Broken Barrel Bourbon Finished With Stout Staves Review

Broken Barrel Whiskey Co.
Reserve Oak Series
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Finished with Stout Beer Staves
115 proof
Total Wine & More selection
$49.99
Review

Please enjoy our Broken Barrel Bourbon Finished With Stout Staves Review!

Broken Barrel Whiskey? What does that mean?

Broken Barrel Whiskey Co has an unusual method of finishing whiskey. Instead of putting the aged whiskey in a second barrel, they put pieces of broken barrels in the whiskey. Their flagship releases are Heresy Rye, California Oak, Bourbon and Cask Strength Bourbon. Broken Barrel uses a variety of different types of barrels to create their finished whiskeys. They refer to this blend of barrel stave pieces as the “Oak Bill”.

The Reserve Oak Series

Broken Barrel Bourbon Finished With Stout Staves is part of Broken Barrel Whiskey’s Reserve Oak Series. The Reserve Oak Series is essentially their barrel pick program. So these bottles are all limited, unique and at barrel strength. There is the option to choose between four different Oak Bills. The ratios within each Oak Bill can then be adjusted to suit the buyer’s particular tastes. For this Stout Stave Finished Bourbon, the Oak Bill is: 80% ex–Imperial Stout barrels and 20% ex–bourbon barrels. It is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon, and therefore aged at least 2 years. The bourbon was produced and bottled in Owensboro, KY, which usually means the Green River Distilling Co. The Mash Bill of the bourbon is 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley.

Tasting Notes

Let’s taste Broken Barrel Bourbon Finished With Stout Staves:

🛌 Rested for 20 minutes in a Glencairn

👉Nose: Roasted barley and dark roasted malts, maybe chocolate malt; burnt caramel, dried apricot, light floral notes (maybe roses?) and honey; alcohol is there, but less than expected for the 115 proof
👉Taste: Roasted barley and chocolate malt; creamy soft caramel & honey; fairly full mouthfeel
👉Finish: The same flavors continue into the finish; some astringency from the roasted barley comes forward to join with a moderate burn. Milk chocolatey undertones develop later. The flavors linger into a fairly long finish.

Summary

Well. This Broken Barrel Bourbon Finished With Stout Staves is one complex bourbon, with flavors I wasn’t entirely expecting. For full transparency, when I first opened the bottle I thought the flavor was dominated by the roasted barley and heavily roasted malts. For those not familiar with brewing stouts, roasted barley is a specialty grain used in stouts and provides the characteristic flavors. Additional dark roasted malts, such as chocolate malt, are often used as well. The lion’s share of the grain bill will be the lighter malts, such as pale malt or similar, as in most beers. I knew this whiskey would have more complexity than on that first taste, so I put it aside for a couple of weeks. The flavors have really developed since then. The grain forward flavors I had expected; but some of the sweeter, fruity and floral notes in the nose were a bit of a surprise. If you like stout and you like bourbon, give this one a try!

I hope you have enjoyed our Broken Barrel Bourbon Finished With Stout Staves Review! Would you like to learn about another whiskey from Broken Barrel Whiskey Co.? Check out my Broken Barrel The Cask of Amontillado Review!

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