Distillery: Sourced from undisclosed TN distillery
Proof: 100
Age: 10 Years
Mashbill: 84% Corn, 8% Rye, 8% Malted Barley
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 which will be the sole whiskey in their products in the future. Bardstown has a few different releases: fusion series, a higher priced and older Discovery series, and a collaboration series where they finish whiskey in different finishes. Bardstown Bourbon The Prisoner is apart of the collaborations series. Bardstown Bourbon Co. took 9 year old TN bourbon whiskey and finished it in The Prisoner French Oak Red Wine Barrels for 18 additional months. The Prisoner is a delicious red blend wine from The Prisoner Wine Co. in CA.
NOSE: Rich and bold scents of blackberry, plum, black cherry, and maple blended together with elegance and class as soon as we put the whiskey up to our nose. Hints of charred oak and baking spices flirted in the background as well. Overall, the nose on this was very sweet, smooth, and full of fruit flavors. (23/25)
PALATE: As soon as Bardstown Prisoner touched our tongue we were welcomed in with a rich and velvety feeling whiskey. The Prisoner wine finish notes make themselves known immediately. Rich berry notes shine through along with vanilla, raspberry rhubarb pie, and caramel. Oak sugar and baking spice notes play a nice supporting role. Overall, this whiskey has a delicious dessert flavor profile with rich wine flavors and sweet bourbon notes. (36/40)
FINISH: The finish is long and enduring with notes of dried stone fruit, feint notes of barrel char, and vanilla bean. It is very smooth and the 100 proof adds a warm feeling in the chest. (23/25)
VALUE: This carries a $125 SRP but it truly is a special bourbon with a high quality wine finish providng very bold and rich flavors. (8/10)
Overall: 90/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: The 2021 Bardstown Prisoner release is an absolute smash hit. We cannot recommend this whiskey enough! The blend of the wine notes and whiskey notes is nearly perfect!
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Wild Turkey Master's Keep Revival (2019)
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Angel's Envy Cask Strength (2020)
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Jefferson's Reserve Pritchard Hill
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