Barrell Craft Spirits has seen a great deal of expansion in the last couple of years. There’s the wonderfully received Private Releases as well as whiskeys that have undergone secondary finishing such as Dovetail and the new Armida. But it seems their bread and butter is still good ol’ straight bourbon whiskey. In my mind, blending batches of bourbon is what they do best.
Batch 025 is a 5 year old bourbon with barrels from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. Their website goes into further detail in terms of batch breakdown:
13 to 15-year corn-forward bourbons and 5 to 9-year-old wheated bourbons were slowly layered in with a selection of 9-year-old high-rye bourbons.
The result is 113.4 proof cask strength bourbon that is as complex and interesting as anything Barrell Bourbon has released to date. The nose is grain-forward with hints of sweet corn with an undertone of fresh tropical fruit and maple syrup. The palate reveals a mellowness that’s not to be confused with lacking flavor. Hints of vanilla icing, fruit cocktail, and espresso form the DNA of this whiskey. A sprinkling of cinnamon and the slightest touch of oak help unify flavors here. The long finish sees lingering ripe fruit and slight minerality.
Barrell has done it again. How many times can I type that phrase? I’m not sure of the answer, but it’s refreshingly true. Always looking towards the future, Barrell Craft Spirits continues to blend and release engaging whiskies. Twenty five unique batches of bourbon in just a few years, all varying in character from “wow, that’s pretty good” to “can I just buy a couple of cases of this?”. You can rest assured, you’ll have a blast discovering Barrell Bourbon Batch 025.
Thanks to Barrell Craft Spirits for this production sample. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Adventures In Whiskey 