Barrell Seagrass

Amazing nose very sweet like a peach . The taste is so unique with so many different notes to it. The finish is good but wish it would have lasted longer. Will be getting another bottle

Barrell's offerings, with just a couple of exceptions, have always been somewhere between good and great for me. Rye whiskey is hit or miss. But Barrell rye finished in rhum agricole, madeira and apricot brandy barrels was not something I could pass on. Still, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I like rye when the rye itself is tempered and well balanced with barrel notes. The couple of Whistle Pigs I've had do that quite nicely. But I'm not so fond of ryes that taste like boozy versions of Pumpernickel bread (or pickle brine, but that probably goes without saying). Would the Seagrass be like it's three cask cousin, the love it or hate it Armida, where the finishing casks obscure the base spirit (I fall into the “love” camp, but tasted blind and given ten chances to guess what the Armida was, I doubt I would have correctly said “bourbon”). Or perhaps the cask strength rye would win out, overpowering the finishing casks? Or would the Seagrass achieve a harmonious balance? The answer is...harmonious balance!! This is unmistakably a rye with a very nice nice rye hit from the start carrying through to the finish. But the finishing casks add a great complementary sweetness that goes on and on. Both the rhum agricole and the apricot brandy are discernable. The madeira perhaps slightly less so, although I got some faint wine notes well into the finish. There’s tons of fruit, and the rye combined with sweet notes offered a cinnamon cookie vibe. The Seagrass clocks in at 59.2% ABV. It’s very drinkable at full proof, but I found that just a touch of water opened it up quite a bit. I also suspect the bottle will open up given some time. I expect fans of rye whiskeys will dig this, but I also think it will appeal to bourbon fans who don’t normally love rye. Great stuff from Barrell!!