Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Mizunara
Mike Rosen

Bourbon

April 25, 2024

Mizunara (meaning “water oak”) is a native Japanese oak tree that must be around 200 years old before it’s the right size to be used for producing casks. Mizunara casks are notoriously expensive, hard to procure, and difficult to work with due to the oak’s porous nature, which makes them prone to leaking and cracking. For this release, Barrell Craft said they used twenty-five 53-gallon Mizunara casks that cost between $7,000 to $9,000 each. Some were delivered fully assembled, while others were shipped as staves that were reassembled at a cooperage, as a more cost-effective way of shipping them from Japan. With a May 1st release date, Mizunara is the third release in the Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series. The company says,“Barrell Craft Spirits believes that a unique finish is only as good as the base bourbon. Each year, we release a collection of Cask Finish Series bottlings that combine decades of blending experience with some of the most exciting finishing casks in the industry. The result is a series of limited-edition spirits that are truly more than the sum of their parts, showcasing the influence of the finishing cask without compromising the integrity of the underlying blend. This cask finished bourbon was expertly blended using bourbons distilled from multiple mash bills and finished in Mizunara casks for one and a half years”.

I love the Mizunara oak-influenced flavors in Japanese whisky. However, achieving the desired flavor profile from this delicate oak can take years. So, it’s important to give the whiskey finished in a Mizunara cask the appropriate time to reach its full potential. This was my gripe about the (now discontinued) Taconic Mizunara Finished Bourbon that spent only 6 months finished in a Mizunara oak cask. There are two other Mizunara finished bourbons with long finishing times that I’d love to try, but unfortunately, they’re too cost-prohibitive for my wallet. One is the $350 retail-priced Angel Envy Mizunara released in 2020, which used 4 & 9-year-old bourbons bottled at 48.9% ABV, finished in Mizunara for 2 years. The other is the new 2024 release of the $1500 retail-priced Rabbit Hole 15-year-old Kentucky bourbon, finished in Mizunara for “more than 11 months”, cask-strength bottled at 51.9% ABV. The Rabbit Hole 2021 Mizunara release was finished for 1 year, bottled at 57.1% ABV for the same retail price of $1500.

I’ve been waiting for a bourbon release that was finished for at least a year in a Mizunara cask and priced under $100. It took a few years, but my wait is finally over. If you’re thinking, “What about Barrell Vantage”? Sure, I love Vantage, but Mizunara is one of its three finishings, with French and toasted American oak in the mix. Speaking of Vantage, I asked Barrell Craft if the bourbon blend in this release was also used in Vantage. I was told that this bourbon blend was crafted specifically for the Mizunara Cask Finish Series release, and it is very different from the one used in Vantage. . Also, the Mizunara casks for this release were new and not previously filled. Let’s get started!


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.

 

 

 

 

 

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