Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Brandy Cask Finish Bourbon
Ah, the Woodford Reserve Master's Collection. It's an out-of-the-box annual release from Woodford created and chosen by Master Distiller Chris Morris (and, more recently, Assistant Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall). Produced since 2003 when Chris Morris joined the Woodford Reserve team, the Master's Collection is marketed as an "enhanced" version of the standard Woodford Reserve.
The Brandy Cask finish, released in 2016 as the 11th version overall, featured regular Woodford Reserve Bourbon finished for two years in used brandy casks. At the time, it was just a few years after Angel's Envy was launched with their port-finished bourbon, and this Woodford release continued the trend of finished bourbons that continues today.
Overall, I thought it was an enjoyable if unspectacular pour. My thoughts mirror those of Jordan from Breaking Bourbon almost exactly:
"While Woodford Reserve is usually nothing to write home about, the brandy finishing ever so slightly enhances it into a more exciting product. It may not blow you away, but in a side by side comparison to standard Woodford Reserve, it’s definitely a more pleasant drinking experience."
For me, regular Woodford Reserve is not a pour I enjoy. It’s a bit medicinal, too thin, and, honestly, lacks significant bourbon flavor. I know there are plenty of fans out there - good for them. Drink what you want and how you like it. It’s just not for my palate.
For this release, though, let’s give Woodford a bit of credit. Woodford Reserve also has an outsized role in the current bourbon renaissance, and that often informs my thinking when trying and reviewing their products. Woodford Reserve’s choice to bottle in a cognac-style bottle rather than the usual container we associate with bourbon elevated the experience and made eye-first drinkers think twice about passing on bourbon. Similarly, finishing is featured in this series more often than in other parallel series, such as the Parker’s Heritage Collection or Jim Beam Signature.
Almost all Woodford Reserve products are also bottled at 90.4 proof (45.2% ABV), with the only exceptions being the cask/barrel strength editions. I may not like a 90-ish proof bourbon, but it does make it an easy sipper and an easy entry point for new bourbon drinkers, one that also works in an approachable cocktail. This specific proof is apparently the “perfect” proof for Master Distiller Chris Morris, the point at which the greatest number of flavors are present and discernable. This dovetails with Woodford’s claim of 200 flavors, which is frankly ridiculous and objectively unprovable.
Think about it: even if someone could differentiate 200 flavors in a single drink, could they do it before certain flavors abated? Before the liquid was gone (safely)? And most of all, is it believable? One of the great things of bourbon and whiskey is that while there are core flavors considered present in any given type (i.e. vanillins, coconut, and corn in bourbon), each palate finds something different. But 200 different flavors in a single bourbon? Come on now. Is that even desirable? Can you appreciate a pour while trying to think out all 200 flavors?
Sorry…I’ll leave that tangent alone. It clearly grinds my gears.
Anyway…the reason this history is relevant for this bottling is because of the finishing. Classic Woodford Reserve isn’t finished, but many of their Master’s Collection editions have been. Cognac is a subset of brandy: spirits are defined by their base, and brandies are distilled from fruit and fruit byproducts such as pomace. Cognac is simply brandy produced in the Cognac region of France, just as Armagnac is made in Armagnac from specific grapes and Calvados is made in Normandy from apples.
If you haven’t tried a brandy cask-finished whiskey (or haven’t tried brandy, for that matter), you might think it would automatically enhance the sweetness of the bourbon. While there are surely some brandies that are sweeter than others, a brandy finish often adds more vinous notes and peppery French oak influence. Sweetness can be enhanced, but not generally created in this pairing.
Brandy as a term is a shortening of brandywine, Anglicanized from the Dutch and literally meaning “burnt wine”. A cherry brandy may be sweeter than a grape brandy, and some might add sugars in a lá rum, but it’s really the oak and tannic elements that contribute to the finishing.
For the Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Brandy Cask Finish, the brandy cask does its job. The underlying bourbon is given more backbone and some oak creaminess, with the bourbon’s sweetness enhanced (but not by much). Unfortunately, the weak link remains the bourbon itself - at the end of the palate and in the finish, the whiskey falls apart under the weight of the two-year-long brandy finish, coming off as watered down. Given the nose and front of the palate, I think the finish is right on - it’s the bourbon that needs a higher proof to compete.
I like to close on either positive or “to-come” thoughts, so here’s what I’ve got. I know Woodford Reserve is set in its ways with the 90.4 proof across-the-board, but the recent batch proof releases at 128.3 proof showed a different side to the brand. It still wasn’t my favorite bourbon profile, but it was leaps and bounds ahead of the regular proof. Perhaps as Elizabeth McCall’s influence grows, Woodford will experiment more not just with finishing but with elevated proofs. I hope they do - and I do believe I’ll eventually come across a Woodford Reserve product I actively want on my shelf.
Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Brandy Cask Finish Bourbon: Specs
Classification: Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Brandy Casks
Origin: Woodford Reserve Distillery
Mashbill: 72% Corn, 18% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
Proof: 90.4 (45.2% ABV)
Age: NAS
Location: Kentucky
Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Brandy Cask Finish Bourbon Price: $100
Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Brandy Cask Finish Bourbon Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: Amber, slightly reddish. Thin rims and drops that hang where the rims dissipate.
Nose: Grainy for just a second before the sweeter brandy notes take over. The brandy is not overly grape-forward, more of a general fruit sweetness. There’s a great bourbon backbone, balanced and closer to a Brown-Forman profile than a Woodford one.
Palate: Candied grape, like a purple Jolly Rancher. The bourbon so present on the nose quickly becomes watered down, still hanging on but weakening. Mouthfeel is more peppery, the oak (likely French) adding creaminess and spice as the tannins grow. Cooling mint and pot still spice sit in the background as the sip fades gently.
Finish: All brandy and a bit of oak. Creamy, but not overly filling. Medium-length.
Overall: The brandy hides any bitter or woody notes and enhances the Woodford nose. Unfortunately it is downhill from there, with a thin whiskey this pour’s undoing. Not a bad bourbon, but certainly one that questions Woodford Reserve’s adherence to a low proof. A higher proof would make a significant difference here.
Final Rating: 6.1
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Old Label Batch 4 or 2, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)
8 | Excellent | Exceptional (Stagg Jr. Batch 10, Highland Park Single Barrels)
7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)
6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)
4 | Has promise but needs work
1-3 | Let’s have a conversation
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