Greater transparency in the world of American whiskey is pretty much never a bad thing. At the end of the day, it’s really what the consumer deserves in the first place. Looking at a label and clearly being able to tell where a product was distilled, how old it is, how it’s been treated–that shouldn’t be too much to ask. And yet it can still be like pulling teeth in the bourbon game at some points, with non-distiller producers (NDPs) often being the most cagey about revealing what exactly is in their products. That’s what has always made the straightforward nature of Barrell Craft Spirits refreshing.
Barrell feels like an old reliable stalwart of the American bourbon scene at this point, given their more than a decade as one of the higher profile NDPs distributed around the country. Their numbered bourbon batches have maintained a baseline of quality that puts them all in good stead with the average whiskey geek, and they still find room to experiment throughout with novel blends and finishing techniques. Now on Barrell Bourbon Batch 036, the company has gone ahead and tweaked the brand’s look for the first time in quite a while, with a new label that even more fully embraces the company’s ethos of transparency.
Granted, not a ton here has changed. The most immediately noticeable thing is that the batch number (036) has been redesigned to be much larger, and more easily seen by consumers at a glance. Perhaps this will help in spotting specific batches (or pointing out that different batches exist) in the context of a large package store. The other notable change is that Barrell is now including the states of origin for its blend on the front label rather than putting it in the smaller print of the back label. It speaks to a maturing bourbon consumer demographic that can now be expected to picture for themselves what “Tennessee bourbon” or “Indiana bourbon” is likely to imply. The company’s “derived mash bill,” which is effectively a mean of all the whiskeys involved, will still reside on the back label.
So, what is actually in Barrell Bourbon Batch 036? Well, this is a blend of straight bourbons from Indiana (7.5, 8 and 10 year old), Kentucky (9 year) and Tennessee (8, 15 year), as many Barrell Bourbon batches have been before it. This one carries a derived mash bill of 79% corn, 16% rye and 5% malted barley, being bottled in Kentucky at a cask strength of 57.22% ABV (114.44 proof).
So with that said, let’s get to tasting this classic combination of bourbon from several of the country’s largest producers.
On the nose, Batch 036 leads off with a lovely combination of orange citrus and cream, swirled with vanilla. This character is joined by herbal rye, with flashes of grassiness and delicate floral impressions. Candied nuts follow, with a little clove spice, honey toffee and black tea maltiness. Over time it’s the rye that increasingly gains prominence, offering a slightly savory counterpoint to the more honeyed sweetness. Ethanol is impressively mild here on the nose, and I expect the average drinker would never guess its 114 proof while nosing the glass for the first time. This one grows nicely with some time in the glass, rounding itself out and giving more heft to the toffee and vanilla notes.
On the palate, there’s a nice rush of fruit and honey/toffee up front. The fruitiness carries over the citrus dimension from the nose, joined by peach, while also touching on something more like grape jam. I’m getting seasoned wood notes, along with some cinnamon and clove, and pronounced honey tea. This definitely leans more sweet than dry overall, but it’s kept in check by a persistent ribbon of hot pepper and chile-like spice. This “spicy” is more in the dimension of heat than say, baking spice would typically be described, giving much more of an indication here of the whiskey’s cask strength than it did on the nose.
All in all, this is a pretty cool profile, one that brings together brighter fruity notes with sweet, aromatic oak and rye spice. It fits perfectly into the particular niche that Barrell Craft Spirits has already carved out for themselves–if you typically enjoy these batches, then it seems safe to say that the company’s new era, new label look will still present plenty of appeal.
Distillery: Barrell Craft Spirits
City: Louisville, KY
Style: Blend of straight bourbon whiskeys
ABV: 57.22% (114.44 proof)
Availability: Limited, 750 ml bottles, $90 MSRP
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident craft beer and spirits geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.