ctbeck11
Barrell Craft Spirits Gray Label Whiskey 24 Year (2021 Release)
Canadian — (bottled in) Kentucky, Canada
Reviewed
March 29, 2022 (edited October 4, 2023)
Nose - butterscotch, vanilla, sawdust, orange zest, milk chocolate, sweet floral notes, cornbread, powdered sugar, spearmint, pineapple, moderate ethanol burn.
Taste - butterscotch, lemon meringue, ginger, vanilla, tangerine, walnut, chocolate, apple, white pepper, mint, rye bread, anise, pineapple, light oak, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing medium length with butterscotch, citrus, and minty rye flavors.
The last of my Barrell reviews is this 24 Year Gray Label Canadian whisky finished in sherry and armagnac casks. These releases are priced extremely high at $250, so it’s a treat just to try this one. The nose is very light and effervescent. Butterscotch, powdered sugar, tropical fruits, and sweet floral notes are detectable. The palate is similarly light and fruity, but hotter than expected from the nose. There are more tropical fruits and citrus with some chocolate covered walnuts and a nice rye quality.
I’ll start by saying that these lighter whiskies generally aren’t my thing. The nuance and complexity are lost on me. And that’s probably happening with me here. It’s great whisky, but I can easily see it being much better to others who appreciate the style more than I do. After nine Barrell reviews, I can report that the 16 Year Seagrass was my favorite by far. A huge thank you to @pkingmartin for providing this generous sample along with the majority of the others I reviewed during this series.
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@PBMichiganWolverine Thanks, that helps.
@Anthology two of the Proof and Wood? I wouldn’t. B/c that’s because that price is such a limiting factor. That’s just me personally
@PBMichiganWolverine You’re not yet on Discord so you didn’t see that I was able to snag a bottle of the Proof & Wood 100 Seasons. Been meaning to ask…do you think it’s worth a backup bottle if you available at retail/srp? Debating adding a second versus spend my money on something else I don’t have 😊
@pkingmartin yeah! That would be awesome—- thanks!!!
@PBMichiganWolverine I can pack a sample of the 24 and Seagrass 16 for you to give them a try before buying if you’d like?
@pkingmartin yeah mine too— I’ll have to look this up and the Seagrass 16
@PBMichiganWolverine I think you’d really enjoy this one. The flavors are subtle but very complex with additional flavors coming from the Armagnac and sherry casks. I can see how this profile wouldn’t be for everyone but old light whiskey seems to fit my palate perfectly.
@Anthology @ctbeck11 if this is anything like Proof and Wood 100 seasons, it’ll be right up my alley. That nuanced subtle flavors had layers of complexity
It’s interesting that the [much] higher ABVs of light whiskeys doesn’t produce a commensurate flavor intensity to make up for the perceived lack of complexity. A bit of a head-scratcher these light whiskeys judging by your review @ctbeck11
@PBMichiganWolverine Yea that’s in the same boat for me. I haven’t reviewed it yet, but guessing I’ll rate it similarly.
@ctbeck11 did you enjoy the Proof and Wood Light whiskey ? Wondering if that was too nuanced as well