Michter’s Offers Up A New US*1 Toasted Barrel Style Whiskey

The US*1 Toasted Barrel whiskeys from Michter’s focus upon this Kentucky distillery’s ability to produce quality extra aging for some of its expressions in barrels that are toasted versus being charred. To date they’ve seen some success in this regard around bourbon and rye bottlings, and now they are turning their attention to a new addition to this line up in the form of a sour mash variant.

The new Michter’s US*1 Toasted Barrel Sour Mash Whiskey, according to those behind it, builds upon the distillery’s US*1 Sour Mash offering. To this end the distillery team, lead by Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson, took fully matured barrels of the regular sour mash and transferred it to the specially toasted barrels for extra aging. It is said “significant consideration went into the type of toast that was best for finishing,” with the resulting whiskey being bottled at 86 proof.

“The toast profile used to finish our Toasted Barrel Sour Mash differs from both the toast profile used for our Toasted Bourbon and the toast profile used for our Toasted Barrel Strength Rye,” said Wilson in a prepared statement. “A milder toast was chosen to enhance the toffee character of the US*1 Sour Mash and provide a hint of campfire on the finish.

“After evaluating different degrees of toasting, we selected a level that would provide the toasty profile people enjoy while complementing the elegance of the sour mash whiskey.”

As it stands now plans call for this new whiskey to price around $60 per 750 ml bottle.