Bourbon

Barrell Bourbon Batch 031

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Barrell Bourbon Batch 031

55.6% ABV
$90
Website
Barrell Bourbon Batch 031
We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

Barrell Bourbon Batch 031 is a blend of 6, 7, 10, 15 and 16-year-old barrels. The blend was built around the sweetness in a group of 99% corn bourbon barrels and a group of wheated bourbon barrels. To bridge these two groupings, we layered in 15 and 16-year-old barrels for their gentle nuttiness and oak. Finally, a selection of 10-year-old barrels was added to bring notes of milk chocolate and tropical fruit.

  • A blend of straight Bourbon Whiskeys
  • Distilled and aged in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana
  • Selection of 6, 7, 10, 15, and 16-year-old barrels
  • Aged in American white oak barrels
  • Bottled in Kentucky
  • 111.2 proof cask strength bottling

FLAVOR NOTES
A perfect autumn release, this batch’s notes of shortbread cookie, pumpkin pie, peppermint latte, and pine needles match the mood of sweater weather.

​Neat
Appearance: Deep Gold.
Nose: A rush of dry, notable oak, incorporating wormwood, tobacco, and pine needles. Curious and sweet with browned butter, candied walnut, and spiced apple pie. Other notes balance between woodsy and floral, such as thistle, milkweed, and poppyseed. As we emerge beyond the scope of oak, we find some fruity and sweet cream notes, the latter represented by peppermint latte and vanilla creme anglaise.
Palate: Moderate sweetness and juicy citrus make for quite an easy pour. The fruit sings loudest here — pomegranate juice and strawberry rhubarb pie. Extractive elements of spice and tannin bring quince and ginger beer into the equation. The baking spice nods toward a Manhattan, garnished with an orange twist. Finally, some marshmallow root and pumpernickel take it in an earthier, cardoon-like direction.
Finish: A quick burst of heat announces smoked paprika, black peppercorn, and spearmint. As it subsides, demerara rum and black cherry soda emerge. Finally, it fades to leave only a little chalk and slate.
With a few drops of spring water
As is often the case, the oak gets pushed way back to reveal abundant tropical fruit, especially lime and passion fruit. The woodsy/floral balance also pitches over into the bouquet, displaying apple blossom, dogwood and rose. Creamed honey and grilled peach take over the plate, leaving behind fresh young ginger in the finish.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich salted caramel, oak, leather, tobacco, freshly baked shortbread cookies, honey, mixed nuts, hint of pumpkin pie.
Palate:  Rich and thick mouthfeel, fruity with peach cobbler, pecan praline, baked pears, dates, dark chocolate, caramel syrup, cinnamon, allspice and toasted marshmallow.
Finish:  Long and damp with pepper, caramel, mint and honey.
Comments:  Another really lovely bourbon! Thick right out of the bottle, and thickens up even more with a bit of water. Complex, sweet, spicy, bit of oak but overall – really nicely balanced. A bit of water give it this ‘dusty bourbon’ vibe (if you’ve had 80’s glut bourbon, it reminds me of that). This might be my favorite Barrell Bourbon release yet!

Rating: Must Try/Must Buy

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Stellum Black Bourbon

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Stellum Black Bourbon
Cask Strength Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies

54.61% ABV
$100
Website
Stellum Black Bourbon
We would like to thank Stellum Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

Louisville, KY (December 7, 2021) – Earlier this year, Stellum™ Spirits launched its flagship Stellum™ Bourbon and Stellum™ Rye whiskeys to celebrate the modern-day whiskey drinker. Today, the brand proudly introduces Stellum™ Black: a limited-release premium expression of the inaugural offerings, designed to carry the same classic, cask strength flavor profiles into a more refined, elegant, and complex blend.

Produced by Barrell Craft Spirits®, Stellum™ Spirits is the result of years of industry-leading innovation in American whiskey. The brand strives to improve the flavor, process and ideals of traditional American whiskeys, while underscoring the importance of nuance and polish in a paired down and minimalist setting.

Stellum™ Black reveals a natural evolution of the inaugural cask strength bourbon and rye whiskey blends, using a meticulous blending approach to layer older reserve barrels into the original blends. The result is something both entirely new and deeply familiar.

