I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. I’d like to thank Articulate Productions and BeamSuntory for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.
If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that last week I spent the majority of my time somewhere outside Las Vegas. I’m not a huge fan of Vegas itself, but I do love all the beautiful places that are within a couple hours drive of it. And so, the first thing I would do every day is leave Las Vegas. Over the course of the week, I visited Death Valley National Park, Mojave National Preserve, Red Rock National Conservation Area, Valley of Fire, and Joshua Tree National Park. Beautiful places, all of them. But every evening, I would find my back on the Strip surrounded by places that were more than happy to sell me liquor. Of those, I found a couple places that made excellent cocktails. And since I much prefer a good cocktail to cheap liquor, I frequented them most nights.
As I was still in the mood for cocktails when I got home, I was happy to see the bottle of Legent sitting on my cocktail station. Among the marketing materials that came with it, were a bunch of cocktail recipes. I was happy to try a few of them. In the name of research, of course.
So what is Legent anyway? Simply put, its base is Jim Beam Bourbon. After aging, some of the bourbon is finished in Sherry and red-wine casks. After aging and finishing, Suntory Chief Blender, Shinji Fukuyo, took those finished and straight bourbons and blended them into Legent.
Like I said, I tried a few of the cocktails that came in the marketing materials. (They are also available on the Legent Bourbon website.) I tried the Legent Manhattan, the Old Pals and my favorite of the bunch: the Kentucky Kyushiki. I liked that one so much that I am going to share it.
Kentucky Kyushiki
2 parts Legent™ Bourbon
1/2 part green tea simple syrup (use green tea as the liquid for your syrup instead of water)
2-4 dashes of lavender bitters
Lemon peel for garnish
Stir all ingredients with ice, serve on the rocks and garnish with an expressed lemon peel.
Legent Bourbon
Purchase info: This bottle was graciously sent to my by BeamSuntory for review purposes. Suggested retail price is $34.99. It is available in “select markets.”
Details: 47% ABV. Bourbon partially finished in red wine and sherry casks.
Nose: Mint, caramel, cinnamon, dried grain, green tea.
Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, mint, caramel and peanut.
Finish: Warm and long with lingering cinnamon, mint and peanut.
Thoughts: I tried this one alongside Jim Beam Bonded and it compared very favorably. It retains many of the Jim Beam flavor characteristics but presents them in a more nuanced fashion. Especially when used in the cocktail above. Both made a good cocktail but the Legent was a bit more refined.
If you are a fan of Jim Beam branded bourbons, this is certainly one that you will want to pick up and sip neat. If you aren’t normally a fan of the Jim Beam lineup, it might still be worth picking up because this makes a fantastic cocktail base. I like this one and if it comes to Minnesota, I’ll be sure to keep a bottle in my cocktail station.
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