Independent bottler Lost Lantern has announced the release of Far-Flung Bourbon III ($100 SRP), just in time for Bourbon Heritage Month. The cask strength bottling (124.8 proof) marks the third entry in the series and perhaps its most ambitious yet: a single bourbon stitched together from the character of six distilleries, spanning six states and six very different landscapes.
A Bourbon Road Trip in a Bottle
Where other American whiskey projects might celebrate terroir by narrowing the lens—zeroing in on one state, one grain, or one family recipe—Lost Lantern takes the opposite approach. With Far-Flung Bourbon III, co-founders Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski seem intent on showing that “place” in American whiskey is often best understood through juxtaposition.
The distilleries they’ve tapped for this release are spread wide: Frey Ranch (Nevada), Wollersheim (Wisconsin), Rock Town (Arkansas), Rich Grain (Mississippi), Still Austin (Texas), and Smooth Ambler (West Virginia). Each carries its own stylistic quirks, from the desert grain of Frey Ranch to the bold Southern heat shaping Still Austin’s barrels. The whiskey, then, is a kind of cartographic poem—an attempt to map flavor across distance.
Ganley-Roper, who also serves as Head Blender, calls it their “most ambitious Far-Flung Bourbon yet.” She’s not exaggerating. “Blending whiskey from six distilleries across six states isn’t always easy,” she said, “but when it comes together, the result reflects the true diversity of American bourbon. Each Far-Flung release is its own adventure, yet they all share a common thread that ties them into one family.”
Nose, Palate, Finish
The tasting notes underscore the balancing act. On the nose: oak spice, caramel, and chocolate-covered espresso beans. The palate leans into warmth—lemon bars, toasted almonds, oak—before pulling the drinker into a finish described as long, rich, and spicy. In other words, familiar enough to read as bourbon, yet complex enough to remind you it has six parents.
Independent Bottler, Independent Vision
Since its founding, Lost Lantern has styled itself less as a traditional producer and more as a curator—an independent bottler that shines a light on American distilleries that might otherwise be overlooked. That role gives them unusual freedom. “As an independent bottler, we get to paint with more colors than any single distillery ever could,” Ganley-Roper explained. “The challenge is making those colors harmonize, but when it finally snaps into place, the blend tells a story no single distillery whiskey could tell on its own.”
Far-Flung Bourbon III is an emblem of that philosophy, a limited bottling that feels like a culmination of Lost Lantern’s ethos: adventurous in scope, reverent toward craft, and unwilling to confine American whiskey to any one place.
Lost Lantern Far-Flung Bourbon III Availability
Lost Lantern Far-Flung Bourbon III (124.8 proof, $100 SRP) is now available in limited quantities nationwide. Like its predecessors, the release is expected to draw collectors and drinkers eager for a whiskey that tastes as much like America’s highways and byways as its rickhouses. For more information, head over to the brand’s official website.
