Barrell Craft Spirits (BCS) has launched its new Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series.
This limited-edition series utilizes the company’s blending and finishing experience to make bespoke blends of straight bourbon whiskeys with unique finishes. The Cask Finish Series will introduce two blends each year, beginning with the launch of the first two blends this fall: Amburana and A Tale of Two Islands.
Amburana is a blend of Indiana (5, 6, 7 and 10-year) and Kentucky (5-year) bourbon whiskeys, which were further matured in Amburana casks. Amburana casks are challenging to work with, the company says, as they impart strong cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and vanilla spice notes. The BCS blending team created a bourbon blend of two mashbills with different char levels finished in Amburana casks. A vatting of individual casks without finishing was then layered in. Featuring a derived mash bill of corn (75%), rye (21%) and malted barley (4%), the blend was bottled at cask strength (116.42 proof).
The second blend in the Cask Finish Series builds upon the BCS 2018 Tale of Two Islands Rum: a Jamaican Rum matured in peated Islay single malt casks. For the 2023 Tale of Two Islands offering, BCS employed a blend of straight bourbons from Indiana (5, 6 and 9-year) and Maryland (5 and 6-year). The team then used the empty casks from the 2018 offering to finish the blend of straight bourbons. The sweetness of the rum and the smokiness of the Islay casks mingle together with the underlying bourbon for a bourbon with notes of old-fashioned donut and coconut macaron, the company reports. With a derived mash bill of corn (73%), rye (23%) and malted barley (4%), the blend was bottled at cask strength (118.22 proof).
“We’re thrilled to continue our 10-year legacy of developing sought-after, award-winning blends that push the boundaries of American whiskey,” says BCS Founder Joe Beatrice. “The intent for this series is to produce unique blends that showcase the finishing cask, while respecting the underlying bourbon blend.”
Both expressions are available for purchase online via the BCS website at barrellbourbon.com and in select retailers later this month for the suggested retail price of $89.99 per 750-ml. bottle.
Founded in 2013 in Louisville, KY, BCS selects and blends products that explore different distillation methods, barrels and aging environments, and bottles them at cask strength.
This follows the recent releases of Barrell Bourbon Batch 035, Rye Batch 004.
