Barrell Craft Spirits Launches Gray Label Bourbon 13 Year Old and Gray Label Seagrass 19 Year Old
Barrell Craft Spirits has launched two new limited edition whiskies: Barrell Gray Label Bourbon 13 Year Old and Barrel Gray Label Seagrass 19 Year Old.
Barrell Gray Label Bourbon 13 Year Old is a blend of straight bourbon whiskeys distilled in TN, KY, IN, and WY and matured for between 13-19 years. Official tasting notes for Barrell Gray Label Bourbon 13 Year Old follow:
Nose: Pungent vanilla bean is first out of the gate, woven through with goldenrod as you just approach the glass. They add lift to a treacly nose that ranges from dark brown sugar to woodsy sugarcane. The original grain character is well preserved, but advanced age has evolved it into tres leches cake, granola, and macadamia nut. Sage, tonka bean, and menthol play the herbal register here. Plump raisins and fig newtons round it out.
Palate: S’mores, amoretti, and oatmeal raisin cookie depict a palate balanced between biscuit-y and sweet. A marked spiciness shoulders its way in with notes of crystallized ginger, peppermint, and black peppercorn. Oak tannins give a bit of chew to a body that’s oily and rich with sugars. Meanwhile gentian root, sesame seeds, and apple peels comprise the humus layer.
Finish: Fresh ginger, fennel seed, and cardamom rush up through the exhale. The tongue is left with a pronounced bitterness that inspires thoughts of cocoa powder and grapefruit peel. Gradually, a gentle sweet vermouth takes over; later joined by a grainy signature of skillet cornbread.
Barrell Gray Label Seagrass 19 Year Old was created from two groups of 19 year old Canadian Rye Barrels. A portion of the first group was finished in Apricot Brandy casks, a portion of the second group was finished in Martinique rhum barrels, and a blend of the first and second groups was finished in Malmsey Madeira barrels. Those casks were then pulled and married into the final blend. Official tasting notes for Barrell Gray Label Seagrass 19 Year Old follow:
Nose: The savory side of rye is showcased by an array of exotic spices and seeds–caraway, fenugreek, dill, and mustard. Rye toast, grilled cornbread, and roasted taro root give it a bready depth. The Rhum Agricole barrels bolster the spirit’s innate grassy notes of cucumber peel, black olive, and bark mulch. Beyond the cask’s prior contents, the oak itself is expressed by cigar tobacco, coffee, and cinnamon.
Palate: Extremely oily, displaying notes of peanut-, coconut-, and tea tree–oils. As it’s held in the mouth it grows creamier with soy milk and cocoa butter. A bright lemonade note buoys nutty sunflower seed in a nod toward the madeira barrels. That madeira influence expands into notes of grapefruit peel, verjus, and gravel.
Finish: The apricot brandy casks pick up where the madeira left off, bursting forth with passionfruit, mirabelle plum, and banana peel. Now the collective minerality of the rye and its respective finishes wash over the palate with notes of chalk dust, flint, paraffin, and cedar smoke.
Barrell Gray Label Bourbon 13 Year Old is now available in stores and online at barrellbourbon.com for $159.99. Barrel Gray Label Seagrass 19 Year Old will be available in stores later this month and online beginning December 1st for $199.99.
Source: Barrell Craft Spirits.