Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass and rested for about 15 minutes.
Proof: 116.42, bottled at cask strength.
Blend components:
Indiana Bourbon Whiskeys: 6, 7, & 9 years old.
Tennessee Bourbon Whiskeys: 8 & 14 years old.
Kentucky Bourbon Whiskeys: 8 years old.
Mash bill: (Derived) 76% Corn/20% Rye/4% Malted Barley.
Price: $84.99.
Appearance: Golden caramel.
Nose
Right off the bat, I can smell the Mizunara oak barrel influences mixed with a familiar Barrell Bourbon batch flavor profile. Beginning with sweet oak flavors of toffee, butterscotch, and toasted oak, with sandalwood and vanilla bean, nutmeg, green tea, and matcha. More nosing brings out fruit flavors of cherries, peaches, and papaya, with a good balance of cinnamon spice and hazelnuts. As the session continues, Mizunara flavors of sandalwood and vanilla beans become more pronounced with sweeter toasted oak, cherries, tropical fruit, coconut, and green tea. A great balance makes these flavors easy to pick out with almost no proof heat.
Palate
The nose carries on to the palate with sandalwood, toffee, butterscotch, vanilla beans, hazelnuts, green tea, cherries, peaches, and toasted oak. A very moderate amount of cinnamon spice slowly enters mid-sip and continues to build, covering the whole palate with a very nice creamy medium mouthfeel. The flavors are perfectly balanced to create a deliciously complex sipping experience that leaves you wanting another sip.
Finish
Cinnamon spice tingles throughout the palate with sandalwood, vanilla bean, cherries, tropical fruit, peaches, coconut, cacao, and green tea. Tannins of tobacco begin to emerge with lingering spice to create a long finish, with some dryness at the very end.
Conclusion
This is the Mizunara finished bourbon release I’ve been waiting for, and it’s what I expected from Barrell Craft. Though the base blend was crafted specifically for this release, some characteristics remind me of Barrell Bourbon Batch 035. Notably the sweet oak, cherries, tropical fruit, vanilla bean, hazelnuts, nutmeg, and green tea. Interestingly, some of these flavors are also commonly found in Mizunara, along with other signature Mizunara flavors such as sandalwood, coconut, an abundance of vanilla beans, and a distinctive spice, which gets sharper as it builds.
To quote Tom Petty, “The waiting is the hardest part.” The best decision Barrell Craft made for this release was to age the bourbon for a year and a half in the Mizunara casks. Paired with a delicious bourbon base, Barrell Craft has created an excellent, well-crafted, authentic Mizunara oak-finished bourbon that is reasonably priced. If you love Barrell Bourbon, Mizunara oak aged whisky, or want to try a great cask strength, Mizunara finished bourbon that won’t blow up your credit card, I highly recommend the Cask Finish Series Mizunara release.
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.
