{"id":267270,"date":"2026-06-15T13:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/267270\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T13:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:04:14","slug":"to-toast-americas-birthday-they-blended-bourbon-from-every-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/267270\/","title":{"rendered":"To Toast America\u2019s Birthday, They Blended Bourbon From Every State"},"content":{"rendered":"

Outside the building in rural Vermont where a company called Lost Lantern<\/a> blends whiskey sits a gray Prius V with more than 120,000 miles on the odometer.<\/p>\n

It was brand-new when Lost Lantern\u2019s owners, Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, bought it in 2018. They had just quit their jobs in Manhattan (he was a drinks writer and editor, she was a sales manager for Astor Wines & Spirits), put their belongings in storage, founded a whiskey company and taken off for eight months. They visited 60-plus distilleries in 32 states on the first of what would be many road trips.<\/p>\n

On Monday, 20 national park visits, hundreds of hotel overnights, one overheated engine, one marriage and one baby later, they are releasing the result: United States of Bourbon, a blend of 50 bourbons, one from each state, to mark America\u2019s 250th birthday.<\/p>\n

While most whiskeys are identified by their age or grains or barrels used for aging, this one could be measured in miles. To buy barrels of the component whiskeys, Mr. Polonski visited several distilleries in each state and selected one bourbon to represent that state in the mix. (His wife joined him when she wasn\u2019t in Vermont blending whiskeys.) The label lists all 50 producers.<\/p>\n

The American whiskey industry is in a deep slump,<\/a> but several distillers have stepped up to mark the nation\u2019s semiquincentennial. On June 1, Maker\u2019s Mark<\/a> released a limited edition bottle of its classic bourbon with a commemorative red, white and blue wax seal. Heaven Hill has issued three special versions of its Evan Williams<\/a> bourbon.<\/p>\n

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