Belle Meade Bourbon Cognac Cask Finish

Bottled in 2016. The folks at Belle Meade were placing bets that the consumer will arrive at one of two conclusions when having this XO Cognac finish: Wow, there’s an interesting fruity and spicy sweetness to this bourbon that I don’t get with other bourbons. It must be the cognac influence. Or: Wow, this is a shit bourbon. It must be the shit bourbon they used. I arrived at the latter conclusion, and about half of this bottle found its way into the fire for cooking. And I don’t think any food I made with this was spectacular either. This isn’t supposed to happen at $80, but all the warning signs are there: NO AGE STATEMENT. Just put the age on the bottle. It doesn’t have to be a big font, and it doesn’t have to be a big number. No age statement whiskies just reek of trying to hide a scam. LOW ABV. If you are NAS, at least justify a higher price by making the product cask strength or at least 50% ABV. This 45.2% is sketchy for a $50+ bourbon. Drinking strength is nonsense, lowering the ABV is only for stretching the product to make more profit. Alcohol is a drug. No cocaine dealer will try to spin their cocaine content by saying it’s brought down to snorting strength. CASK FINISHING. This is new-age hip-hop whiskeymaking. When the marketer’s biggest point of emphasis is what they used to finish the whiskey, be suspicious. This is like a car being advertised for its chrome rims. At best, Belle Meade Cognac Cask Finish is not undrinkable whiskey. After about a year open, I think the finish finally integrated itself, and my last few sips of this bottle was just a sweet bourbon that was about as pleasant as Angel’s Envy Port Cask Finish, which is already overpriced for what it offers at $50. This is just horribly disappointing at $80. Score: 0 (forgettable) How much does a bottle cost?: $60-100 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $20

Vanilla, spice, well balanced and tasty

Not as smooth as the Sherry finish, but the flavor is great. Tasted neat.

Tasted as part of the cask finish 3x 375ml pack (Sherry, Madeira & Cognac.) I tend to be a purist and don't always enjoy cask finishes but Belle Meade has a way of making the cask finish shine while maintaining a balance with the bourbon. I prefer the sherry the most, then the maderia and then the cognac. All three are quite smooth. The sherry has a nice sweetness to it and is the most interesting. The maderia has an earthy flavor and a medium sweetness. The cognac is definitely the hottest of the three. $100 for 3x 375ml

1 cube. Sweet, vanilla nose with a bit of heat. Extremely smooth with no bite and a slight sweet finish encompassing the subtle cognac notes. Beautiful done.