Celebrate Bourbon Heritage Month with Arizona whiskies

It's Bourbon Heritage Month, and as a bourbon aficionado myself, I decided to celebrate by sampling some of the local whiskies Arizona has to offer.

State of play: This isn't Kentucky, but there are some folks distilling bourbon locally. Others source whiskey that's distilled elsewhere but finish production here.

• For my tasting, I focused on bourbons that are distilled in the Grand Canyon State.

Sacred Stave

Maker: San Tan Spirits

State of play: Sacred State is a high-rye whiskey, with rye making up 28% of the mash bill, and it's finished in Tawny port and Madeira wine barrels. I noticed some vanilla up front.

Black Mountain Bourbon

Maker: Black Mountain Tavern & Distillery

Notes: It had a pretty classic bourbon taste with some fruitiness on the finish.

Peralta Bourbon

From: Adventurous Stills

Notes: This was the most unique whiskey of the bunch. It had a distinct chocolatey taste that I've never tasted in another bourbon.

The bottom line: Sacred Stave was my favorite of the trio I sampled.

• San Tan and Adventurous Stills have plenty of other whiskies available, and there are other local bourbons I have yet to try.
• I'm always on the lookout for recommendations, but I hear good things about Copper City from Arizona Distilling Co.