Must Try

Stellum Black Bourbon
Cask Strength Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies

54.61% ABV
$100
Website

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