Bourbon

Bourbon Steak’s Ragged Branch Wheated Bourbon
Exclusive to Bourbon Steak’s DC Location

60.5% ABV (for sample provided; varies by barrel)
$21 for 2 oz pour in restaurant (see menu for current price)
Restaurant Website
Distiller Website

We would like to thank Bourbon Steak and The Brand Guild for sending us a sample to review.

What the Restaurant/Distillery Team Says

Bourbon Steak has teamed up with Ragged Branch, the renowned distillery located in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, to launch an exclusive Bourbon Steak Bourbon, only available at the restaurant’s DC location!

Ragged Branch crafts the finest, authentic Virginia bourbon and every drop comes from their own grain – milled and mashed daily, aged in charred American white oak barrels and distilled onsite. Ragged Branch produces almost zero waste, as the water in the distillery is recycled for cooling tanks and the spent mash is fed to their cattle, creating their own unique flavor of beef, also produced at the farm.

Bourbon Steak is Chef Michael Mina’s love letter to the American Steakhouse, and the DC location is the brand’s flagship and a staple in the DC food scene, having debuted nearly 15 years ago at the Four Seasons hotel in the heart of Georgetown. The limited edition bottle is truly unique, hand crafted, twice barreled and double oaked. Ragged Branch hand cuts and filters the bourbon straight from the barrel, ensuring the utmost smoothness and quality. Sip it neat, on the rocks, or enjoy in Bourbon Steak’s House Manhattan!

Bourbon Steak places community at the core of their operations and are proud to be partnering with this exceptional local distillery to create this special bottle – only available at Bourbon Steak DC.

Mashbill: 68% corn | 16% wheat | 16% malted barley

What Gary Says

Nose:  Salted caramel, oak, fruit notes of cherries and a bit of orange, hint of malt and mixed nuts.
Palate:  Thick mouthfeel, caramel, chocolate, toffee, anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, cherries, blackberries and pepper.
Finish:  Moderate in length with cherries, cola and oak.
Comments: An interesting pour; blackberry is a note I don’t get very often in bourbon, same with cola. A bit of water brings out notes of cedar on the nose, and actually thickens the mouthfeel while bringing out more chocolate. The barley content is a bit higher than you typically see which may be contributing to that uniqueness. I inquired what ‘twice barreled and double oaked’ meant and they explained that the bourbon is first aged for 4.5 years in a #3 charred virgin oak barrel before being aged an additional 1.5 years in a #4 charred virgin oak barrel.

Rating: Stands Out

Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Tale of Two Islands

59.11% ABV
$90
Website

We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

In 2018, Barrell Craft Spirits produced a very limited release of our Tale of Two Islands Rum: a Jamaican Rum matured in peated Islay single malt barrels. To create it, the blending team filled previously used Islay Single Malt Whisky casks with a small amount of Barrell Rum Batch 001. We let it mature and the result was a deeply intense Jamaican rum with just a touch of misty peat smoke. With separate distillation, aging, and finishing influences from Jamaica, Kentucky and Islay, this was a truly unique spirit.

For the Cask Finish: Tale of Two Islands blend, the team took the empty casks that held the Tale of Two Islands Rum, and used them to finish a blend of straight bourbon whiskeys. The sweetness of the rum and the smokiness of the Islay casks mingle together with the underlying bourbon that continues the Tale of Two Islands.

BLEND COMPONENTS:
Indiana: 5, 6, & 9 years old
Maryland: 5 & 6 years old

• A blend of straight bourbon Whiskeys
• Further matured in Tale of Two Islands barrels
• Bottled in Kentucky
• 118.22 proof cask strength bottling

DERIVED MASH BILL:
Corn: 73%
Rye: 23%
Malted Barley: 4%

FLAVOR NOTES
This is a classic bourbon with notes of old-fashioned donut and coconut macaron. Over time, that bourbon slowly leeched the brooding peatiness left behind in the barrel staves by smokey Islay whisky. A splash of water unlocks wild, tropical volatiles that are the calling card of Jamaica’s ester-packed rums.

​Neat
Appearance: Rich mahogany.
Nose: All the hallmarks of high-re bourbon are tinted with the smoke of Islay malt. It singes the sage, torches the marshmallow, flambés the banana, and grills the peach. Apricot and candied cherry round out the stone fruit character while coconut macaron complements the banana.
Palate: Dark chocolate, espresso, and malty porter set the stage. They usher in a different side of Islay, this time its tarry, inky side. The texture is waxy with some gritty tannin that highlights its chalky mineral character. Underneath, it’s still a fruity bourbon, exhibiting notes of candied lemon peel, nectarine, and plum sauce, all enhanced by the rum that previously sat in the barrel.​
Finish: The waxy texture turns greasy with clarified butter, brisket, and lemon oil. They leave behind burnt caramel, blackberry, and peppercorn.
With a splash of spring water
The fruits are tinged with pink, becoming grapefruit, watermelon, and lychee. A conga line of pineapple, papaya, and creamsicle issue forth from the rum barrel. Honeycomb and almond croissant anchor everything firmly in bourbon territory. Black licorice, rootbeer, and lavender reflect back the palate’s herbal side.

