Redwood Empire Lost Monarch Bourbon Review

Redwood Empire wasn't a brand I found on my own. A bourbon buddy of mine put Grizzly Beast in my hand first, then not long after that sent me a bottle of Emerald Giant as one of those handshake trades bourbon guys do when they're feeling generous. I liked both immediately. What I didn't have was consistent access — for a long stretch, Redwood Empire simply wasn't landing on shelves here in Texas, so my relationship with the brand stayed secondhand, borrowed pours and gifted bottles rather than anything I was buying myself.

That changed once distribution caught up, and Lost Monarch is where it caught up first. So by the time I'm writing this, it isn't a first tasting — it's a bottle I've come back to more than once. I picked this particular one up on a recent trip to Cape Cod, which felt fitting: Redwood Empire is about as far from Massachusetts as a whiskey brand can get and still call itself American.

The name on the label points back to where the whiskey actually comes from. Founder Derek Benham built Redwood Empire in Graton, California, inside Sonoma County's own stretch of the Redwood Empire — the 420-mile belt of old-growth coastline that gives the brand its name, and its sustainability pitch is more than a tagline: they commit to planting a tree for every bottle sold. Parent company Purple Brands has kept expanding the operation since, most recently picking up the former Savage & Cooke distillery on Mare Island for more capacity and a proper visitor destination. It's a young label as whiskey brands go — the first bottle only hit shelves in 2017 — but the West Coast story behind it is real, not a marketing invention.

I don't normally reach for 90 proof. Most of what's in my rotation runs 100 and up. But like Green River, Redwood Empire has built its whole case on price-to-quality — and at $35, Lost Monarch doesn't feel like I'm settling for anything. Once I saw it sitting in that range on a shelf while I was on vacation, there wasn't much of a decision to make. That's the bottle I poured that week, and I didn't regret a glass of it.

The Bottle

Distillery: Purple Brands

Release: Ongoing

Classification: Blended Whiskey

Proof: 90 (45% ABV)

Age: 3–14 years, spanning both the bourbon and rye components

Mash Bill: A blend of 60% straight rye (95% rye, 5% malted barley) and 40% straight bourbon (75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley)

MSRP: $35

First Impression: The nose opens cool and green, a dash of spearmint riding over sweet vanilla and a bright cherry note that keeps it from feeling one-note.

On the Palate: Ripe apricot and butterscotch settle into a medium-bodied sip, with a warm, steady heat and a thread of cinnamon spice running underneath — a shape that makes sense once you know a majority-rye mash bill is doing the heavy lifting.

The Last Sip: The finish runs long, easing from maple syrup and brown sugar into a last crack of black pepper that lingers after the glass is empty.

Final Thoughts

This isn't my first time with Lost Monarch, and reviewing it on vacation felt like the right occasion for it — it's a bottle built for exactly that kind of setting. What stands out is how well it splits the difference between Redwood Empire's flagship spirits. Call it high-rye for conversation's sake: the blend leans rye-forward, and that alone means it won't be for everyone. But the balance holds. Nothing about it tastes unfinished or thrown together.

Where it really earns its keep is in a group setting — a gathering, a trip, a bottle passed around with people who aren't all bourbon people. It's easy to like, it doesn't ask much of the drinker, and at $35 it's not a bottle you have to protect. It's just not the one I find myself reaching for on a random Tuesday at home, which is really the only knock against it.

🟡 Try at a Bar or Bottle Share