Belle Meade Bourbon Cognac Cask Finish Has Great Potential

Belle Meade Bourbon, from Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery out of Tennessee, is known to lovers of cask-finishing for its sherry variant, which saw sourced bourbon gain extra maturation time in ex-Oloroso barrels. Now the same is strategy is being used with ex-Cognac barrels, in a new product known as Belle Meade Bourbon Cognac Cask Finish.

Belle Meade Bourbon Cognac Cask Finish, according to the distillery, takes a blended bourbon (age range of 6 to 9 years) with a high rye content (30%) and gives it extra love in French oak barrels which had been used for a dozen years to age a fine Cognac. The resulting whiskey was then cut to 90.4 proof before bottling and is non-chill filtered.

Plans call for this whiskey to be released this month to select American markets, with no price mentioned yet. Official tasting notes for it are at end of this story, courtesy of Green Brier.

“Like any other ingredient, the finishing cask must be exceptional in order to achieve exceptional results,” said distillery co-founder Charlie Nelson in a statement. “The search ended when we found a selection of casks made of French Limousin oak in which one of the world’s premier Fine Champagne XO Cognacs had been aged for twelve years.  One smell told us that they held magnificent potential as finishing barrels for our bourbon.”

Nose: Crème Brûlée, Red Apple and a touch of Cinnamon
Palate: Vanilla, Caramel, Dried Orange, Baking Spices and a soft alluring medium bodied mouth feel
Finish: Long finish, mimicking the palate but adding Toasted Cedar and hints of Allspice