Schoonover Straight Bourbon Whiskey, plus three barrel-smoked variants,are available today
Nashville, Ind. – Hard Truth Distilling Co., an artisan distillery located on 325 acres in
Southern Indiana, has released the first spirit in its Legends series: Schoonover Straight
Bourbon Whiskey. This very rare, single-barrel, uncut and unfiltered, 14-year-old
straight bourbon whiskey is bottled by Hard Truth at its state-of-the art craft distillery in
Brown County, Ind.
Alongside the original Schoonover, Hard Truth has also released a trio of barrel-smoked
variants: applewood, maple, and hickory.
“It took some guts for Bryan Smith, our Master Distiller, to take a delicious 14 year old
whiskey and experiment with it by smoking it in whiskey barrels,” said Hard Truth
co-founder and owner, Ed Ryan. “That pioneering spirit has led to the release of the
Schoonover family of products, which are now America’s Original Barrel Smoked
Whiskeys.”
It’s this same pioneering spirit that led the Hard Truth team to select the product’s
namesake: Johann Schoonover. Schoonover was a German fur trader and trapper who
came to Hard Truth’s home of Brown County, Ind. around 200 years ago, where he
became the first recorded European settler to the area.
While Hard Truth’s own sweet mash whiskeys and bourbons continue to age in their
Brown County rackhouse at Hard Truth Hills, Ryan is looking forward to sharing his love
of premium, aged spirits with Hard Truth customers via products like Schoonover.
“I have tasted hundreds of whiskeys over the years and Schoonover is one of my
favorites,” Ryan explained, nodding to the deep amber color as a hint to its full-bodied
flavor. “With one sip, you have the perfect intersection of an oak backbone with a spicy
pop wrapped in a deliciously sweet finish.”
The original Schoonover Straight Bourbon Whiskey has a dark amber appearance and
offers aromas of corn, vanilla, caramel and toasted nuts. The flavor features a complex
blend of caramel, charred oak, corn, and cherry, with a medium finish that reinforces the
caramel and oak with an added element of warm spices. Each barrel-smoked variant
offers transformed and additional characteristics unique to the woods used to create
them.
Schoonover Straight Bourbon Whiskeys’ proofs and alcohols by volume vary by barrel
and are marked accordingly on individual bottles. All four iterations are available in 750
mL bottles with a suggested retail price of $199.99 on the original, and of $249.99 on
the barrel-smoked variants. All will be available in limited quantities at Big Woods
Restaurant Group locations, Hard Truth Hills and select local retailers throughout
Indiana.
Customers interested in tasting Schoonover Straight Bourbon Whiskey before buying
will be able to purchase a $35 sampler flight of half-ounce pours featuring all four
variants at all Big Woods Restaurants and Hard Truth Hills locations.
A sample of original Schoonover will also be included with the Thursday, Dec. 3, Cask &
Still pairing dinner at Hard Truth Hills, as well as the dinner’s encore presentation at Big
Woods Franklin on Friday, Dec. 11. For more information on how to secure your tickets,
visit hardtruthhills.com/events.
For more information on where to purchase Schoonover Straight Bourbon Whiskey or
any other Hard Truth product, visit: hardtruthdistilling.com/spirit-finder.
