Bardstown Bourbon Company has made a reputation as a place to source Bourbon. They make any recipe of whiskey that their customer would like to place in a bottle and they do it well. Now they have released a Bourbon of their own making. It has a mash bill of 68% corn, 20% wheat and 12% malted barley. It only makes sense that their first release of a Bourbon of their own making would be a wheat recipe Bourbon— after all, Steve Nally, their Master Distiller, retired from Maker’s Mark before going on to help create Wyoming Whiskey and then Bardstown Bourbon Company. Nally has a tradition of making wheat recipe Bourbon and doing it well. This is no exception. It is an excellent Bourbon. Matt and I sat down and tasted it the other day and here are our tasting notes.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series Wheat Recipe Bourbon
Proof: 100
Age: Six Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla and marshmallows, ripe apples, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, powdered sugar, raisins and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, marshmallows, ripe apples, pepper spice and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry makes the vanilla more of a buttered toffee and enhances the apple flavor. Tasted with a pecan and caramel, pepper and oak wood are all enhanced.
- Matt: Chocolate covered raisins, coffee beans, lemon and cherry fruit and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out a creamy caramel flavor to join the party. The pecan gave it flavors of caramel, dates, cocoa and cinnamon spice.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with pleasant oak wood and pepper spice. The dried cranberry made the finish sweeter with lingering caramel. The pecan made the finish very long and dry with oak wood and pepper spice.
- Matt: Medium long with chocolate, coffee bean, oak wood and lingering dark cherries. The dried cranberry brought out additional oak wood. The pecan gave it a creamy finish with cocoa butter, coffee and oak wood.
I pair this fine Bourbon with a cigar that is rich in vanilla and chocolate in the smoke. I would reach for one of my favorite cigars, a My Father The Judge cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller