BARRELL BOURBON BATCH #026

Like a well-aged Sauternes, a complex array of fresh, dried, and cooked fruits dominates the aroma, supported by pungent florals and a delicate layer of barrel-spice. The palate is concentrated and extractive, having pulled quite a lot of sugar and peppery spice from the cask. Water tames it, bringing forth a panoply of tropical fruits on the nose and creamy desserts on the palate. Neat:

Barrell bourbon batch 26 review

• Appearance: Pumpkin pie.
• Nose: Immediately bright and fruity, smelling of white peach, creamy coconut, and prickly rhubarb, followed by dried or cooked fruits, among them golden raisin, candied grapefruit peel, and roasted red pepper. Pungent florals are intermixed, notably rosehip and meadowsweet. As one’s nose adjusts, richer, sweeter notes of beeswax, toasted almond, and tiramisu arrive. They sit atop a dusting of allspice, spearmint, ginger ale, and charcoal.
• Palate: A bit brash, but well balanced and with only modest tannin. Initially, the flavor is dark and complex, on molasses, black cherry soda, and root beer barrel candy. The palate is rounded out by slate, salt, green apple, and a little horseradish.
• Finish: Advances the cooked-fruit theme put forth by the nose, cycling through candied grapefruit peel, grape jam, cardamom, and allspice. It fades with a mineral tingle of iron and wood smoke.

With a few drops of spring water: Tropical fruit aromas become the focus, particularly starfruit, pineapple, and limoncello. Geranium and vanilla lend to the exotic feeling. The palate grows richer and silkier, with toasted pumpernickel, quince paste, mocha, and horchata.