Bardstown Bourbon Co. Château de Laubade Armagnac Finish

Rating: 20/23 I'd been curious to try Bardstown for a while, then I tried a couple that I thought were interesting and quite good, so I wanted to try more. I just finished a series of Château De Laubade tastings, so when I was looking through my samples for one to try, this spoke to me. N: Bold, leathery, kind of spicy, and slightly meaty. There are of course some rich fruits in the cherry and blackberry range. There's definitely some substantial barrel tannins coming out with the spice and leather. It's overall not the most complex and decadent nose, but it is quite a good one. Really, quite enjoyable. P: That tartness and bold woody bitterness that I expect of Armagnac tannins hit me straight up, but the flavor isn't overpowering. There's some bold leatheriness here as well that reminds me of Joseph Magnus, then that fades into barrel spices (ginger, cinnamon, clove) with some limestone adding a mineral lightness to the profile. Dried cherries come in at opportune moments throughout, as do notes of chocolate and vanilla. Really, this is a very decadent dram. There's just a touch of young meatiness here, but not too bad. I'm very impressed. This has great complexity with decadent flavor. It isn't the most subtle, but it honestly does succeed pretty well at subtlety. F: There's a delightful mustiness like some really delightful cabernets have. It's intertwined with slightly floral vanilla and makes for a lovely finish. - Conclusion - This isn't making my top 5, but it is an excellent dram. My main complaint is that I could have done with a somewhat fuller body with a more viscous palate. Side by side, Joseph Magnus (21/23) is bolder, more leathery, oilier, less sweet, more integrated, and less complex. Honestly, I think that oloroso finishing is really coming through for the Joseph Magnus. Overall, I think that the two are quite close in quality. This has a more youthful bite to it, but the old tannins from the Laubade casks really give this some great maturity. Between the two, I'm inclined to favor the Joseph Magnus, but I can really see going either way. They're both just such great drams. A fresh bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed (18/23) just can't compete with this. The quality difference is stark. The Wild Turkey is less complex with just as much burn and more funky flavor from the alcohol that comes across as a bit off (at least side by side). There's no way that this can be as low as a 19 and I'm kind of thinking that a 20 is a bit low. I've sometimes thought that the Joseph Magnus could be a 22, but I think that still leaves this solidly in the 21 range. Which is an excellent score! I'm thrilled to find that this is a 21 and excited to try more Bardstown! On my final sip of this tasting, I am more seriously considering a 20 again, but this is definitely on the high end of that if it lands there. Coming back to this, it's definitely at least a 19, but I'm not so sure about that 21. I think I'm dropping this to a 20, but I don't think it's as low as a 19. It's a 20 or 21. Coming back for the last few sips, I almost gave this a 21, but after the last one, I landed on a 20. Thank you @Milliardo for sharing this sample of such a delightful dram!

For this release, Bardstown sourced a 12 year old MGP bourbon then collaborated with Chateau de Laubade to acquire some of their Gascon oak Armagnac barrels to finish the bourbon for 18 months before it was deemed ready and bottled at 59.2%. The nose starts with musty grapes, dusty leather-bound books and cavernous minerality then cocoa powder dusted prunes, cigar wrappers and candied pecans followed by caramelized pears, dehydrated figs and cherry pie filling that transitions to spearmint, cloves, ginger and freshly lacquered antique furniture with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a rich oily mouthfeel starting creamy sweet orange that fades to musty grapes, dusty leather-bound books and cavernous minerality before a mild spice that quickly fades to cocoa powder dusted prunes, freshly lit cigar and pecan pie followed by caramelized pears, fig jam and cherries jubilee that transitions to spearmint, cloves, ginger and freshly lacquered antique furniture with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long with freshly lit sweet pipe tobacco, flinty minerality, caramelized pears, Morello cherry jam, musty grapes, spearmint, cloves, dusty leather-bound books and freshly lacquered antique furniture. This is a stunningly complex and rich bourbon that the combination of old MGP with those Armagnac casks has created a musty, earthy and cavernous forward dram that the traditional bourbon notes of creamy citrus, roasted nuts and mild rye are secondary but all the flavors work in near perfect balance to create a unique experience of earthy, sweet, savory and spice that finishes long and lingers for minutes after each sip. For me, this is the best bourbon that Bardstown has ever created and was a bargain at the price of $125 when I bought it. Unfortunately the secondary seems to have gone nuts over this one and isn’t worth the mark up, but I did see this in a few bars in Kentucky for a reasonable price and would recommend anyone to give it a try if they can find it for a justifiable price.

Holy moly! Pulled this sample from a box from @pkingmartin without knowing anything about it. Based on the name, I assumed it was a sourced bourbon aged in cognac, but didn't have especially high expectations. Worried it might be Dickel. But the nose on this immediately made me believe this is special. Before even taking a sip, I knew I had to pull down some of my favorites to compare. The nose jumps out of the glass with caramel and deep sweet wood, dried fruit, apple, maybe orange peel. The depth on the nose beats my current cabinet-favorite Russell's Reserve 13. The palate follows suit with the caramel, fruit, and wood. There's a nice balance between the sweet and bitter on the finish. I'm a WT fan, so I may be overrating the RR13, but I think they're a draw on the palate, and the finish on the RR may have a slight edge. Overall, that sounds like a draw to me, so I have to give this a 5. This is really incredible stuff and wish it was something I could find to enjoy more of. Thank you @pkingmartin for tossing this extra in the box, as it wasn't one that I even thought to want to try. This was a real treat to be able to taste!

NOSE: Leathery dark fruit, deep oak, cocoa, baking spices, copper, citrus peels, toffee and some vanilla taffy. When I say dark fruit I mean the whole category: prunes, raspberries, blackberries, raisins, etc. This is a juicy, dark complex aroma I don't want to stop sniffing. PALATE: Leathery dark fruit, deep oak, cocoa, graham, baking spices, copper, citrus peels, toffee and some vanilla taffy and mustiness. This is a near carbon copy of the aroma in the best possible way. The depth of this keeps pulling me back in. FINISH: Long -> Leathery dark fruit, roasted nuts, oak and spice fade out to a fruity, spiced dark chocolate note that is the perfect ending to this dense beast.

Came in with a lot of hype. It's really good but not amazing. Nose had a bit too much entanol but overall its a buy all day at retail. $350-400 secondary no shot.