BLACK MAPLE HILL RETURNS
Black Maple Hill 18yr Rye. I do believe this to be my favorite Rye Whiskey of all time. Circa 2014, my birthday pour.
While working on the Uncle Nearest story, I came across the Trademark transfer of Black Maple Hill from the previous owner California Vineyards, to Rare Character Whiskey Company around August of 2025. Before I knew how to feel about it, ComingWhiskey and TheBourbonNews on Instagram had already posted labels from the TTB site.
I have a lot of feelings about this brand, and I’ll get into those shortly, but I commented on the posts that Black Maple Hill’s branding had been very badly damaged by the Oregon whiskey that was grotesquely overpriced and under-aged and was a clear money grab. I said that while I would never bet against Pablo and his team, I felt that they had a great deal to overcome. I’m not sure if that hurt feelings or not, and it wasn’t my intention to, but I decided to write a story about the return of Black Maple Hill and what it might mean.
Circa 2008 I think. Fun fact, all of these bottles were from Trader Joes. Dang I miss those Jameson 12yrs.
Warning- Old man story coming on.
Long ago, early in my whiskey journey, there was a brand that was sourced from KBD. It had a gorgeous label design, and featured very old whiskey in the bottle. In 2009 I could buy their standard label bourbon for $32 at Trader Joes in California. Adjusted for inflation, that would be about $48 today. I used to keep it on my cute little kitchen bookshelf, and when I finished it, I went and repurchased. My ex-used to cook with it she loved it so much. It was to put it plainly, our standard house bourbon.
BMH used to have a wide variety of small batch, single barrels and a lot of it really old. Their 18yr old rye is still one of my all-time favorite things I’ve ever had. Those older age stated releases at the time were considered quite expensive. They were right at the top of the whiskey pricing for American releases, still below Scotch, but still high. These were special occasion purchase bottles before we all collected things like crazy.
I’ve had so many moments over the years with Black Maple Hill bourbon, and especially their rye, that this isn’t just a whiskey to me, it’s nostalgic. Sentimental. Both of those things have their own particular flavor that is impossible to replicate. While flavors in other things may be similar, it’s incredibly difficult to deliver on that Ratatouille moment that takes one back in time.
Circa 2009. The jars were my home made cherry bounce. Dang good, dang good stuff.
When the boom started to take off, BMH lost access to the older stock they used to bottle. KBD did as well, who actually did the bottling and distribution. BMH disappeared practically overnight. Drew couldn’t provide the whiskey, because every source was starting to keep those barrels for themselves and bottle their own.
Several years went by, and nothing from BMH. I even sent an unsolicited letter to the last known office in Santa Clara, CA asking if the brand was for sale, and yeah, I was going to buy it with the $87 in my checking account at the time. How cute I was then. Obviously I never got a response, and then fast forward many years, and the brand “returned” in a squat bottle, same labels, and a price in the $80-100 range. I was ecstatic! Bought the rye immediately and realized quickly that this was NOT my BMH, this was something else, something worse.
Fun fact- that old website is still up, check it out before Pablo and team change it.
New Label. 2025.
New Label 2025.
New Label 2025.
New Label 2025.
It was so awful, I immediately warned everyone I knew to not buy it. This was mostly on Facebook because IG hadn’t really truly taken off yet, and some listened. Some didn’t. Nostalgia has a pull on people, and sometimes we do the dumb thing even when told not to. The whiskey was from Oregon, and it was so freaking young and not well put together, many of us took to calling it Fake Maple Hill.
Most whiskey regardless of age is usually good. We can argue over the nuances all we want, but if you were to take an 18 month aged whiskey back in time to the founding of the United States it would be the greatest whiskey ever made and you would be made king.
The fact that Fake Maple Hill was so loathed, was not because it was the worst whiskey ever made, it was because it was the worst whiskey to ever hold the label we all loved so much. It’s like when in the 1980’s Cadillac released the Cimarron, which was a so called “entry level luxury car.” It was a Chevy Cavalier dressed up as a Cadillac. Both cars were junk, one more expensive than the other.
Black Maple Hill should never have had to suffer through its Cimarron era. It was insulting to the brand, and to its legion of passionate fans, but bourbon was booming again, and it was an opportunity for a cash grab.
The damage done was so bad, that anyone that had the misfortune of buying one, never bought another one.
I despised this take so much I screenshotted it for posterity. Today is posterity.
Jump to today, and Pablo and his team from Rare Character now have the responsibility to deliver something that isn’t just better than Fake Maple Hill (hell, take yesterday’s coffee and mix it with 7up and you have something better than that), but to rebirth a legendary nostalgic whiskey brand.
They are up against a very difficult challenge that they’ve likely never faced. This isn’t just about sourcing great whiskey, blending it, and bottling it. We know they do that well.
They need to deliver BMH to a new whiskey drinker who never knew the legendary bottles and they’ll do well here because that whiskey drinker is already likely very familiar with RC.
Most importantly they need to overcome the sentimental and nostalgic attachment that those of us who grew up with the brand hold so dear to our hearts.
This reboot has actual meaning to a lot of folks, myself specifically. My expectations are beyond reasonable, and it’s not my fault. Nostalgia has its own particular flavor.
Can they do it? Can they deliver? I’ll say this, I’m not going to be the one to bet against them. If anyone can pull this off, it’s Pablo and Rare Character, and quite frankly, I’m really rooting for them here.
- Mickey Pinstripe
This was a garbage take 3 years ago. Still is. Yeah, I’m petty when it comes to Black Maple Hill.