This is the latest limited release Bourbon from Bardstown Bourbon Company. It is aged Bourbon â 45% 14 years old, 37.5% 18 years old, 10% 11 years old, 5% 9 years old, and 2.5% 17 years old. What they have done is finished it for 2 years, 2 months, in French oak barrels made from oak trees that were 300 years old and harvested for the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral, following the fire in the Cathedral in 2019. This old wood has a very tight grain and this gives the whiskey a unique flavor not found in the typical oak barrels. It retails for $100.00 a 375 ml bottle. They sent me a bottle for review and Matt and I sat down and tasted it the other day. Here are our tasting notes.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Cathedral French Oak Bourbon
Proof: 110.1
Age: Nine Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel, dark chocolate, apples, pears, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, maple syrup and oak.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, dark chocolate, apples, nutmeg, ginger and lots of oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the apple and the nutmeg are enhanced. Tasted with a pecan and rich buttered toffee, dark chocolate, orange zest, cinnamon and lots of oak come out.
- Matt: Caramel, maple syrup, hot red pepper and lots of oak. The dried cranberry made the caramel a rich buttered caramel. The pecan enhanced the hot red pepper.
Finish:
- Mike: Long and dry with oak wood, baking spices and a little lingering caramel. The dried cranberry enhanced the nutmeg in the finish. The pecan made the finish very oak forward with caramel and cinnamon.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood and hot red pepper. The dried cranberry added some lingering caramel. The pecan made the finish oak forward with hot red pepper.
I would pair this Bourbon with a cigar that has a lot of vanilla and chocolate in the smoke. I would reach for a My Father The Judge cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller