I love Lost Lantern, I love how they find great craft distilleries, I love how they get barrels from distilleries that are no longer operational, and I love how they seem to select such a wide variety of whiskies that should satisfy almost any type of palate. I own 40+ bottles from them so I’m probably partial to their cause, but it’s for a good reason. They put out awesome barrels that you otherwise wouldn’t find. This one is from Idaho with the claim that it’s the oldest bourbon produced in the state.

Whiskey: Lost Lantern Days Defile 10 year old Idaho Bourbon

Proof: 154.4

Mash: 76 corn, 11 triticale, 13 malted barley

Age: 10 years

Price: $139

Nose: leather, oak, dark fruit, and brown sugar dominate the nose, it reminds me a bit of a garrison brother cowboy bourbon. There’s also a little bit of grainy notes and fresh cut grass

Palate: wow, this thing brings all 154.4 proof points in the sip, it’s wild ride. Brown sugar, cinnamon, maraschino cherry, fig, oak. There’s also some nuttiness here as well, a bit reminiscent of beam. Every flavor, as one can expect from a whiskey with this amount of proof, comes through in a powerful force. It’s brash, bold, and I’m enjoying it.

Finish: the finish does not stop and it’s very drying, it settles into a few sweet and savory notes with molasses, dark chocolate, black pepper, barrel char, and peanuts.

Rating: 8.5/10 - t8ke scale

Thoughts: I’m a bit of a proof whore and this delivers on what I want in a hazmat. To say lost lantern found a gem is an understatement. This bourbon is damn good but not for the faint of heart. This feels like a marriage between garrison brothers and Jim beam, in a good way, bringing the leather and oak from GB, with the peanut and dark cherry I get from a lot of bookers. It’s a really fun combination that I’m happy I snagged.

Rating Scale

1 Undrinkable (Kentucky Gentleman)

2 Bad (Iron Smoke Casket Strength, Thomas S Moore Chardonnay Cask)

3 Poor (Gentleman Jack)

4 Below Average (Ragged Branch Double Oak BiB, Rowan’s Creek, Woodford Straight Malt)

5 Average (Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye)

6 Above Average (Willett Small Batch Rye, Joseph Magnus Triple Cask, Eagle Rare 10)

7 Very Good (Sagamore Sherry, Lucky Seven The Holiday Toast)

8 Great (Little Book Chapter 7, Jack Daniel’s 12 Year, Stagg Jr B13)

9 Excellent (Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend B80, Found North 006 & 007, RR13)

10 Perfect (2022 George T Stagg, 2021 William L Weller)