We’re real big appreciators here at Maxim for what Rick and Ricky Johnson are doing with their burgeoning 15 Stars label. Launched in 2019, the father-son duo quickly built a name for themselves by sourcing exquisite whiskey from across America, mostly bourbons, ryes and wheated whiskeys. Utilizing the various ingredients they gathered from their far-flung collection, the duo leans on the younger Ricky’s talented palate to carefully blend these various barrels to create an impressive roster of limited edition whiskies. Among them our Spirit Of The Week 15 Stars Three Ports Bourbon—a sumptuous blend of 9- and 15-year-old Kentucky bourbons finished in a trio of port casks: Ruby, Tawny and White. Three Ports claimed to be the first whiskey ever finished with three different port barrels, highlighting exactly what the brand is about: innovation, complexity, and balance.
When we spoke with the Johnson duo earlier this year for that superb bourbon, they teased us with the knowledge that they’ve been working on their own distillate using the very same heritage corn used in their Black Jewel popcorn family business. Fitting, as these heirloom colored corns—red, white, blue, and black—were the basis for a theoretical business plan Ricky dreamt up for a college class that they ended up turning into 15 Stars. To see if the idea had legs, Rick and Ricky commissioned some tests with the respected Bardstown Bourbon Company. They discovered Black Jewel’s proprietary ancestral Baby Black Corn closely mirrored the sugar content of bourbon’s traditional yellow dent corn, and therefore began distilling. Then began the long wait for their experiment in heritage corns to reach maturity.
“Bourbon is a waiting game; there is no rushing great bourbon, and we believe that the most important ingredient in a fine bourbon is time,” Rick explains about the patience they needed to exercise waiting for their whiskey to mature. “We love each of the whiskies that we first distilled and we have kept everything about them the same. So every year we lay down more and more of each of them.”
Now this summer, for the first time the Johnsons are blending some of these homemade whiskeys into a finished product. Collected under their first sub label, dubbed First West, two of the three debut expressions, Small Batch and Toasted Oak, include their own distillate. The mash bill is comprised mostly of their red, white, and blue proprietary corn varieties (70%), rounded out with rye (18%) and malted barley (12%), aged for a full five years. The Extra Aged utilizes only sourced whiskeys.
For both the Small Batch and Toasted Oak, their 5-year-old 70% corn/ 18% rye / 12% malted barley whiskey is blended with sourced 6-year and 7-year whiskey. Both use the same 7-year whiskey, however the the 6-year old in the Toasted Oak has a higher rye content than that used in the Small Batch. The major difference between the two is that the Toasted Oak is “also accented with a special blend of two different toasted barrel profiles,” Ricky explains. “One being a heavy toast that imparts oak notes, and the other being more caramel and brown sugar forward.”
And what about the Extra Aged, you might ask? “Extra Aged is what it says,” Rick deadpans. “Survey bourbon aficionados in Kentucky about age and most will say that at 8-9 years of age a bourbon is possibly at a peak, so that’s what we have here: a blend of two 8-year-old and one 9-year-old Kentucky bourbons that delivers everything that extra age should give.”
Regardless of whatever whiskey 15 Stars release, one aspect never forgotten by the Johnsons is the importance of proofing—the term for adding water to the whiskey coming out of the barrel. You see most labels proof a whiskey down to 80-proof (40-percent ABV) to maximize volume and cost efficiency. This is what the Johnsons refer to as “Account Proofing.” Or they proof down to Bottled-In-Bond requirements of 100-proof (50-percent ABV), what the Johnson’s dub “Market Proofing.” Worthy of note, 15 Stars always adjusts each whiskey independently, proofing instead to optimize the flavor profile and mouthfeel as an integral step in the blending process.
“During our blending process, when we’re trying various component percentages in the blend, we’re also trying these different blends at like five different proofs up and down the alcohol range to try and figure out where we where we like them proof-wise,” Ricky explained to us earlier this year when we discussed their Three Ports expression. “Because proofing of bourbon really affects the flavors that are pronounced in it.”
Fittingly, each of the three expressions in the inaugural First West collection are bottled at different potencies: Small Batch at 102-proof, Toasted Oak at 98-proof, and Extra Aged at 100-proof. “How could we pick a favorite? Which kid do we love more?” Ricky responds when asked which is their favorite of the three new First West options. “Truthfully, we do love them all and each brings something different to a pour and to a mixed drink.”
“They are each selling at about the same rate,” his father adds, noting how the price points of each—$59 for the Small Batch, $69 for the Toasted Oak, and $79 for the Extra Aged—make the First West trio among the most affordable 15 Stars yet. “But if we had to choose one last sip before we pass from this earth and from just these three, I would probably choose the Small Batch. Ricky is still deciding.”
“Each of the whiskies in the First West lineup is blended and flavor proofed for outstanding flavor and rich mouthfeel,” Ricky says, wrapping up the conversation. “Look at what sticks to the sides of the glass as you twist it, and you can see the viscosity and richness that will also coat your mouth and let the flavor linger. Each of the whiskies bring this, and that’s part of what we are looking for when we make a whiskey.”
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