A Tennessee bourbon aged for two decades gets a Caribbean twist as Barrell Craft Spirits unveils its rarest release yet: just 250 bottles of a 20-year-old bourbon finished in rum casks from three different islands.
Barrell Craft Spirits Creates Complex Profile Through Five-Year Rum Cask Aging
The Louisville-based independent bottler began this project in 2020 when it released its 14-year-old Gray Label Rum, a blend of Jamaican, Guyanese, and Barbados rums. “The blending team then filled the empty barrels with 15-year-old Bourbon from Tennessee,” according to the company. After five additional years of maturation, the bourbon reached 20 years of total age.
The rum cask finishing adds distinct Caribbean characteristics to the well-aged bourbon. According to the official tasting notes, Jamaican rum contributes high-ester notes of tropical fruit and roasted pineapple. Guyanese rum lends flavors of maple, buttery oak, and milk chocolate. Barbadian rum adds banana bread and toffee notes.
The official tasting notes describe the nose as “a lush medley of high-ester tropical fruit and ripe melon” with buttery undertones, milk chocolate, sweet oak, and creamy vanilla. The palate features banana bread, milk chocolate, lemon cream, and a “profoundly nutty core” with spiced pecans and hazelnut.
Limited Release Details for Barrell Craft Spirits Bourbon Collectors
The 20-Year Triple Rum Cask Finished Bourbon will be available June 18 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time through the company’s website and Louisville facility. The extremely limited production of 250 bottles carries a price tag of $199.99.
Sales restrictions apply in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah.
This release represents one of the oldest bourbons in Barrell’s portfolio. The company has built a reputation for innovative cask finishing techniques since its founding in 2013. The brand sources aged whiskeys and rums from various distilleries before blending and finishing them in its own facilities.
The combination of two decades of oak aging and five years of rum cask influence creates what the company calls “a truly exceptional spirit.” The finish brings notes of pine, toasted marshmallow, sweet vermouth, dark rum, baking spice, and herbal warmth according to the official tasting notes.
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