Whiskey Of The Week: Lost Lantern’s United States Of Bourbon

Enthusiasm is far from unanimous, in these strange, hyperpartisan times, for the nation to come together and celebrate America’s 250th birthday. But there are certain aspects of America that most of us, at least, can agree on. The beauty of a well-made burger. The Super Bowl, whether we’re watching it for the commercials, the halftime show, or the actual game. Jazz, from Louis Armstrong’s rollicking Hot 5’s and 7’s recordings in the 1920s all the way down to Kamasi Washington a century later.

And, of course, bourbon, such a singularly American spirit that Congress wrote it into law back in 1964 — no whiskey made outside the 50 states can carry the name, even if it follows every other bourbon-related rule to the letter. A lot of folks still think bourbon can only, legally speaking, be made in Kentucky. That’s never been the case, though in a practical sense it was mostly true — as recently as 2000, only a handful of states were producing bourbon, and even today, according to the Kentucky Tourism website, 95% of all bourbon is still made there.

But things really started changing in the early 2000s, when Tuthilltown Spirits became the first legal craft distillery in New York state since Prohibition, and got a ton of press for their flagship product, Hudson Baby Bourbon. Within a few years, it seemed like small whiskey distilleries were cropping up all over the country. Or rather, it didn’t just seem like it — it was the case. As of 2025, there were more than 2,200 craft distilleries operating in all fifty states, which is actually a somewhat precipitous decline from a couple of years earlier.

A craft distillery, in case you’re wondering, is defined in part by its production levels — less than 750,000 proof gallons annually (by contrast, Wild Turkey’s annual capacity is about 14 million proof gallons). Not all American craft distilleries produce bourbon, but a lot of them do, and for more than five years, Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, the founders of Lost Lantern, have been traveling the country to create the ultimate blend from every state in the Union.

Founded in 2018, Lost Lantern quickly gained a reputation as peerless curators of indie whiskeys, both in blends and from single distilleries. Want to find out about Massachusetts single malt? Bourbon from Montana? Rye from North Carolina? They’ve got ‘em, and then some. Ganley-Roper and Polonski don’t just have excellent taste in whiskey (they personally vet everything they source), they have the desire to put in the miles to seek out the good stuff.

Lost Lantern’s passion for sourcing whiskey from every corner of this great land of ours has reached its apotheosis with its tribute to America on its 250th birthday, The United States Of Bourbon. It’s a project that couldn’t have come to fruition at any other time in bourbon’s long history, and it still seems a little bonkers in theory. A blend of fifty bourbons is crazy enough, but a blend of bourbons from every state — including a few I didn’t know made bourbon — gives a whole new meaning to the American motto, E pluribus unum (“out of many, one”). But it’s not just an exercise in symbolism, it’s a bourbon that’s well worth drinking.

It’s actually two bourbons well worth drinking. The US of B comes in both 100 proof and cask strength (61.5% ABV) offerings. It also comes in a blend that’s limited to bourbons from the original 13 states, but that’s another story for another time. Personally, I think 100 is the ideal proof — tame enough for sipping, potent enough for mixing. I’m personally a little bit tired of cask strength whiskeys, but I need to remind myself that “cask strength” is really synonymous with “You get to water it down as much or as little as you want! You don’t HAVE to drink it neat! You’re essentially getting extra whiskey!”

With that in mind… both bottles carry a two-year age statement because that’s the age of the youngest whiskeys in the blend — the oldest are 10 years old. They’re non-chill filtered and blended and bottled in Vermont. 100 Proof bottles ($79.99) outnumber Cask Strength $99.99) by a bit more than two to one (6,780 to 3,300). I don’t know if even the Lost Lantern folks themselves could tell you how much of the blend is, say, J. Rieger & Co. from Missouri and how much is Denali Spirits from Alaska, but it makes for a satisfying whole. Burnt caramel, candied orange peel, creamy vanilla and lightly spicy oak make for an excellent sipper.

The cask strength has a more viscous mouthfeel and adds pronounced notes of dark, slightly bitter chocolate. I took my own advice and added a little water, which can often mess with the flavor profile, but in this case it just toned down the alcoholic heat without otherwise affecting the palate. Which one to get? Gun to head, I’d probably go with the cask strength, but I’d miss the crème caramel notes of the 100 Proof. I’d say the best answer is to throw a big July 4th party and serve them both. Their story is just as fun to tell as the bourbon is to drink.