Brand Notes:

Blend Components:

Kentucky Bourbon: 8 years old
Indiana Bourbon: 6, 7 & 9 years old
Tennessee Bourbon: 8 & 14 years old

Derived Mash Bill:

Corn: 76%
Rye: 20%
Malted Barley: 4%

Thank you to Barrell Craft Spirits for providing this sample free of charge. All opinions are my own.

Barrell Bourbon Finishing Series Mizunara: Specs

Classification: Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies

Producer: Barrell Craft Spirits

Mashbill: 76% Corn, 20% Rye, 4% Malted Barley

Proof: 116.42 (58.21% ABV)

Age: NAS - 6-14 Years Old

Location: Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee

Barrell Bourbon Finishing Series Mizunara Price: $84.99

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Barrell Bourbon Finishing Series Mizunara: Tasting Notes

Eye: Manuka honey. Medium rims, delicate legs and drops falling slowly.

Nose: Light but perfumy, sandalwood, a markedly restrained mizunara profile allowing the bourbon to show. Fruit candies, like Jolly Ranchers but not as saccharine. No proof or oak on the nose, light caramel.

Palate: More mizunara here in the spicy mid-and-back-tongue, just a touch of proof burn over the whole tonuge. Oak spice without being woody, like walking by a sandalwood tree. Back palate spice from some of the high rye bourbons. Mouthfeel is piquant, lots of spice building quietly on the front and tip of my tongue. Oily, moderately mouthfilling, surprisingly coating.

Finish: Great balance of bourbon and mizunara through the finish, oily and coating over the whole tongue. Incense lingers longest on a medium length finish.

Overall: Really well balanced, one of the best using mizunara I've ever had. Mizunara can quickly and easily overwhelm, and here it is used just enough to impart spicy, peppery sandalwood while amplifying the background rye (or high rye bourbon, really) notes. Sweet, spicy, and perfumed. Well done and a great benchmark for how mizunara should be used.

Final Rating: 7.7