Distillery: Bardstown Bourbon Co. and undisclosed KY distillery
Proof: 94.9
Age: Blend of 3 - 13 Years
Mashbill: Blend of rye based mash bills
BACKGROUND: Bardstown Bourbon Co. is a new bourbon company in Bardstown, KY. They launched in 2016 and began by blending sourced whiskies. Recently, Bardstown has begun distilling and aging their own whiskey while will be the sole whiskey in their products in the near future. Bardstown has a few different releases, this fusion series, a higher priced and older Discovery series, and a collaboration series where they finish whiskey in different finishes. Bardstown Fusion #4 is a blend of 4 whiskies, 3 of which are Bardstown Bourbon Co. distillate and one which is sourced from an undisclosed distiller in KY. The sourced whiskey is a 13 year bourbon with a mash bill of 74% corn, 10% rye, and 8% malted barley. The other whiskeys blended in are 3 Bardstown distillates with one being a 3 year old 60% corn, 40% rye; a 3 year old 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley, and another being a 4 year old 70% corn, 18% rye, 12% malted barley.
NOSE: The nose is full of warm baking spices like clove and cinnamon that are followed by sweeter butterscotch, vanilla, and sugar cane. There is also some hints of barrel char and oak that hide in the shadows. Overall, this is quite a sweet nose but is more baking sweetness like a snickerdoodle cookie. (22/25)
PALATE: As soon as the whiskey touches your lips there are bursting sweet and spicy flavors. Up front was a cinnamon bomb that was followed by vanilla and butterscotch. There is a slight watery taste/feel to it in the middle of the palate that I was not expecting but made the whiskey so smooth. Overall, this whiskey is smooth and sweet with a lighter feel to it. (34/40)
FINISH: As the whiskey faded away, I was tasting some bitter dark chocolate, toffee, peanuts, and rye spice. It is quite a long finish that leaves a nice tingle and burn. (21/25)
VALUE: The Bardstown Fusion series boasts a $60 SRP for a very solid whiskey that you won't feel guilty for spending the money on. (7/10)
Overall: 84/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Bardstown Fusion Series #4 is a very tasty whiskey and a unique blend that has a nice sweet and spicy flavor profile. This is going to be one of the last Bardstown fusion releases made with a whiskey blended into it that is not from Bardstown Bourbon Co. as they have been hard at work distilling their own whiskey to go into their products. I would have liked to have seen this whiskey at a slightly higher proof point of around 103 - 105 but at 94.9 this is an incredibly smooth and approachable bourbon whiskey that can leave any whiskey fan satisfied. Whether you like a little spice or all the sweetness you can get, Bardstown Fusion #4 is for you.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Russell's Reserve 10 Year
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Still Austin's The Musician
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Barrell Bourbon Batch 28
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