“For Stellum Black, we maintained the soul of Stellum while creating a new dimension of flavor by adding reserve barrels from our stocks,” said Joe Beatrice, Barrell Craft Spirits Founder. “We’ve refined this layering technique over time which produces whiskeys focused on both immediate flavor and a long-developed complexity. The result is an entirely new set of whiskeys that has its roots firmly planted in the inaugural whiskeys.”

Stellum Black Bourbon™ and Stellum Black Rye™ were distilled and aged in IN, KY and TN, and bottled at 109.22 proof (54.61% ABV) and 114.26 proof (57.13% ABV), respectively.
Stellum™ Black will be allocated nationwide and online via the Stellum™ website at www.stellum.com for the suggested retail price of $99 per 750ml bottle.
Stellum Black Bourbon is the next step in Stellum Bourbon’s evolution. By incorporating reserve barrels from our stocks with the original Stellum Bourbon blend, we created a bourbon that delivers robust flavor alongside profound complexity. The result is an expression both entirely new and deeply familiar, with roots firmly planted in Stellum Bourbon.

TASTING NOTES
Appearance: Warm amber.
Nose: Aromas explode from the glass in waves and really never stop in their intensity. First out of the glass is flowery vanilla, followed by orange creamsicle, caramel corn, and mixed peppercorns. As it sits for a few minutes bright cedar emerges followed by smoldering oak.
Palate: Sweet orange that has been lightly charred. Leather and the floral vanilla from the nose come forward next and are followed by cardamom, cedar, and a hint of spicy nuts that recedes into a sweet cinnamon.
Finish: Some dark chocolate taffy (think Tootsie Roll) and then leather-tobacco-cedar emerges. The finish goes on for a very long time and sits prickling the back of your tongue and roof of your mouth.
Tasted With 3 Drops of Water: Cinnamon and black pepper get a boost and the cedar becomes more prominent. The whiskey continues to prickle the back of the tongue and roof of your mouth and moves onto your cheeks.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich vanilla, milk chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, orange zest, oak, hint of clove and subtle dark fruit.
Palate:  Rich and creamy mouthfeel, caramel, dark chocolate, vanilla, hints of orange bitters, cinnamon, nutmeg and cracked pepper.
Finish:  Long and damp with cocoa, raw honey, pepper and oak.
Comments:  Another really solid blend. A bit of water thickens this dram up nicely and brings out more fruity notes along with amping up the chocolate. One critique I have is the label. The front of the label doesn’t say ‘Black’ on it (and the dark blue of Stellum Bourbon is pretty similar; in fact – when I had both bottles on my table, at a glance I couldn’t tell which was which). The back of the label says ‘Black’, but as dark as the original label is – make sure you pick up the right one (although you can’t go wrong with either, but I’d recommend the folks put the word ‘Black’ on the front of the bottle to make it more clear).

I’m a big fan of Stellum Bourbon – in fact in 2021, it was the only standard release (meaning not a limited edition or single barrel) I awarded a ‘Must Buy’. Maybe that created a high bar for me when I first tried this – as I really liked it, but wasn’t immediately sure if I liked it more than that.  Thankfully having picked up a couple bottles after receiving a sample and reviewing it, I still had some to compare against.  In a blind side-by-side, I preferred this – finding a lot in common, but this was a bit softer on the nose with hints of dark fruit, and the mouthfeel was a bit thicker. Basically – Stellum Bourbon with the volume turned up to 11. If you’re a fan of Stellum Bourbon, I’d definitely recommend giving this one a shot..

Rating: Must Try

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Booker’s 2021-04 “Noe Strangers Batch”

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Booker’s “Noe Strangers Batch” 2021-04
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

6 Years, 6 Months, 12 Days
62.75% ABV
$90
Website
Bookers 2021-04 Noe Strangers Batch
We would like to thank Beam Suntory and Multiply for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says:

The final release in the Booker’s® Bourbon 2021 Collection is Booker’s Batch 2021-04 ‘Noe Strangers Batch.’ This batch celebrates the genuine, social nature of 6th Generation Master Distiller Booker Noe, and the way he could turn a stranger into a friend for life in no time.

