Castle & Key Distillery recently released their wheat recipe Bourbon. It is a 100 proof, five year old Bourbon, but it is not Bottled-in-Bond. I believe that this is because they are using barrels from multiple seasons and maybe even a six year old Bourbon in the bottle. It is an excellent Bourbon and Matt and I have tasted it and here are our tasting notes.
Castle & Key Wheated Bourbon
Proof: 100
Age: Five Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: French vanilla, cherries, baking spices and sweet oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, cherries, sweet corn and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, cherries, apples, baking spices and sweet oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the spices become more defined as nutmeg and cardamom. Tasted with a pecan and notes of citrus and chocolate come out to join the party.
- Matt: Caramel. Almond Joy candy bar, with some spicy ginger and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out flavors of a red delicious caramel apple and ginger. The pecan brought out chocolate, caramel, brown sugar and ginger.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood and lingering apple and cherry sweetness. The dried cranberry made the finish longer with lots of oak and spice. The pecan made the finish very long with lots of oak wood, spice and chocolate.
- Matt: Oak, tobacco and ginger spice. The dried cranberry added red hot cinnamon candy notes to the finish. The pecan made the finish very long with oak, leather and ginger snap cookie.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a Padron 1964 Anniversary cigar. I think the sweet vanilla and cedar spice notes of the smoke would pair well with the spice and fruit notes of the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Maggie Kimberl and Rosemary Miller