Short answer, yes. Frank August is sourced Kentucky bourbon from a fashion-executive founder, wrapped in one of the most striking minimalist bottles in the category. The twist is a brand built on "openness" that keeps its source a secret, and yet won the world's top bourbon prize in a blind tasting anyway. Pour one and let me walk you through who likely makes it and why that blind win matters more than the mystery.
Frank August looks less like a bourbon and more like a fragrance or a denim launch, which makes sense once you learn it was founded in 2022 by Johnathan Crocker, a former fashion executive. The bottle is architectural and nearly label-free, all gold type and clean lines, a deliberate rejection of the eagles, horses, and frontier mythology plastered on most bourbon. The brand’s stated ethos is “Frankness”: being open, honest, and sincere. Hold that thought, because it gets ironic in a second.
The brand got its start the way a lot of new bourbon does, through Kentucky connections. Crocker has spoken about being introduced to the right distillery partners and blenders by industry insiders, which is how an outsider gets a foot in the door of what is still very much a good-old-boys business. The result is a brand with serious design polish and, as it turns out, serious whiskey credentials too.
Frank August is sourced whiskey, a textbook non-distiller producer, and here is that irony I promised: a brand whose entire identity is “openness” does not actually disclose its source, age, or mashbill. The bourbon is Kentucky straight whiskey, blended in small batches of 10 to 15 barrels and bottled at Bardstown Bourbon Company, which is the one confirmed link in the chain and the likeliest source or contract partner.
Beyond that, it is detective work. Enthusiasts who have tasted it point in a few directions: the OAKR source map flags Barton 1792 as a likely component, while some reviewers swear they taste Four Roses. The brand will not say, citing contracts, so the chart below shows the best attributions with honest confidence levels rather than false certainty.
Source Split
Frank August keeps its source officially undisclosed. These are the best-supported attributions, with each badge showing how confident the sourcing is. Tap a slice to read the full guide.
Two things, and one of them is more impressive than the marketing. The obvious value-add is design and blending: Frank August hand-selects 10 to 15 barrels per small batch, blends to a unified 100-proof profile, and wraps it in genuinely striking packaging. The Case Study series pushes into experimental finishing, starting with Japanese Mizunara oak, and there is a cask-strength single-barrel program too.
But here is the part that actually matters, and it is the straight talk you want. In 2025, a blind panel at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, judges who had no idea what they were drinking, scored the Frank August flagship 98 out of 100 and named it the World’s Best Bourbon, beating Weller, Eagle Rare, and entries from Buffalo Trace and Four Roses. A roughly seventy-dollar sourced bourbon from a three-year-old brand won blind. That tells you the liquid is the real deal, whatever its origin, and that the secrecy, annoying as it is, sits on top of genuinely excellent whiskey.
The range is tight and tiered.
Start with the Small Batch, the 100-proof flagship that won World’s Best Bourbon, around seventy to ninety dollars and the obvious entry point. From there, the Single Barrel cask-strength releases offer more intensity and individual-barrel character, and the Case Study series is for the curious, experimental finishes like Mizunara that show the brand stretching. For most people the Small Batch is the whole story; the others are for fans who want to go deeper.
The Case Study releases are the collector pieces, limited runs of finished whiskey that lean into the brand’s design-and-experiment identity. The cask-strength Single Barrels are the pick for people who want Frank August at full power. None of it is brutally allocated yet, partly because the brand is still building name recognition despite the awards, which means the award-winning Small Batch is, for now, both findable and a relative value at its price.
Here is what I love about the Frank August story for our purposes: it won blind. No label, no gorgeous bottle, no fashion-world cool, just liquid in a glass judged on its own merits, and it beat the legends. That is the entire philosophy of how you should buy whiskey, and it is exactly how we built OAKR.
You might ask, “Grady, how do you know that?” Welp, one, I have been doing this a long time, and two, OAKR runs every bottle past a blind tasting panel scored across more than a hundred flavor notes in ten big categories, no labels, no marketing, no mystery-source intrigue in the room, the same kind of blind judgment that crowned Frank August. Then the app reads your palate, the flavors you actually chase, and hands you a Spirit Match score for any bottle, Frank August included. A panel said it is the world’s best; OAKR tells you whether it is the best for you. That is the difference between a trophy and your glass.
Is Frank August sourced?
Yes. Frank August is a non-distilling producer that sources Kentucky straight bourbon, blends it in small batches, and bottles at Bardstown Bourbon Company. It does not distill its own whiskey.
Who makes Frank August?
The brand was founded by Johnathan Crocker. The whiskey comes from undisclosed Kentucky distilleries, is bottled at Bardstown Bourbon Company, and is widely suspected to include Barton 1792 and possibly other Kentucky stock.
Where is Frank August distilled?
In Kentucky, at undisclosed distilleries. The brand keeps its source secret due to contracts, with Bardstown Bourbon Company confirmed as the bottler.
Is Frank August worth the money?
A blind IWSC panel named it the 2025 World’s Best Bourbon, beating far pricier names, so for roughly seventy dollars it is a genuine value if the profile suits you, despite the frustrating lack of source transparency.
What is the best Frank August to start with?
The award-winning Small Batch is the clear starting point. Explore the Single Barrel or Case Study finishes if you want more. Run it through OAKR first to see how it matches your taste.
Frank August pairs fashion-world design and frustrating secrecy with bourbon good enough to win the world’s top prize blind, which is the ultimate proof that what is in the glass matters more than what is on the label. The only question left is whether it is the best for your taste, and that is exactly what OAKR was built to answer. Match your palate against Frank August on OAKR before you spend a dime.
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Bourbon enthusiast, spirits industry analyst, and the voice behind OAKR's distillery guides, brand reviews, and bourbon education content. Visiting distilleries, dissecting mashbills, and translating the craft into data since 2024.
Frank August took World’s Best Bourbon in a blind panel. OAKR’s blind-panel flavor data shows you whether it fits your taste.
