October 31, 2025 9:40 am

BlackFork Farms GW Legacy Series

(Photo Credit: Blackfork Farms

The inspiration for Blackfork Farms GW Bourbon – comes from a much-quoted section of a speech delivered by Theodore Roosevelt at Sorbonne, in Paris France in 1909.  Gordon W. Ommen, 2nd great grandson of Poppe J, had this quote framed.  It has hung on his wall since college.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

In developing BlackFork Farms GW Bourbon, it seems appropriate to dare greatness.

We are on a journey to create the worlds finest bourbon.  A Journey involving the confluence of grain, time, and wood.

This Journey involves both art and science.  We honor tradition yet embrace technology. The Art of checking the “nose” and taste of the whiskey as it flows from the towering copper condensers of our custom handmade pot stills, and the Science of our state-of-the art Programable Logic Controller (PLC), which precisely manages temperatures and flow rates throughout the distillery.  We use Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) technology to map the spirits profile.

For BlackFork Farms Bourbon, GW represents the highest expression of the distiller’s art. It begins with smoke-dried native grains grown right here, on this seventh generation family farm. Then this extraordinary bourbon is double-pot distilled and aged 10 years in air-dried Ozark oak barrels. After aging, it is transferred into a series of toasted finishing casks—first American oak, then French oak, and finally, Mongolian oak. The result is a delightfully complex whiskey that delivers a truly transcendent sipping experience for true bourbon connoisseurs.

Blackfork Farms GW Legacy Series

Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Price: $365 750ml

Notes:

 The full mashbill follows:

Color: Mahogany

Nose: 95/100

Notes of Cream Brule, caramel, butterscotch and toasted oak. Overall a delightful nose!

Palate: 95/100

 Silky mouthfeel, toasted pecans, caramel, vanilla with pleasant oak overtones and a hint of wood smoke 

Finish: 95/100

 A long finish of caramel, toasted oak, vanilla and baking spices

Overall: 95/100

Recommendation: A must try, if you can find it! Overall a well balanced bourbon

Bill Varnell is the Publisher of Whiskey Network®  and is the curator of WBSE’s Rickhouse

"Whisky is liquid sunshine."

George Bernard Shaw

“The light music of whiskey falling into a glass – an agreeable interlude.”

James Joyce

More To Explore