Booker’s way of making friends was second nature to him. When Booker took a liking to the products that a salesman was selling, he would call his wife and say, “Set an extra plate at the table, I’m inviting this salesman to dinner!” In another instance, Booker was invited to a rally for the Blue Knights® Motorcycle Club, an international brotherhood of active and retired law enforcement officers who share a passion for motorcycle riding. There he struck up a conversation with some of the members, and the next day, he invited more than 300 of them over for lunch. His knack for making friends carried into his work as well. In Kentucky and out on the road, Booker wouldn’t leave an event until he shook hands with everyone that wanted to talk to him. And just like that, after shaking hands and a quick conversation, they’d become a fan – and a friend – for life.

Booker taught his son, 7th Generation Master Distiller Fred Noe, to ‘treat others how he would want to be treated’ — a lesson that the Noe family holds true to this day. Like they always say at the distillery: come as friends, leave as family.

Booker’s “Noe Strangers Batch” has a nice color coming from the time it rested in charred white oak barrels. The aroma has vanilla and brown spice, with a sweetness that continues upon the first sip. The initial heat isn’t overwhelming and leaves a taste that’s balanced with a long and warm finish, perfect for the colder months ahead.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Caramel, vanilla, dark chocolate, oak, slightly burnt peanut brittle and baking spices.
Palate:  Chocolate brownies, caramel, peanut butter, vanilla, honey, cinnamon and cracked pepper.
Finish:  Moderately long with oak, cocoa and pepper spice.
Comments:  I’ve lost count at this point, but this is another really solid Booker’s batch1. It could be just the holidays, but I got more peanut brittle/butter than I usually do – but don’t have a line-up to side-by-side (just comparing my notes from prior batches). This also takes water well, keeping a thick mouthfeel and tamping the pepper spice while keeping that gooey caramel goodness.

Rating: Stands Out

 

1Full disclosure – I have had a batch of Booker’s that I didn’t care for.  I’m not 100% certain of the details (can’t find my notes), but remember my rationale for buying it.  Batch C07-A-12 back in 2014 was higher proof than normal (130.4) and older than you typically see (7 years, 8 months).  Coming after the first roundtable batch (2013-6) which was the best batch of Booker’s I’d had (at that point), I thought that more proof AND age must make this even better, right!  Wrong.  But I digress – my point being that in recent years, while some have griped about the age dropping from what it once was (typically over 7 yrs old), I think that the consistency has improved while maintaining a solid, quality barrel proof bourbon.  – and the quality has been solid.  

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Barrell Craft Spirits Bourbon Gold Label 2021

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Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon
2021 Release, 16 & 17 Yrs

56.77% ABV
$500
Website
Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon 2021
We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon is a blend of 16- and 17-year-old straight bourbons. Barrels for this release were selected from four different collections: cherry bomb barrels with a rich mouthfeel, nutty oak-forward barrels, high proof and high complexity barrels, and barrels with pronounced milk chocolate notes. The last group underwent a secondary maturation in toasted virgin American oak casks before being added to this intricate and seductive blend.

  • Aged for 16 years
  • Distilled in IN, KY and TN
  • Crafted and bottled in Kentucky
  • 113.54 proof cask strength bottling

A classically fruity bourbon, as sixteen years of maturation have produced an array of stewed and dried fruits of kaleidoscopic complexity. The overlay of toasted oak has rounded off all the sharp edges, leaving a soft and gentle profile that belies its high proof.

