Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Rye Whiskey Finished in Toasted Cherry Wood and Oak Barrels
I tried this Origin Series(™) release third after the Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and the Bottled-in-Bond Wheated Bourbon, figuring I’d go by the usual rules: go up in proof as you taste, and rye after bourbon. The KSBW was meh, and I loved the Bottled-in-Bond - so how would the rye taste?
Like the Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Rye shares a very famous mashbill with MGP but tastes nothing like it. Well…I think it tastes nothing like it, hard to know with the double finishing.
Throughout the tasting, it was difficult to identify what was rye and what was the finishing. Sometimes, I do get cherry notes in rye - I also sometimes get toasted flavors without added toasting. Here we have finishing casks that ostensibly bring both, complicating my experience.
I mentioned this in both previous reviews for the Origin Series, but I really wish Bardstown had just left this alone and let us try their version of a 95/5 on its own.
Since Seagram’s (now MGP) introduced a wide-distribution 95/5 recipe, it’s been somewhat of a standard for ryes. A decade after the rye revolution began, one could argue there are basically three categories: a 95/5-to-100% rye, a Maryland-style barely-legal rye at 51%, and a few strays in the middle. Yes, this is highly reductive, but go with me to make a point.
When you tell someone what your rye tastes like, whether they know it or not they’re probably comparing it to the Seagram’s 95/5 flavor: spicy, herbaceous, oily, decidedly not sweet even if some caramel sneaks in. As a general rule, people not versed in the truly incredible range of ryes now available will identify “rye” as a category based on the 95/5 recipe and will expect it to be like that. And that is what makes it so important to release your rye plain, straight up, no finishing, so people can try it side by side with the hundreds of other 95/5s out there and see if they think it’s different, good, bad, or other.
I get what Bardstown is doing here, and after trying their collaborative project with West Virginia Great Barrel Company on infrared toasted cherry wood I further understand them wanting to keep using the wood (I was in the minority who didn’t particularly like that release, but to each their own.) Fine - make that release #2. Release #1 should have been Bardstown Bourbon Co.’s 95/5 rye on its own and presented as such. Instead, we have to taste their “origin” rye through the lens of not one but two toasted finishing casks.
The whiskey is tasty and the casks do elevate the existing rye flavors by imparting more cherry and toast, and frankly I think it uses the cherry wood much better than the collaboration release did. But it leaves me wanting - wanting to pull out my MGP-sourced 95/5s, the dozen other 95/5s I have around and try them side-by-side. The price hike from the other two also leaves me wanting.
It’s an origin series - leave it alone and play with finishing later.
Thank you to Bardstown Bourbon Company for providing this sample bottle with no restrictions for review.
Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Rye Whiskey Finished in Toasted Cherry Wood and Oak Barrels: Specs
Classification: Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
Origin: Bardstown Bourbon Company
Mashbill: 95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley
Proof: 96 (48% ABV)
Age: 5 Years 8 Months
Location: Kentucky
Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Rye Whiskey Finished in Toasted Cherry Wood and Oak Barrels Price: $69.99
Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Rye Whiskey Finished in Toasted Cherry Wood and Oak Barrels: Tasting Notes
Eye: Grade A maple syrup. Thin rims hold onto the droplets with few legs.
Nose: Cherries soaked in a 95/5 rye. Sweet herbaceous rye is light and subtle, subtler than expected behind the toasted oak. Peppery, almost dusty spice hits the back of my throat like it’s the final pour from a sediment-holding bottle.
Palate: Rye and grapefruit, like a cocktail with a brandied cherry garnish. Baking spices on the back palate into my throat, the toasted oak bringing out the darkness in the rye. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, slightly syrupy, with pink grapefruit and peppercorns on the tip of the tongue settling quickly underneath with honey syrup.
Finish: Rosemary and tarragon lead the party, the syrupy nature keeping the cocktail feeling going. Long-lasting finish, sits under the tongue for several minutes.
Overall: Quite tasty and complex, but is this really an origin rye? Does this show off the rye as a core offering? I don’t think so, and it does the whiskey an injustice. The toasted oak and cherry wood bring the expected flavors and add to the rye’s inherent characteristics.
Final Rating: 6.5
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary
8 | Excellent | Exceptional
7 | Great | Well above average
6 | Very Good | Better than average
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary
4 | Has promise but needs work
1-3 | Let’s have a conversation
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