Distilled By: Undisclosed for Barrel House Distilling Company
Location: Lexington, KY
Parent Company: N/A
Class: KY Bourbon Whiskey
Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
Age: NAS
Mashbill: Undisclosed percentage of Corn, Rye & Malted Barley
I had the privilege of attending a tasting event this week hosted by the Evansville Bourbon Society featuring Associate Distiller Mark Williams from Barrel House Distilling Company. During Mark’s entire talk, I felt like I was watching a seasoned stand-up comedian deliver a stellar performance. His body language and dry humor complimented his speaking style very well. He presented the company’s story with the typical historical information and stats that you would expect. But, he utilized his unique personal experiences working for the company that kept the entire room entertained at the same time. From what I understand, Mark is relatively new at having the spotlight in a tasting event setting. However, he told us that he does lead tours at the distillery on weekends. He seemed to feed off of the audience and I thoroughly enjoyed his entire presentation. He should try stand-up comedy on his off days!
Now, about the company, Barrel House Distilling Company was started during the winter of 2006 by owners and operators Jeff Wiseman and Pete Wright. They released their first product in December of 2008. The distillery is located in the barreling house of the old James E. Pepper Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky that was founded in 1780. They offer tours and tastings every week on Wednesday through Sunday. Unfortunately, their products are not widely available outside of the Kentucky market. So, I had to grab one of the empties from the tasting event to use for the bottle image in this post.
According to the distillery, Barrel House Select Bourbon is distilled using a heavy rye mash bill. It is barreled at 120 proof in #4 char barrels. Each batch consists of 3 barrels blended to meet a unique flavor profile that is then cut to 90 proof with Appalachian Mountain spring water before bottling. Now, I don’t know exactly who distilled and aged this particular product, because the bottle label only states: “Distilled in Kentucky, Bottled & Crafted by Barrel House Distilling Company in Lexington, Kentucky.” I couldn’t find any sourcing details during my research at the time of this writing.
BSG REVIEW
Color: Light copper; long, thin legs down the sides of my Glencairn glass
Nose: Straight banana pudding bomb… vanilla, banana and toasted marshmallow with very little oak at all.
Palate: Vanilla, honey and oak on the front end with faint banana notes showing up again as the bourbon crosses the back of the tongue.
Finish: Short finish that ends with more of the oak and a white pepper spiciness that did not show up for me early on in the nosing and tasting.
When I raised my glass to smell this for the first time, I was completely caught off guard by the overwhelming aroma of a freshly made banana pudding. I had this one right after tasting the barrel strength RockCastle Bourbon, also from Barrel House Distilling Company. This experience was totally different from what I had just finished. After this back-to-back tasting, I felt like I actually enjoyed the unique profile of the Barrel House Select better than the more “normal” bourbon profile of the RockCastle. This was a complete surprise to me, as I typically enjoy the higher proof bourbons better than the sub-100 proof offerings. I expected that I would review the RockCastle for this post. But, because of this curveball, I changed my mind. I could’ve continued to sip on this one all night.
BSG Score: 82/100
WOW! I come to Lexington two or three times a year and always try to find a bourbon to take home that I can’t purchase at home. This is a great bourbon for a medium price range. Great flavor with a very smooth finish.Could easily become my favorite.