Peach bread | Light oak | White peppercorn | Faint vanilla | Nougat | Touch of honeycomb

Baking spices | Rye spice | Spiced caramel | Honey | Vanilla cake | Hot cross bun | Dried fruit | Spiced pecan

Spiced dried cherry | Rye spice | Sharp black peppercorn spice | Cinnamon stick | Aged dry oak | Faint peach pie | Leather | Lingering dry spice

Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company is a brewery and distillery operation based in Lexington, Kentucky. The company was founded in 1999 by Pearse Lyons, the president and founder of animal nutrition company Alltech. They made a splash in the beer scene thanks to their Kentucky Ale, and later opened up Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. in 2012 and launched Town Branch Bourbon.

Town Branch Imperium MMXXVI marks the third annual release in the series. This year’s edition continues to draw from Town Branch’s exclusive “Imperium Bourbon Stocks.” As the company tastes through barrels throughout the year, they set aside those that they feel meet the quality level for an Imperium release, which totaled eight barrels for MMXXVI. This year includes a mix of 50% pot-still and column-still rye bourbons, and 50% column-still wheated bourbon.

With wheat being the slightly more predominant grain in the overall mix, it's no surprise that this year’s Imperium release pulls out sweeter notes throughout. Peach bread, faint vanilla, and nougat scents lead the aroma before Imperium’s rye component emerges as the sip transitions to the midpoint. Baking spices, rye spice, and spiced caramel dominate before notes of a hot cross bun and dried fruit bubble up. Spiced dried cherry and rye spice kick off the finish along with a notable aged dry oak note. Morphing to a lingering dry spice, Imperium MMXXVI ends things on an overall pleasing note.

Like last year’s edition, Imperium MMXXVI offers a broad range of flavors, leaning into its wheated and rye components at different times. However, the ability for those flavors to harmonize still leaves room to be desired. Each is more present in various parts of the sip, with wheat controlling the nose while rye dominates the finish. The midpoint displays both, with rye-influenced flavors still being slightly more dominant. All that to say, Imperium MMXXVI produces a roller coaster of a ride, yet still is able to wrangle the overall delivery into a pleasing package. Harmony is still to be desired in this series, but there is no doubt that Town Branch Distillery will have a real winner on their hands once they pull it all together.