J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery of Frankfort, Kentucky, is releasing its highly anticipated Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) Bourbon April 21 as it kicks off new Sunday visitation hours. Also making its debut is an additional tasting experience which includes tastings straight from the barrel.
The CIB Bourbon is the latest bourbon release in J. Mattingly 1845’s CIB series. Combat Infantry Badges are awarded to Army enlisted infantry or special forces officers in the grade of Colonel or below who were engaged in active ground combat. Each year J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery donates a portion of the sales of the CIB bottles to a military-related nonprofit. This year’s recipient is Forgotten Coast K9, a nonprofit organization that helps provide service dogs to veterans and first responders with the mission to stop suicide in those communities by getting them the service dogs they need.
The 2024 CIB bourbon was aged for six and a half years and bottled at 116 proof. It has a smokey, brown sugar and banana nose with hints of sweet tobacco and baking spices. On the palate, expect banana, oak and brown sugar forward, with leathery oak on the mid palate and a finish of sweet tobacco and baking spices.
J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery has not released a CIB bourbon since 2021, and historically the bottles have sold out quickly. The first initial 50 bottles of the 2024 release were released during its National Pet Day Festival on April 13 and were met with eager anticipation. The remaining 450 bottles will be available upon opening on Sunday, April 21st at noon. Suggested retail pricing for a 750 mL of CIB is $155, with $30 of each bottle sale going to Forgotten Coast K9.
In addition to new Sunday hours, guests can now enjoy a new tasting experience allowing them to taste whiskey straight from the barrel. Now, guests have three different tasting opportunities when visiting J. Mattingly 1845:
- Heritage Tasting Experience – taste up to six different whiskies from J. Mattingly 1845, including the 90-proof and 100-proof bourbons that started it all, and the latest proprietary blends. But if you like something, you better grab a bottle of it, as the proprietary blends are made in very small batches and are custom creations by the in-house blending experts, never to be repeated. The cost of the Heritage Tasting Experience is $20 and it lasts about 20 minutes
- Single Barrel Tasting Experience – This is the newest addition to the J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery guest adventure and it allows visitors to taste straight from seven of barrels. Each barrel selected for the tasting has been carefully vetted by the expert blenders at J. Mattingly 1845, and has undergone the proprietary double-staving process, which adds charred staves to aging bourbon barrels twice during the blending process to create unmatched flavors. The cost of the Barrel Tasting Experience is $55 and it lasts a half hour.
- VIP Custom Bourbon Blending Experience – A bourbon connoisseur’s dream – allowing you to become a master blender for a day, choosing your own blend, bottle shape, custom label and even the wax color on the top. Starting with four pre-selected barrels, you will mix and blend the flavors under the expert guidance of the J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery team, then choose the other elements in the packaging and leave that day with your unique creation. No two bottles will ever be the same. The VIP Custom Blending Experience is $175 and takes approximately one hour. Additional bottles of your custom blend may be purchased for $120. Reservations are recommended for this experience.
“Throughout the year we have special releases that benefit many worthy nonprofit organizations,” said Jeff Mattingly, chief executive officer and founder, J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery. “The CIB release is always one of my favorites, as it honors Army veterans who saw combat on the ground, definitely heroes in my book. And to partner with Forgotten Coast K9 to help provide service dogs to military veterans and first responders just makes the release even more special .”
The CIB Bourbon will be available on-site at the Distillery and also online, with shipping to 45 U.S. states. J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery’s operating hours are Monday – Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday Noon – 6 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome for the tasting experiences, but reservations are suggested for the VIP Custom Bourbon Blending Experience. The Distillery is located at 20 Reilly Road in Frankfort, Ky.