MMA star Josh ‘Warmaster’ Barnett bottles Bourbon

by Owen Bellwood

Two-time mixed martial arts (MMA) heavyweight champion Josh 'Warmaster' Barnett has launched a single barrel Bourbon in partnership with Californian distillery Sespe Creek.

Barnett partnered with Sespe Creek founder and distiller David Brandt to select a single cask that has been bottled as Sespe Creek Warmaster Edition. The cask strength Bourbon has been smoked using the brand’s “signature” process. Barnett said: "For this Bourbon to bear the name Warmaster, it had to live up to the same elements as I do. "Strong, intense, complex and packing a punch. This is something for the bold ones." Sespe Creek has released 300 bottles of the limited edition whiskey, which has “robust, complex flavours of campfire, leather, pine, caramel and carrot cake”. Brandt said: "Josh's Bourbon acumen is far beyond the ordinary. This is undeniably a heavyweight Bourbon, delivering a powerful blast of mesquite smoke and rich, deep flavour that will keep you savouring each sip." Bottled at 54.5% ABV, Sespe Creek Warmaster Edition is available to purchase from www.warbringerbourbon.com for US$65. Barnett isn't the first MMA star to enter the world of spirits. In 2018, fighter Conor McGregor launched his Irish whiskey brand Proper No. Twelve.