Bardstown Bourbon Company has a long history of finishing whiskeys in wine barrels. Back in 2019, when Bardstown Bourbon Company was a relatively new distillery, they did a collaboration with Phifer Pavitt Winery and released their first finished Bourbon. This is their latest finished Bourbon in their Origin Series. They took Bourbons that were sourced as well as Bourbons they made and finished them for 17 months in some Silver Oak cabernet wine barrels. The whiskeys in the blend are 25% 14 year old Kentucky Bourbon, 23% 12 year old Tennessee Bourbon, 22% 10 year old Kentucky Bourbon, 15% 9 year old Indiana Bourbon, 10% 10 year old Kentucky Bourbon, and 5% 12 year old Georgia Bourbon. They sent me a bottle for review the other day and Matt and I sat down to taste it. Here are our tasting notes.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Collaborative Series Bourbon Finished in Silver Oak Cabernet Barrels
Proof: 108
Age: No Age Statement on Bottle
Nose:
- Mike: Wine forward, vanilla, grapes with a hint of baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Butterscotch, marshmallows, cotton candy and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Cabernet wine, vanilla, grapes, strawberries, white pepper and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the spice becomes a cinnamon spice. Tasted with a pecan and a citrus note comes out to join the party and the oak wood is enhanced.
- Matt: Butterscotch, marshmallows, strawberry cream and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the strawberry cream. The pecan adds a note of sweet nuts, probably pecan.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood, white pepper and cabernet wine. The dried cranberry made the spice a cinnamon. The pecan made the finish very long with oak wood and citrus.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and cinnamon spice. The dried cranberry added some lingering strawberry. The pecan made the finish long with oak wood and butterscotch.
I would pair this whiskey with a cigar which complements a wine. Ideally, I would reach for a Nat Sherman Schrader Cigar, but they no longer make those cigars. I would instead reach for Ferio Tego Timeless Panamericana cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller