Two great tastes that ... taste great together?

updated 3:15 p.m. ET July 2, 2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kentucky bourbon whiskey is commonly mixed with water or soda, but wine?

Brown-Forman Corp. has put a new twist on its premium Woodford Reserve bourbon with a limited edition variation distinct for spending a few months aging in the company’s Sonoma-Cutrer wine barrels.

The experiment blends California chardonnay with Kentucky whiskey culture.

The result is called Woodford Reserve’s Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, produced at the Woodford Reserve distillery in the heart of bluegrass country near Versailles.

It’s the second time Brown-Forman has dabbled in a special whiskey that’s an offshoot of its small-batch Woodford Reserve brand. The goal is to build a bigger following for Woodford Reserve in the competitive super-premium bourbon category, and this time perhaps win crossover business from wine drinkers.

“We certainly believe this has a nice connection back to Woodford Reserve, and it would have interest to people who are involved in premium whiskeys,” said Wayne Rose, Woodford’s global brand director.

He added that it could stir wine drinkers to “think a little differently about bourbon.”

Overall, sales in the bourbon category are up about 2 percent, driven mainly by demand for premium and super-premium brands. Still, those premium categories aren’t close to reaching maturity, Rose said.

In the tequila category, about 13 percent of volume comes from super-premium products, he said. For scotches, super-premiums account for about 9 percent of sales, but for bourbon it’s only 3½ percent, he said.

“This category is highly underdeveloped,” Rose said.

The Sonoma-Cutrer Finish whiskey will be sold in a number of states spanning the country starting in early July, retailing at $89.99 per bottle, compared to about $30 for the regular Woodford Reserve. Only 900 cases will be available.

Brown-Forman isn’t the only bourbon maker branching into special whiskeys to stir interest.

In September, Heaven Hill Distilleries will introduce a limited-edition, 12-year-old bourbon as the inaugural release in a series called Parker’s Heritage Collection, named after co-master distiller Parker Beam, said company spokesman Larry Kass. The special whiskey was aged in barrels given an extra-heavy char, which brings out greater hints of caramel and vanilla flavors, he said.

Kass said the series is aimed at whiskey connoisseurs.

“It is an opportunity for us to regularly release limited quantities of extra special, unique styles of American whiskeys that people are very excited about right now,” he said.

In the past, Jim Beam also came out with limited edition bourbons, including a 20-year-old bourbon finished in port-wine barrels, said Jerry Dalton, Beam’s master distiller.

Woodford Reserve master distiller Chris Morris said his latest limited-edition whiskey spent four months in French oak wine barrels, giving the liquor more of a sweet fruit hint combined with caramel and butterscotch flavors.

Creating the whiskey was a learning process for Morris and Sonoma-Cutrer winemaker Terry Adams.

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