Blue Note Crossroads Bourbon

Blue Note Crossroads Bourbon

The Basics: 

B.R. Distilling Company (sourced from MGP)

100 Proof

NAS (4 Year According to Distillery) 

$40 MSRP

Nose:

Kettle corn, light molasses, orange marmalade, raw peanuts, and the sugar on top of creme brûlée.

Palate: 

Roasted hazelnut, mint, herbal tea, nutmeg, cardamom, oak, and yellow Starburst. 

Finish:

Medium with notes of Twizzlers, unsweet tea, and blackberry. 

Final Thoughts:

The latest release from B.R. Distilling Company is their new Crossroads bourbon. It is a straight bourbon whiskey sourced from MGP that is finished with toasted French oak, and bottled at 100 proof. Before getting into the tasting notes, this whiskey is one that needed a bit of air time to truly open up. The first few pours were tight and a bit on the young side, however, a bit of air time really brought forward more sweet notes from the addition of the toasted French oak. The nose is sugary sweet and somewhat grain forward with notes of kettle corn, peanuts, and touch of orange marmalade. The palate brought a good amount of baking spices, specifically nutmeg and cardamom, along with a surprising bit of mint and herbal tea that I was not expecting on a toasted bourbon. The whiskey is rounded out by a medium finish that reminded me of unsweet tea with a slight bitterness of a tart blackberry. Overall, I thought this whiskey was a nice easy sipper, but could use another couple years in the barrel. The toasted French oak lent a good amount of sweetness and baking spices to the whiskey, but a bit more aging would have mellowed-out the younger grain-forward notes that were evident on the nose. At this price point though, it is worth a try to see how you like the influence of toasted oak staves.