Barrell Bourbon Batch 014

I’ve been hanging on to this bottle for a long time. I’ve heard mixed things about this distillery, and though most people have told me that some batches are far better than others, there seems to be a general respect for their business model. There’s something to be said for building a brand by blending good juice to make a good product, paying your bills first, and then distilling your own juice later. I hope batch 14 delivers! I get cinnamon, apple, and nutmeg on the nose. Smells promising. Body comes in as a sugar bomb. I get milk chocolate, sweet tarts, smarties, powdered sugar. Finish is mild in feel given the ABV, but still spicy in flavor. Cinnamon, bit of black pepper. I don’t know if batch 14 is generally considered to be one of the hits or one of the misses, but I dig it. It’s like someone took some Willett juice and replaced the nuttiness with some tartness present in a lot of Buffalo Trace products. In fact, I think my next drink will be 1 oz Rock Hill Farms blended with 1 oz Noah’s Mill. Don’t look at me that way. It’s for science. It’ll be interesting to see what these guys come up with when they do their own juice. It’ll probably be something entirely new compared to this, but they’ve made a new fanboy today. They know how to blend. Postscript: I felt so strongly about my RHF/Noah’s Mill hypothesis that I went and did that before I finished the review. I’m not miles off, but I’m off. My blend is way too nutty compared to this batch. I think I’m correct with RHF. I will probably try this again, with something that’s a true chocolate bomb without introducing nuttiness. I’m thinking next will either be that mocha infused Makers Mark PS or a Blanton’s Gold.

So tasty.

Nose - candied orange, honey, light oak, hay. Palate - dried apricot, cola, oily mouthfeel. No rye-funk. Long finish.

Yum. Quite tasty, would score higher if not for the price. Goes toe to toe with EHT Single Barrel, but is significantly more expensive. Batch 14, 9yr, 54.7%