The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
BBCo’s Armagnac-finished Chateau de Laubade Bourbon
(Credit: BBCo)
Whenever Bardstown Bourbon Company (BBCo) releases a new cask-finished, collaborative bourbon, I await the sample eagerly in hopes it will be another Phifer Pavitt Reserve Bourbon, which was a lovely expression.
The latest is their collaboration with Chateau de Laubade, a double first for BBCo in being both international and drawing on Armagnac casks. The Bardstown distillery took sourced 12 year old MGP bourbon and finished it for a long 18 month period in the aforementioned casks, then bottled the result at cask strength, 118.4 proof. The choice of the chateau and their Armagnac brandy meant BBCo was also getting Gascony “black” oak casks.
The Bourbon
A pour of this Indiana-cum-France bourbon has a dark look, its amber coloring leaning hard into the brown part of its range. Due to the proof pushing almost 60%, this confirmed by a cautionary sniff, I put a splash of water in before giving the whiskey a proper evaluation.
The nose is thick with caramel, that heavily overlaid with musty old wood and with a herbaceous current running through it. The flavor is even more richly endowed with caramel than the nose, but accented by a strong oaky note, this joined by a dash of black pepper on the back end. The finish ran oaky and peppery.
The Price
This latest BBCo release is priced at $125.
