For some people, Bardstown Bourbon Company is a complete unknown. The distillery was only founded in 2016. It doesn’t have a huge brand with tons of distribution all over the US. The website has little detail on its history. However, longtime Whiskey Network readers know we’ve been fans of this award-winning distillery from the beginning. Bardstown Bourbon Co. has made a bigger name for itself in contract distilling (it’s around #7 on the list of top whiskey producers in the nation by volume) and also bottling. Bardstown Bourbon Co.’s focus in providing custom distilling for collaborative partners is surprising when you think in terms of a whiskey review.
That focus on custom distilling also provides room for Bardstown Bourbon Co. to explore. They have some classic Kentucky offerings in their Origin Series. There are a wealth of blended whiskeys in the Discovery Series. The Fusion Series experiments with blending mature and young Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The focus today is on the Collaborative Series, specifically the collaboration with Amrut Indian Whisky.
This whiskey is a blend of rye whiskey finished in Amrut Indian Whisky barrels and Kentucky Straight Bourbon. You can see the details of the blend on the Bardstown Bourbon Co. Amrut product page. They provide a lot of detail so you can see what is really being included in the bottle. However, no amount of blending information can tell you what this whiskey is like. You need to taste it, which I did. So let’s see!
This whisky was provided to us as a review sample by Bardstown Bourbon Company. This did not influence the final outcome of this review in any way.
Bardstown Bourbon Co. Amrut
Class: Blended Whiskey
Price: $160
Notes:
- No age statement, though based on the blend it can probably qualify as 8 years old.
- Distilled and Bottled by Bardstown Bourbon Co., Bardstown, Kentucky.
- Blend of Straight Rye Whiskey and Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Bottled at 55% ABV (110 proof).
- The rye hhiskey is finished in Amrut Indian Whisky barrels.
Nose: 86/100
A touch of funk and malt mingles nicely. Butterscotch and rye spice sit right behind. Smoked peaches can be found at the edges. Vanilla lies far in the background.
Palate: 86/100
Ginger and malt lead the way here. Butterscotch and rye spice appear, but not as strong as on the nose. Vanilla is far in the background again.
Finish: 88/100
Smoky barrel char is the star here. Smoked peaches follow quickly. Butterscotch and rye spice vie for attention as well in this warm, lingering finish.
Overall: 86/100
Recommendation: Must try!
The main issues with this whiskey are really availability and price. I have never seen any of the Bardstown Bourbon Co. Collaborative Series in any stores near me in Pennsylvania. The price is higher than I would like as well. However, this is a fantastic whiskey. I would probably recommend it as a “Buy now!” if the price were around $125. Yes, it is that good. The Amrut influence is definitely apparent. That finishing; the rye whiskey and the bourbon really do blend very well together. There are notes of each part while the quantity of rye in the blend allows it to be the more dominant flavors. The only people that would not like this whiskey are diehard bourbon fans who don’t like anything else. Granted, that’s not the target audience, so more for us!
What did we learn?
This was my first taste of the Collaborative Series from Bardstown Bourbon Co. and I learned a lot. There is a lot of risk in doing something this experimental, but the result is very, very good. Whoever did the blending for this whiskey clearly knows what they are doing. It is one thing to blend rye and bourbon, but something completely different when that rye is finished in some other whiskey barrel. We also learned that Bardstown Bourbon Co. is very creative. The idea of finishing a rye in an Indian whisky barrel is not mainstream at all.
Honestly, I think I am more impressed with the idea of this experiment. Bardstown Bourbon Co. has a very good reputation and sometimes distillers will get more conservative as their reputation grows. With this whiskey, Bardstown Bourbon Co. has shown that they have confidence in these experiments and know that their reputation will remain.
