Kentucky’s Best Whiskey Blender Just Dropped a 20-Year-Old Bourbon Finished in a Toasted Barrel
Barrell Craft Spirits is Kentucky’s preeminent whiskey blender, sourcing barrels from different distilleries throughout America (and sometimes the rest of the world), blending them, and frequently giving the whiskey interesting secondary maturations. The company just announced two new releases, including a very limited edition 20-year-old bourbon aged for five years in a toasted barrel.
This new release is a continuation of 2018’s Gray Label Bourbon, a 15-year-old bourbon blend that was distilled in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana and bottled at cask strength of 105.1 proof. That release got the attention of many whiskey fans, not to mention critics, even with a hefty price tag of $250 per bottle. The new 20-Year Toasted Single Barrel is made up of a portion of that original Gray Label blend that was transferred into nine American oak barrels that were custom toasted to the company’s own specifications. Five years later, the first barrel was bottled at cask strength of 109.76 proof, with the remaining eight barrels to be released over the coming years.
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Putting whiskey in a toasted barrel has become a bit of a trend these days, although Michter’s is usually credited with being the first to release an American whiskey to be finished in that type of cask. The point of this secondary maturation is to add new layers of flavor that differ from putting whiskey into a second charred oak barrel, highlighting notes of wood, toasted nuts, and cocoa. Other brands to release toasted barrel finished whiskeys over the past few years include Elijah Craig, Penelope Bourbon, Kentucky Peerless, and Daviess County. We didn’t get to try this new whiskey, which at 20 years old is pushing the upper limits of bourbon maturation, but official tasting notes (which are quite extensive) describe polished oak, cola, vintage fernet, pine needles, pumpernickel, and burnt marshmallow on the palate.
The other new release from BCS is the latest installment in the Cask Finish Series, which was finished in ice wine casks. Ice wine is a sweet dessert wine that is made using grapes that have frozen on the vine, which concentrates the sugars. The bourbon for this blend was sourced from Indiana (five to 11 years old), Kentucky (five and eight years old), Tennessee (nine and 15 years old), and Wyoming (nine years old). The mashbills were different, but after blending the final makeup came out to 71 percent corn, 24 percent rye, four percent malted barley, and one percent wheat. It was bottled at 106.52 proof, and the palate has notes of honey, golden raisin, apricot, ginger, Brazil nuts, and coconut.
BCS 20-Year Toasted Single Barrel (SRP $200) is dropping today, but there are only 150 bottles available which you can find for sale at the brand’s website. Ice Wine Finish ($90) is more widely available from the website or secondary retailers. You can also find many other expressions in the BCS lineup now at ReserveBar.
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