Barrel 1
BS:
Warm wood on the nose, lots of caramel, soft cinnamon, nice vanillas to otherwise gentle oak.
Woodsy. Rustic. Nice.
Palate is bready leading, a little thinner in profile on the front with richer as growing. Spiced banana bread and oak.
90 Proof:
Totally cinnamon roll on the nose. Toasted bread, banana taffy.
Palate is softly spiced, cinnamon leading with banana bread and caramel lingering. Subtly tannic grassy finish a bit dry. Most dry. First to be eliminated.
Barrel 2
BS:
Brighter pop of citrus on the nose, more cherry, spiced with deeper fruit sweetness and a little more ‘double oaked’ style ferment. Butterscotch finishing.
The cinnamon roll one.
More wood tannins on the palate but creamy and sweet. Caramel forward with cherry and cinnamon intertwine giving a really nice, candied grass profile. Soft enjoyable finish.
90 Proof:
More of that ‘double barrel’ type fermented tell is there. Gently deep, oak, slightly grassy. Toffee and subtle cherry linger.
Very decadent. Super chewy caramel, brown sugar, has a clove spiced finish but linger is longer. It has a bit more rough around the edges profile compared to 3.
Barrel 3
BS:
Most brown sugar immediately present on the nose. Very desserty, very sweet. Gosh so cakey like a dense pineapple upside down cake.
The cakey one.
3 clearly takes the nose.
Richest immediately on the palate. Great depth. It does bring with it a bit more heated profile, lots of butterscotch notes with woodsy maple spice.
90 Proof:
Caramel, butterscotch, sugar cookie, subtle wood with a pleasant spice touch.
Still the richest of the bunch - comes off way more than the rest. All flavors a bit more balanced than previously, but not as balanced as 2, but doesn’t give up all that chewy cookie sweet flavor. It is more subtle to pick out, not as caramel in favor of convection sugars with a warm soft oak linger. Definitely the most approachable finish.
Introducing 4th barrel
More of those funky notes like 2 but more exaggerated. Less sweet, more leathery. Lots of cherry, a little bite.
Palate is very juicy but does bring some spice and rich oaky Demerara sugar and bubblegum to otherwise dense banana bread.
Going back 3 does carry a good oak presences lingering with this upside down cake profile. 2 is pushing through JD has a nice cane sugar finish. The new number 4 has some elegant spearmint qualities that take precedence.
Barrel 3 wins
Nov 4 2015 warehouse J
8th floor 23 rows in 3rd tier
67 percent at barrel strength