Appearance: Burnt marmalade..
Nose: The fresh and gentle notes from toasted oak are most obvious, as they add an unexpected dimension with vivid sugar cane, pipe tobacco, and toasted cinnamon. This freshness is contrasted by the earthiness of slate, tar, and cedar smoke. Fruits soon emerge, presenting rhubarb, Rainier cherry and tamarind, before shifting to dried apricot and papaya.
Palate: Candied ginger, marmalade, and northwestern hoppy beer notes speak to a foundational bittersweet profile. These are tempered by an unctuous creaminess, incorporating pina colada, key lime pie, and banana custard. Peach nectar, and cherry jam all contribute to a juicy quality whiskey at its best.
Finish: A bright pop of hibiscus and za’atar quickly yields to the cavalcade of dried and stewed fruits. As that fades some oak spices appear – sassafras, cocoa powder, smoked cinnamon, and incense.
With a splash of spring water: A bouquet of floral notes erupts from the glass: meadowsweet, elderflower and chamomile in the lead. The palate, on the other hand, develops instead along toasted coconut and curry.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich, cocoa with cinnamon, dried apricots, baked apples, rickhouse must, vanilla, caramel cremes, worn leather, subtle smoke, baking spices with a hint of minerality.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel with honey, pecan pralines, chocolate, hazelnut, caramel, pepper spice with cinnamon and a citrus twang that gives way to brown sugar.
Finish:  Long and drying with cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, black tea and oak.
Comments:  Another really nice bourbon. This has got a wonderfully complex nose – I really liked the nose on the BCS Gray Bourbon 4th Release, but I like this one better. A bit of water thickens this up nicely and tamps the edges. It also definitely brings out floral notes with coconut. Despite this being older than the BCS Gray Bourbon 4th Release, the oak is less prominent. The price is tough for me here – while I did enjoy this one more than the BCS Gray Bourbon 4th Release – it’s twice the price (and that one was priced up there). The most I’ve spent on a bottle of whisk(e)y as of this review is $300, but the market has definitely moved past where I’m at.  If money isn’t important, this is a really delicious, well crafted bourbon.

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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Barrell Craft Spirits Gray Label Bourbon 4th Release

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Barrell Craft Spirits Gray Label Bourbon
4th Release, 15 Yrs

50.2% ABV
$250
Website
Barrell Craft Spirits Gray Label Bourbon 2021
We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

  • Matured for 15 years
  • Distilled and aged in IN, KY and TN
  • Crafted and bottled in Kentucky
  • 100.4 proof cask strength bottling

    • A bourbon characterized by evolution – where some whiskeys display their complexity all at once, here the flavors remain focused yet ephemeral. A gentle minerality yields to candied scents and then savory earthy ones, fruity aromas, and finally herbs and spices. The palate, meanwhile, is bright and sweet and tastes of cola.

    Appearance: Bronze.
    Nose: Starts with a puff of chalk dust and wood smoke. Underneath are notes of toasted marshmallow, warm honeycomb, and chocolate babka straight from the oven. Soon nubuck leather and sunflower seed jostle to the fore. Fruits emerge next, from Ginger Gold apples through roasted banana to strawberry jam, ending with chamomile and eucalyptus.
    Palate: A syrupy and sweet arrival is kept in check by moderate heat and some light but gritty tannin. A vivid cola note dominates at first, then allspice, fennel seed, and peppermint lead the wave of oak spice. A little fruity spirit peeks through with pops of green grape, strawberry meringue, and jasmine.
    Finish: The sugar washes away quickly, leaving a surprisingly dry, oily, palate with more noticeable tannin. The character correspondingly shifts to drier notes of pipe tobacco, walnut and iced coffee. As they fade a little more fruit emerges, around rhubarb jam and sumac.
    With a splash of spring water: The nose becomes incredibly fruity, showing crabapple, lychee, and blackberry tart. The palate grows fruitier as well, here on watermelon and earl grey tea. But it also develops an earthy spiciness, along gingerbread, radish, and nasturtium.

    What Gary Says

    Nose:  Rich with fudge and salted caramel, cigar paper, graham cracker, mincemeat pie, oak, berries, faint mineral note and hints of black tea.
    Palate:  Toffee, cross between coffee cake and fruitcake, cocoa, cola, nutmeg, allspice, oak, sherry and a hint of anise.
    Finish:  Moderately long and drying with dark chocolate and allspice.
    Comments:  This has a really lovely and complex nose! The palate is a bit dry and tannic (not what I’d call overly oaky, just not squarely in my wheelhouse), but still well balanced. A bit of water brings out fruit notes of green apple and melon. For cask strength to be barely 100 proof is also pretty rare, and provides more intensity than I usually find in a bourbon at this proof. I continue to be impressed with their blending of bourbons (and spirits) from different distilleries. If that aspect is interesting, but this price point is out of reach – I’d recommend finding Stellum Bourbon. I think that was the only bourbon I bought more than 1 bottle of in 2021!

    Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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