Former maker of Burgundian Grand Cru wine Ray Walker is back in the United States and this time he’s launching Saint Cloud Kentucky Bourbon. The first American to produce wine from the famed Chambertin Grand Cru vineyard, the former Merrill Lynch financial consultant is now releasing a Bourbon that he has distilled with all of the lessons that were learned from French winemaking.
Walker created the Saint Cloud Bourbon distillery in 2016 with sourced barrels with an aim to spotlight distinctive Bourbons showcasing a perfect combination of power and elegance. Each Whiskey is selected using utmost care and science is completely left out of it. According to the distillery, this is Bourbon as art, as pleasure, and a defiant push against compromise of any sort.
While at Maison Ilan, Walker became known for making wines using non interventionist methods commonly practiced hundreds of years ago. They were routinely considered among the higher rated and most coveted wines in the region due to their aromatic beauty and grace.
Launched in June with a blended, under four-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Saint Cloud shifted to exclusively producing Single Barrel bourbons with a minimum age statement of 6 years old. The goal is to produce Bourbons that place a spotlight on their natural individuality, free from interventions such as filtering, proofing down or secondary finishing. “When you drink a glass of Saint Cloud, you are truly getting the same extraordinary experience you’d have from a tasting from the barrel,” says the Kentucky brand.
Saint Cloud recently began crafting its own Bourbon Whiskey from the ground up. This wheated Kentucky Bourbon will mature for a significant time in the barrel prior to release. Saint Cloud is distributed in 10 states across the United States. The distillery recently launched both its 13-year and 7-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Single Barrels that are both bottled at Barrel Proof and Unfiltered.