Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested for about 15 minutes.
Distillery: Distilled in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Proof: 112.64, bottled at cask strength.
Age: A selection of 9, 10, 11, 13, and 15-year-old barrels.
Mash bill: NAS.
MSRP: $85.00.
Appearance: Reddish caramel.
Nose
Maple syrup, molasses, toasted oak, vanilla bean, peaches, mixed berry fruit jam, pineapple, black tea, fennel, mint, allspice, dark rich oak. Smelling pineapple as a bourbon note is a first for me but there’s a tropical vibe to this bottle that I get every time. The overall balance of all the flavors is excellent and there is very little proof heat. I love how fruit-forward this is, combined with a lot of mature, dark flavored barrel influences
Palate
The nose is similar to the palate with sweet toffee, chocolate-covered raisins, mixed berries, vanilla, black tea, citrus, and tobacco. A considerable but balanced amount of black pepper spice covers the whole palate with a creamy mouthfeel. I especially love all the rich toffee and darker flavors the oak brings out, with all the fruit and herbal flavors that take turns being the focus as the sip progresses.
Finish
Black pepper spice lingers on for a long time with oak, tobacco, black tea, mixed berries, citrus, vanilla, and toffee. All the way through this pour you can taste the influence of the older barrels used in this batch. Even more so towards the very end of the finish with some dusty oak and more tobacco, with just a touch of Dickel “minerality”. Overall, this finish is long and excellent.
Conclusion
It’s always impressive to me when Barrell Craft creates something that is more unique than the sum of its parts. I’m also impressed by the way they use George Dickel barrels in their blends. Sometimes I find they use Dickel subtly, while other times it’s extremely obvious, and I mean that in the best way possible. Batch 026 is the latter. Imagine taking some excellent and very mature oak-driven Dickel and combining it with very fruit-forward Barton and 36% high rye MGP and you’ve got Batch 026 in a nutshell. Of course, it’s possible there’s also some oaky Barton in there too with fruit-forward MGP, but you get the idea.
Compared to other Barrell Bourbon batches I’ve had in the past couple of years, Batch 026 has a more mature overall tasting profile. I credit this to being the last batch released that starts at 9 years old. Except for Batch 028 which was an outlier containing only 10 and 11-year barrels, Barrell Bourbon batches have started at 5 and 6 years since Batch 026 was released. While it’s true prior to 2020, there were 10 Barrell Bourbon batches that included barrels younger than 8 years (excluding 4 New Year batches), 17 batches started at 8 years or older. I’m including the “7b & 8b” batches for those who are doing the math. Here is a list of what the batch ages were since Batch 026. I included the states of distillation and which ones contained a wheated bourbon.
Batch 026 – 9 through 15 years. TN, KY & IN.
Batch 027 – 5 to 15 years. TN, KY & IN. Wheated.
Batch 028 – 10 and 11 years. TN, KY & IN.
Batch 029 – 6 through 16 years. KY, TN, & IN. Wheated.
Batch 030 – 5 through 15 years. TN, KY, IN & WY. Wheated.
Batch 031 – 6 through 16 years. TN, KY & IN. Wheated.
Batch 032 – 5 through 10 years. TN, KY & IN.
Batch 033 – 5 through 9 years. TN, KY & IN.
Batch 034 – 6 through 15 years. TN, KY & IN.
Batch 035 – 6 through 13 years. IN, TN & KY.
Another good perspective into the Barrell Bourbon past is The Bourbon Culture’s review of Batch 35 where all the Barrell Bourbon batches are grouped into what they call “four evolutionary periods”. I’m not saying that Barrell Craft hasn’t released some excellent batches since Batch 026, because they have. I will say that Batch 026 beats out Batch 030 as my new all-time favorite Barrell Bourbon batch. I love bourbons that are both fruit and oak-driven and Batch 026 checks those boxes and then some. I’m looking forward to trying Batch 035 to see how it stacks up.
Rating: 8.3/10.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
