Rough Rider The Old Lion 8 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml

About the Product: The Old Lion Single Barrel Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon was inspired by Teddy Roosevelt's spirit of adventure and discovery. In his later years, Roosevelt was affectionately nicknamed "The Old Lion" — and this release wears that name proudly. It is an 8-year-old high-rye straight bourbon, fermented from local Long Island grains using a sweet mash process, then bottled at barrel proof — uncut and unfiltered. As an annual limited edition release, The Old Lion is the oldest expression under the Rough Rider line, and one of the few single barrel, barrel proof bourbons to come out of New York State. This is genuinely distilled bourbon — not sourced — grown and made on Long Island's North Fork, from grains harvested within miles of the still.

About Long Island Spirits / Rough Rider: Long Island Spirits is a microdistillery in Baiting Hollow, New York, founded in 2007 — the first craft distillery on Long Island since the 1800s. Surrounded by 5,000 acres of potato farms, it operates as a full farm-to-bottle distillery. Long Island Spirits president and CEO Rich Stabile named his bourbon line Rough Rider in honor of Teddy Roosevelt and the legendary volunteer cavalry unit that gained fame at the Battle of San Juan Hill in 1898 — a natural fit for a distillery just miles from where those same Rough Riders disbanded after returning home. The distillery's head distiller came to the North Fork after working with Master Distiller Harlan Wheatley at Buffalo Trace in Kentucky, home to Eagle Rare, Sazerac, and Pappy Van Winkle. Stabile and his team experiment with different mash bills, yeast strains, char levels, and still types — with the North Fork's proximity to local farms and wineries shaping almost every product they make.