I recently received a bottle of Bardstown Bourbon Company Blended Rye Whiskey Finished in Infrared Toasted Cherry Oak Barrels and Matt and I sat down and tasted it. The whiskey starts with a six year old Indiana Rye (95% rye, 5% malted barley) that is finished for ten weeks in an infrared toasted barrel made of alternating oak and cherry wood staves. The finished rye was blended with a twelve year old Canadian corn whiskey (100% corn). This release is part of Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Collaborative Series, the result of a project with an interesting young cooperage, the West Virginia Great Barrel Company. Here are our tasting notes.

Bardstown Bourbon Company Blended Rye Whiskey Finished in Infrared Toasted Cherry Oak Barrels

Proof: 110

Age: Six Year Old Indiana Rye and Twelve Year Old Canadian Corn whiskies

Nose:

  • Mike: Cherries, rye grass, vanilla, allspice and oak wood.
  • Matt: Chocolate, caramel, peanuts, raspberries and oak wood.

Taste:

  • Mike: Cherries, rye grass, chocolate, allspice and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the spice becomes a black pepper and the cherry is enhanced. Tasted with a pecan and the chocolate is enhanced and a citrus note comes out.
  • Matt: Chocolate, lemon. raspberry pie, and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out the cherry. The pecan brought out a pecan pie with chocolate, caramel and a hint of raspberry.

Finish:

  • Mike: Long and spicy with oak and pepper spice. The dried cranberry added some lingering tart cherry. The pecan made the finish longer with oak, pepper and lingering citrus notes.
  • Matt: Medium long with oak and lemon. The dried cranberry added a note of cherry. The pecan added a note of tobacco and pecan.

I would pair this Rye Whiskey with a cigar that has rich vanilla and some cedar spice. I would reach for an Oliva Series G Maduro cigar.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller