When smelling this, there’s a nice cherry pie note on the front end, accompanied by some smoke essence. Other notes of consideration on the nose include toasted almonds, subtle hints of vanilla and oak, a dash of black pepper, warm bread, and black currant.
Black cherry chocolate and a bit of coffee, supported by deep vanilla and coriander notes, emerge up front here on the palate. Accompanying these are considerations of rye bread, spicy BBQ sauce, a wisp of smoke, oak, and flan.
The finish is decadent and complex, offering heat, a click of spice, and a brief sweetness before it fades out in a moderate amount of time.
Bardstown Bourbon Co. Amrut Collaborative Series is a complex blend to pull off, particularly considering the Amrut Indian single malt cask finish component. And it pulls it off exceptionally well, so much so that you’ll surprise yourself with how the flavors of this roll on in your memory long after you’ve put the glass down.
Editor’s Note: We received a review sample of this whiskey from the brand. However, in accordance with our editorial policies, this has not influenced the outcome of our review in any way.
Bardstown Bourbon Company has been one of the rising stars of the newer wave of distilleries out of Kentucky for some years now. Operating out of a modern, technically advanced whiskey distillery, the whiskeys that have been coming out of here have been putting this whiskey maker on the map, with one more recent example being named 2023 Worldwide Whiskey Producer of the Year by IWSC.
Among the different offerings Bardstown Bourbon Co. has is its award-winning Collaborative Series, which finds the Kentucky distiller pairing off with makers of other spirits, wines, and beers for special releases reflecting flavor aspects offered by the partners’ corresponding elements in the particular bottling.
What’s in the bottle
Bardstown Bourbon Co. Amrut Collaborative Series, which is what’s being reviewed here, is one of the latest of these collaborative offerings. Amrut, the partner of Bardstown, is considered “the” major player in Indian single malt whiskies today, being the largest and most well-known brand in a category that today represents more than half of the top 10 brands globally.
Getting into the nitty gritty with this release, Bardstown has blended together two Indiana rye whiskeys and three Kentucky bourbons of varying ages and mash bills, with the two ryes each being finished for 18 months in Amrut Indian single malt barrels. How this breaks down specifically is:
BLEND | ORIGIN | AGE | MASH BILL | FINISH |
43% | Indiana | 9 year | Corn 45% Rye 51% Malted Barley 4% | 18 months in Amrut Indian Single Malt barrels |
20% | Indiana | 8 year | Rye 95% Malted Barley 5% | 18 months in Amrut Indian Single Malt barrels |
17% | Kentucky | 14 year | Corn 75% Rye 13% Malted Barley 12% | None |
15% | Kentucky | 10 year | Corn 78% Rye 10% Malted Barley 12% | None |
5% | Kentucky | 11 year | Corn 78% Rye 13% Malted Barley 9% | None |
“Amrut is creating some beautiful liquid right now. Their use of malted barley, distilled and aged in a warm, humid climate is such an interesting bridge between Scottish whisky and bourbon,” said Dan Callaway, VP of Product Development, responsible for the final flavor profile of all Bardstown Bourbon Co. products, at the time this product was release. “It’s fascinating to see how our rye blend absorbed characteristics of both the peated and unpeated Amrut barrels, resulting in a unique depth of flavor and character.
“We then created a custom bourbon blend to join the finished rye and bring red fruit and rich caramel. The result is an authentic collaboration bursting with new flavors.”
The end result of all of this has been bottled at 110 proof and priced at $159.99.
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Nino Kilgore-Marchetti
Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y on a global level. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert and judge he has written about the subject extensively, been interviewed in various media outlets and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions. He also maintains a large private collection of whiskey from which he continually educates his palate on this brown spirit type.
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