Some brands just seem destined to end up in the whiskey business.

After all, if you’ve spent more than 160 years outfitting cowboys, ranch hands, rodeo riders and just about anyone who’s ever appreciated a good Western hat, it feels only natural that sooner or later you’d saddle up with a bourbon. Well, that day has arrived. Stetson has officially tipped its hat to Kentucky with the debut of its first-ever Stetson Bourbon.

The legendary Western brand didn’t simply slap its famous name on a bottle and call it good. It spent three years searching for the right whiskey and enlisted Kentucky master blender Dan Callaway to help create a bourbon worthy of carrying the Stetson name.

The result is a 100-proof, high-rye Kentucky Straight Bourbon bottled in Bardstown that blends whiskey from two of the Bluegrass State’s respected producers, Green River Distilling Co. and Bardstown Bourbon Company. It’s the first collaboration between those two distilleries, giving this release a little extra trail cred.

The bourbon itself is built for folks who enjoy a whiskey with a little backbone. Aged an average of seven years, it opens with buttery oak, caramel and vanilla before riding into notes of brandied fruit and warm baking spices. The rye mash bill leaves a gentle spicy finish that makes it just as comfortable neat as it is over a cube of ice or in an Old Fashioned. In other words, whether your idea of the frontier is an actual ranch or simply the backyard patio after mowing the lawn, this bourbon should feel right at home.

The bottle also carries a piece of Stetson history. Its label features The Last Drop from His Stetson, the iconic painting by renowned Western artist Lon Megargee that has represented the brand for more than a century. Like the hat itself, the artwork has become a symbol of the grit, generosity and independent spirit that helped shape the American West.

At $70, Stetson Bourbon lands squarely in the premium category, but it feels like a fitting addition to a brand whose reputation has always been built on craftsmanship. Stetson has spent generations covering heads. Now it’s hoping to fill glasses, too.

Looks like the hat that helped define the American cowboy has finally found the bourbon to match.