Blade and Bow 12 Year Old Solera Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml

Blade and Bow 12-Year-Old Solera Reserve is a 104 proof (52% ABV) Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey released in July 2026 by Blade and Bow from the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, as the first entry in a new limited annual series. It starts as 12 year old Blade and Bow bourbon and is then finished and blended through a multi-vat solera rather than a single finishing cask.

The solera is the point of the brand and the point of this bottle. In a solera, whiskey is never fully drawn off: each batch leaves a portion behind, and new liquid is blended into what remains, so every bottling carries a trace of the ones before it. Blade and Bow built its identity on that method, and the Solera Reserve extends it by running the 12 year old bourbon through four separate large-format vintage vats instead of one — Cognac, Port, Bordeaux and Moscatel.

Each vat is there for a different reason. The Cognac vats contribute fruit esters and a rancio note; the Bordeaux and Port vats supply dark fruit and tannic structure; the Moscatel vats add aromatic lift and sweetness. Nicole Austin, Diageo's Director of American Whiskey Liquid Development and Capabilities, developed the whiskey and describes the aim as capturing fruit, tannin and aromatic lift without the pitfalls a single cask finish can bring. In her words, the method blends “new and older whiskey across multiple carefully chosen, large-format vintage vats to create a delicate weave of vibrant fruit and honey, layered over notes of vanilla, spice, and leather.”

The brand's published notes open on red fruit, dried fig and currant, move into a silky palate of caramelized sugar, dried fruit, almond toffee, cocoa and dark cherry, and finish on dark fruit and oak spice, where the tannin and wine acidity from the vats are held in check by corn sweetness. At 104 proof it sits well above the core Blade and Bow bottling, which is what gives those wine-cask layers something to carry them.

For collectors, this is the age-stated, higher-proof expression of the technique the brand is named for, and the first release in an annual series — meaning future editions will be drawn from a solera this bottling has already altered. It sits between the core range and the ultra-aged 22 and 30 year old limited releases in the Blade and Bow lineup.

• Size: 750ml
• Proof: 104 Proof (52% ABV)
• Age: 12 years
• Origin: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
• Distillery: Stitzel-Weller Distillery, Louisville, Kentucky (Diageo)
• Whiskey Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, multi-vat solera finished
• Cask/Cooperage: Solera finishing and blending across Cognac, Port, Bordeaux and Moscatel vats
• Bottling: Released July 2026; first release in a limited annual series
• Series: Blade and Bow Solera Reserve
• Selection: Developed by Nicole Austin, Director of American Whiskey Liquid Development and Capabilities, Diageo
• Tasting Notes: Nose: red fruit, dried fig, currant. Palate: caramelized sugar, dried fruit, almond toffee, cocoa, dark cherry. Finish: dark fruit and oak spice with tannin and wine acidity balanced by corn sweetness