With the New Orleans Bourbon Festival right around the corner, now is as good a time as ever to take a look at some of their 2019 single barrel picks in a series of short reviews.  A lot of the whiskies in this series are still available in certain New Orleans retail stores, and will be poured at the 2019 New Orleans Bourbon Festival.

We’ll start with Woodford Reserve Double Oaked.  Bottled at 45.2% ABV, this is matured Woodford Reserve finished in a second toasted, charred barrel.  It’s been a few years since I last tried WRDO, but remember liking it a lot.  How does this barrel pick fare?

The nose features hints of brown sugar, sweet corn, spice, and chocolate.  A bit of sweet oak shows up with a little airtime.  On the palate, waves of brown sugar meet sumptuous Mexican chocolate.  Spiced red fruit develops in the mid-palate.  Those baking spices ramp up in the medium-length finish, followed by lingering stewed fruit and spice notes.

This goes down too easy.  It’s quite nice.  I like the development of fruit on the palate here, which is a bit of a departure from the standard Woodford Reserve Double Oaked flavor profile.  That uniqueness is what festival organizers are aiming for with these barrel picks.  With this selection, they’ve chosen a very approachable whiskey that should appease any Woodford Reserve fan.  8/10