Background

2022 was undoubtedly a banner year for Bardstown Bourbon Company. In March of 2022, they were purchased by Pritzker Capital for an undisclosed sum. In July, they put that newfound capital to use, acquiring Green River Spirits. The growth did not stop there, as they announced a downtown Lousiville “brand experience” opening late this summer. Finally, in December they announced their Origin Series, which is a new flagship series of whiskeys of their own juice distilled, aged and bottled at their Bardstown location.

These releases are a big step for Bardstown, a massive contract distilling enterprise which produces over 50 different mashbills for over 30 different brands. They had long been sourcing whiskey for its two main product series (Fusion and Discovery), and now we finally get to taste their own juice under their own label! VP of Product Development, Dan Calloway, rolled through Jack Rose in DC to showcase 5 different Bardstown products to taste. Details of each in the review below!

Details: Mashbill is Corn 68% / Wheat 20% / Malted Barley 12%, orchestrated by Master Distiller and all around legend Steve Nally

Nose: Buttery cornbread, buttercream frosting, some light white peach notes.

Palate: Frosted mini wheats, peaches, hints of sweet tea.

Finish: Apricots and soft, butter notes and mouth feel. Bit short.

5/10

Overall: During the tasting, Dan was promoting the peach flavor here, which I get, but buttery is the predominant takeaway I get here. Nice sipper.

Details: 60% corn, 36% rye, 4% barley. Not a ton of fun facts here other than Bardstown noting the especially high rye content.

Nose: Cocoa, raspberries, ginger and vanilla

Palate: Vanilla, corn pops, earl gray tea, unsurprisingly more oak and spice forward than the wheater.

Finish: That tea note and herbaceousness persists, black pepper arrives for a nice medium length spice forward finish.

6/10

Overall: I remain firmly in the camp of high rye > high wheat mashbills. This is a nice, punchy, flavorful sip. If you lean more towards wheated whiskey, I would not judge you at all for having this and the last pour flip flopped. This is just more my jam.

Details: Ok here’s where the Bardstown group started dropping some knowledge/cool stuff. Their base Origin Series Rye is finished in zebra stave (alternating cherry wood and American oak staves), infrared toasted West Virginia Great Barrel Company Barrels. I wrote a bunch about these barrels here for those who want more info on these kick ass barrels.

Nose: Prunes, cherries, big red fruit, herbal notes

Palate: Almost like a spicy mulled cheerwine, mint tea, hints of nutmeg

Finish: Medium length, herbal forward and peppery spices. Occasional glimpses of oak.

7/10

Overall: To hear Bardstown tell it, they looked at the market, saw a bunch of 95/5 rye, and decided to put their own spin on it by adding the barrel finish. Well, in my opinion, it definitely works, delivering a real nice flavor profile at 96 proof. The JV version of their bigger West Virginia Barrel Company special release, which is a partnership they absolutely should keep pursuing.

Details: Next fun fact from the Bardstown folks - their Fusion series is about to disappear for about 4 years, grab it while you can! They are apparently taking it off the market to let their stocks age more, then they will bring it back as a blend of entirely their own juice. They also alluded to the 12 year component here being from a uh, heavenly place on a hill.

Nose: Cherry again, peaches, vanilla.

Palate: Mixed berries, blueberries, raspberries, big fruit notes here.

Finish: The fruit from start to finish is really nice! Mixed berries again with some short cake.

6.5/10

Overall: Maybe it's the older juice in the blend, or the higher corn of the underlying components, but this is hitting the spot for me with some really fun fruit notes.

Details: Technically blended whiskey because of the Canadian component, Bardstown gave some insights into the components here. Let’s go in descending order of obviousness. The 17 year Tennessee whiskey is, you guessed it, Dickel (Bardstown didnt say that but they alluded to it, and it’s not a surprise. The Canadian component they can disclose, and it’s Hiram Walker. Next up we have 31% 12 year KY whiskey from a distillery named for an “Untamed Bird” (Wild Turkey). Last and wildest, Georgia whiskey from a defunct distillery they did not name but that was producing a mere single barrel a day. Bardstown used that sweet sweet private equity money to bring this place back!

Nose: Punchy stone fruit, cherry cola, vanilla.

Palate: Rich caramel, hints of that Dickel minerality but it's nicely reigned in by a rich cherry flavor and sweet buttercream.

Finish: Buttercream! Slight notes of cinnamon, pepper and wood, decently long.

7.5/10

Overall: It's nice to have a rollicking barrel proof offering to close out the tasting. Rich and flavorful, it’s wonderfully blended to balance the sweetness of the corn, the (normally off-putting) Dickel fruit/minerality, and Wild Turkey cherry funk.

In between presumably Scrooge McDuck diving directly into piles of private equity money, Bardstown continues to push the envelope on experimental and collaborative releases. PSA, their next collaboration is apparently going to be a Foursquare Rum barrel finish. Lovely tasting PACKED with info.

Last but not least, ranking scale and some examples:

1 | Disgusting: Town Branch Single Barrel Reserve

2 | Poor: Black Maple Hill Oregon Straight Bourbon Whiskey

3 | Bad: Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel

4 | Sub-par: Blue Run High Rye Bourbon

5 | Good: Four Roses Small Batch Select

6 | Very Good: E.H. Taylor Straight Rye

7 | Great: Wilderness Trail 8 Year BiB

8 | Excellent: Stagg Jr Batch 17

9 | Incredible: A Smith Bowman Cask Strength (Batch 1)

10 | Perfect: George T Stagg 2020