In 2008, while aboard the ship of fellow Kentucky native and OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer, Jefferson’s Master Blender Trey Zoeller got a wild idea. As he and Chris watched the whiskey swirl in their glasses, compelled by the constant rock of the waves, they pondered: what might happen to a barrel of bourbon if it were aged at sea? The rest, as they say, is history. The constant movement of the ocean and extreme temperature fluctuations as the OCEARCH traversed the globe completely transformed the whiskey. The result is a hyper-aged, darker, richer and caramelized bourbon with incredible depth and complexity. Since this discovery, Trey has sent hundreds of barrels around the world, with each voyage seeing (on average) over 25 ports, 5 continents, and 2 equator crossings. According to Nick Leghorn at thirtyonewhiskey.com "what’s remarkable is actually what’s missing here. It’s a bit smoother and more refined than the Reserve, missing that raw charred oak note and instead leaning heavily towards fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies.Taking a sip, the flavor is nice and smooth as well. There’s a good sweet caramel note and a swirl of vanilla up front, followed nicely by some cinnamon spice and finishing with a bit of black pepper. Again, this is normally where we’d expect some of that raw charred oak to pop up, but it stays firmly on the lighter side of that dividing line."
