first batch, but it demonstrates the decade-plus of experience Thorn brings to the newly formed brand. Focused on blending and with a healthy supply of barrels in the marketplace, this small-scale operation will be one to watch closely as they attempt to cherry pick barrels and combine them to create potentially never-seen-before blends.

The bourbon in review is bottle number 1,402 out of 1,600.