The Basics: 

Bardstown Bourbon Company

100 Proof

10 Year Age Statement

Finished in The Prisoner Red Wine Barrels

$130 MSRP

Nose:

Orange, vanilla toffee, iced cinnamon rolls, and tart raspberry jam.

Palate: 

Orange smarties, vanilla wafer cookies, bing cherry, licorice, and underripe plum.

Finish:

Medium finish with buttercream frosting, oak, brown sugar, plum, blueberry, blackberry, and Nutter Butter wafer cookie.

Final Thoughts:

Bardstown Bourbon Company’s newest addition to their collaborative series is a 10 year old bourbon aged for an additional 18 months in The Prisoner red wine barrels. As a huge fan of their previous collaborative series releases (apple brandy and armagnac finishes!), I was excited to dive into this one. The nose hits you upfront with very sweet almost dessert like aromas that remind me of iced cinnamon rolls. The palate continues with distinct vanilla wafer cookies, orange smarties, and a pop of tart red fruit. On the finish, the sweet notes carry through, along with a wide array of plum, blueberry, and blackberry, all coming from the additional aging in red wine barrels. On the whole, I would say that I enjoyed this whiskey, however, comparing to previous collaboration releases, the wine finish didn’t pop in the way I was hoping it would. I love what Bardstown is doing and at this price point, I would personally reach for the Discovery series first.