Kentucky distiller Marianne Eaves releases new 'Forbidden Bourbon'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's a brand new bourbon for people to try this summer.

Marianne Eaves, founder of Forbidden Bourbon, joined WDRB Mornings on Saturday to share insight about the new bourbon.

Eaves was born in Tennessee and raised in Kentucky. Eaves started in the industry at Brown-Forman after earning a chemical engineering degree.

"I just fell in love with it. I had no palate for bourbon before I started in the industry, so it was really something I learned on the job," Eaves said. "My on-the-job training was drinking."

She then became the state's first female bourbon master distiller.

Eaves started development for Forbidden Bourbon in 2016.

"So my now business partners with Forbidden Bourbon approached me through social media, they had learned about me in publications I had been written up in ," Eaves said. "They wanted to do something different."

They wanted her to create a different product in the bourbon industry.

"I have always believed there is more innovation ahead for bourbon," Eaves said. "To have this chance to make a new recipe with a different kind of process, it kind of puts my stake in the ground."

The initial 48-barrel batch, which has been aging for five years, is 95.2 proof.

"The small batch is all about the finish, the texture, the mouth feel of the product," said Eaves. "It has some beautiful flavors, it has some creamy, grainy, wheat, citrus notes. It does lean sweeter because it is a wheated bourbon."

Forbidden Bourbon also offers three single-barrel bottles.

"The reception for the product has been amazing, people seem to be really enjoying it," Eaves said.

Eaves wants the bourbon industry to be more inclusive in the future.

"Being a master distiller who was forbidden from doing my job as as woman until 1974 when the laws change, I'm excited to carry that flag and move us forward," Eaves said.

Forbidden Bourbon is available in Kentucky and South Carolina retail stores.