What Gary Says

Nose: Fruity with subtle Islay smoke and herbal notes, apricots, pears, peaches and cherries with a bit of coconut and sage.
Palate: Dark chocolate, fruity with orange, coffee, grapefruit, lemon, caramel with subtle peat and pepper.
Finish: Moderately long and a bit sharp with fruit, caramel and pepper.
Comments: I was really looking forward to this one, as I’m a big fan of Islay whisky. That part is subtle, which to be honest is what I look for in a finish (as many tend to be heavy handed so that dominates the spirit). Barrell Craft Spirits has always done an amazing job with finishing to keep it dialed back, although I was sorta hoping this one they might let go a bit longer – or that the rum aging in the Islay cask already took much of that smokiness with it. This is still a really interesting whiskey, with just a hint of that Islay swagger remaining. A bit of water brings out more grapefruit and grilled peaches on the nose, and some honey and anise on the palate.

Rating: Stands Out

Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Amburana

58.21% ABV
$90
Website

We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

Amburana casks are challenging to work with, as they impart strong cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and vanilla spice notes. True blending expertise is required to enhance the bourbon with Amburana and maintain balance. The Barrell Craft Spirits blending team created a bourbon blend of two mash bills with different char levels finished in Amburana casks. A vatting of individual casks without finishing was layered in to add depth, richness and complexity, ensuring the bourbon shines through first and foremost.​

Rather than working with cubes, spirals, staves, or other oak alternatives like many producers, Barrell Craft Spirits’ Chief Whiskey Scientist Tripp Stimson sourced true 53-gallon barrels made from sustainably harvested amburana wood to finish bourbon. It took a full year of R&D to hone in on the right timing and conditions that would create just the right balance of flavor concentration, layering in those heady tropical spice notes without losing the delicious flavor of the bourbon itself.

The wood’s strong impact within a short time frame demands a level of expertise that goes far beyond just filling it with bourbon, waiting a few months, and then bottling. Barrell Craft Spirits’ approach involves the delicate art of blending and small adjustments to proof, temperature, and other conditions that allow the amburana contribution to shine while complementing the natural attributes of the bourbon, rather than overpowering it.

BLEND COMPONENTS:
Indiana: 5, 6, 7, & 10 years old
Kentucky: 5 years old

• A blend of straight Bourbon Whiskeys
• Further matured in Amburana barrels
• Bottled in Kentucky
• 116.42 proof cask strength bottling

DERIVED MASH BILL:
Corn: 75%
Rye: 21%
Malted Barley: 4%

FLAVOR NOTES
An intense baking spice character centered around cinnamon fills every nook and cranny of the tasting experience. It’s a veil through which one experiences the aromas of chocolate, walnut, and toasted sourdough. The palate also has a narrative driven by cinnamon and spicy ginger beer with cameos from marmalade, tarragon, and hefeweizen. A healthy splash of water foregrounds passionfruit, goldenrod, and honeycomb.

​Neat
Appearance: Russet.
Nose: Cinnamon, and a lot of it. Along with other baking spices, it suffuses nearly every other aroma. Heavily spiced horchata, café de olla, and banana bread all feature it. Apple fritters and cracker jacks toe the line between sweet and savory.
Palate: The texture is rich and buttery. Here, too, those oak-derived spices predominate, with licorice root joining the assemblage. Pumpkin pie is reinforced by masala chai and ginger beer. More traditional bourbon flavors of tarragon, verjus, and lemon meringue pie keep the oak in check.
Finish: An array of citrus peels welcomes in cider apple and dirty martini. Sweeter than the palate, notes of hefeweizen and dark cuban rum persist on the tongue thanks to some grippy tannin.
With a splash of spring water
The sweet and savory balance begins to teeter. As sweetness gains the upper hand, one finds white chocolate, honeycomb and graham cracker. Then it seesaws the other way revealing sugar-snap pea and skillet cornbread. A bit of the underlying whisky surfaces here to show off honeydew melon, passionfruit, and jasmine. The palate paints a botanical portrait with strokes of lilac and chive blossom. It’s anchored in loamy soil with a salty streak along the finish.

What Gary Says

Nose: Lovely baking spices, vanilla undertones, bit of caramel, loads of cinnamon, baked goods (banana nut bread and oatmeal cookies), nutmeg, clove, honey and a hint of floral notes.
Palate: Caramel, cinnamon, dark chocolate, anise, nutmeg, ginger with a citrus zip and oak.
Finish: Moderately long, drying with orange bitters, cinnamon hot candy and espresso.
Comments: Loads of baking spices! Very interesting, spicy and with an edge (might have thought this was rye if tasting blind). A bit of water brings out some graham cracker on the nose and more fruity notes on the palate. Another really solid blend with a unique finish (one I’d certainly never tried before).

Rating: Stands Out