An 8-year, high-rye Kentucky bourbon with baked apple, caramel, cinnamon, and a big baking-spice finish.
Stats
- Type: Barely Legal/High Rye Bourbon
- Age: 8 year
- Proof: 123.1 (61.55% ABV)
- Mashbills: 51% Corn │ 45% Rye │4% Malted Barley
- Origin: OZ Tyler (Green River) — Owensboro, Kentucky
- Finishing Cask: Custom Zak Cooperage barrel with 6+ season wood staves.
- Finishing Time: 84 days
- Release: Limited release, finished
- MSRP: $110 / 750 mL (via Old Cypress)
Tasting Notes
- Nose: A classic apple pie profile leads the way, with baked apples, golden crust and cinnamon. Caramel follows underneath, giving the nose a warm, familiar dessert quality without becoming overly sweet.
- Palate: The palate is moderate, dense and full-bodied, bringing caramel, vanilla and cinnamon together with a touch of clove. The high rye content is noticeable, but it doesn’t turn the whiskey sharply spicy or abrasive.
- Finish: The finish turns up the spice with a baking-spice bomb alongside grilled pineapple and red apple. It’s long enough to keep the flavors moving, with the fruit and spice working particularly well together.
Old Cypress doesn’t try to reinvent the Green River profile, and honestly, it doesn’t need to. KSI-02 is a quality barrel of bourbon with enough age and proof to deliver a dense, flavorful pour without losing the recognizable character of its source.
The secondary maturation adds an interesting wrinkle. After spending its primary aging life in Kentucky, the bourbon received 84 additional days in a custom Zak Cooperage barrel featuring 6+ year air-seasoned oak staves. I wouldn’t call the resulting profile radically transformed, but it contributes to the whiskey’s polished, spice-forward character.
The surprising part is just how familiar this bourbon drinks despite its 45% rye mash bill. I expected something more distinctive from a barely-legal rye bourbon, but it reminded me considerably more of the older 70/21/9 OZ Tyler barrels I’ve enjoyed. Think of it as a more mature, higher-proof cousin to something like Row 94: familiar, flavorful and very easy to appreciate.
Distinctiveness
This is where KSI-02 falls a little short for me. It’s a really good Green River barrel, but the profile is remarkably close to what I’d expect from other excellent OZ Tyler/Green River selections.
The 45% rye mash bill caught my attention on paper, and the custom secondary maturation certainly makes this barrel more interesting, but neither ultimately translated into a radically different profile for me. Instead, I found myself thinking about those older 70/21/9 OZ Tyler barrels, which isn’t a bad comparison, but it does make this bottle harder to distinguish from an increasingly familiar category of high-quality Green River bourbon.
(Author’s Note: Presentation is not judged when a small sample is provided)
“…neither ultimately translated into a radically different profile for me. Instead, I found myself thinking about those older 70/21/9 OZ Tyler barrels,”
Transparency
This is one of the strongest parts of the bottle. Old Cypress gives you the source, age, proof and mash bill, while also telling you exactly what happened during the secondary maturation.
Knowing that the bourbon spent 84 days in a custom Zak Cooperage barrel using 6+ year open-air-seasoned oak staves is the kind of information I want from an independent bottler. There’s very little left to wonder about, and I appreciate that level of detail.
The transparency doesn’t stop at simply telling you that the whiskey was “finished” or “double barreled.” You get meaningful information about where the whiskey came from and how the finishing barrel was made, which gives the consumer a much better understanding of what’s in the bottle.
Value
At $110, this is the one area where I hesitate.
There’s no question that this is a quality barrel, and the whiskey itself delivers. The additional maturation in a custom cooperage barrel adds another layer of work and intention to the bottle, but when you’re asking Kentucky bourbon drinkers to spend $110, I think the whiskey needs either a more distinctive profile or a little more value relative to the competition.
It’s close. I’d happily drink this bottle, but I’d have a harder time telling someone they absolutely need to spend $110 on it.
Buy if:
- You love Green River / OZ Tyler bourbon
- You want a full-proof, 8-year pour
- You appreciate high-rye bourbon with classic fruit and spice
- Secondary maturation and detailed sourcing matter to you
Skip if:
- You’re looking for something wildly distinctive
- You expect 45% rye to deliver a dramatically spicier profile
- $110 needs to feel like an obvious value
- You already have several excellent Green River barrels on the shelf
Verdict
Old Cypress Kentucky Mafia KSI-02 is a good example of something I think the bourbon market sometimes makes unnecessarily complicated: this is simply good bourbon. It’s mature, flavorful, well balanced and unmistakably enjoyable. The baked apple, caramel, cinnamon and baking spice combination is familiar, but it’s executed really well.
The 84-day secondary maturation in a custom Zak Cooperage barrel with 6+ year open-air-seasoned oak staves gives the story more depth than a standard Green River single barrel, and I appreciate that Old Cypress provides the details rather than simply calling it a finished bourbon. Still, I found the finished whiskey itself remained firmly within the familiar Green River/OZ Tyler flavor family.
Where I land is that the whiskey itself isn’t the problem. The price-to-distinctiveness equation is. At $110, I want a barrel that gives me a reason to choose it over the other excellent Green River and OZ Tyler offerings already available. KSI-02 doesn’t quite get there for me.
Still, there’s a lot to like here. Old Cypress picked a quality barrel, gave it a thoughtful secondary maturation and presented the process transparently. If you’re already a fan of the Green River profile, this is a very easy whiskey to enjoy. I just wish the price made that decision a little easier.
Bourbon Bishop Bottom Line:
A delicious and transparent Green River bourbon given an interesting 84-day secondary maturation, but the $110 price asks for more distinction than the whiskey ultimately delivers.
For those who prefer numbers, here’s the full score breakdown:
- Nose: 5 / 7
- Palate: 5.25 / 7
- Finish: 5.5 / 7
- Presentation: N/A
- Distinctiveness: 3.5 / 7
- Transparency: 7 / 7
- Value: 4 / 7
Bourbon Bishop Rating: 5.04 / 7 – Angelic
Good to great. Often high value for the price.
| Score | Descriptor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1 | Hell No | Drain pour. Seriously undrinkable. |
| 1.1–2 | Purgatory | Bad, but could be worse. Only in extreme cases. |
| 2.1–3 | Only Earthly | Just okay. Best used as a mixer. |
| 3.1–4 | Bliss | Passable to Good sipper. Works well in cocktails. |
| 4.1–5 | Angelic | Good to great. Often high value for the price. |
| 5.1–6 | Divine | Top-shelf. Must-buy for fans of the style. |
| 6.1–7 | Holy Heaven | Out-of-this-world. A true unicorn. |
Disclosure: This sample was provided to me free of charge for review. All opinions are my own.
About Old Cypress
Old Cypress is a boutique whiskey brand rooted in Louisiana, built by founder Joey Faciane — a former chef turned barrel selector with a palate-first approach. Rather than coming up through distilling, his background in kitchens shaped how he evaluates whiskey: instinctively, flavor-first, and without leaning too heavily on specs alone.
While the whiskey itself is sourced (with “Indiana straight” clearly implying MGP), Old Cypress builds its identity through additional aging, finishing, and a defined house style. The goal isn’t to chase traditional profile. It’s to create something recognizable, often leaning into dark fruit, sweetness, and bold maturity.
The brand remains intentionally small and hands-on. Every release is limited, and every bottle reflects a process that prioritizes selection, patience, and control over scale. It’s a modern NDP model, but one that’s clearly personal.
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