Barrell Bourbon Reaches Batch 038
By Richard Thomas
(Credit: Craft Barrell Spirits)
Just the other day, I read some Instagram comments to the effect that it seems all Craft Barrel Spirits does these days is super premium releases. New batches of the classic Barrell Bourbon used to come every season or so. I also recently polished off a bottle of Barrell Bourbon Batch 8, which I have had in storage for years. The two things make it especially noteworthy on a personal level that Barrell Bourbon Batch 38 just dropped. Don’t let the red, white and blue labeling fool you; that is to mark America’s 250th anniversary. This is the latest batch of Barrell Bourbon.
This one is more exotic that most past installments, drawing on some 8 year old, Maryland-made bourbon. When Barrell Bourbon was first introduced, there was no such aged bourbon from Maryland to utilize. This has been blended with more traditional sourcing for Barrell Bourbon: a 12 year old Kentucky bourbon; 9 and 10 year old Indiana bourbons; and 12 and 15 year old Tennessee-made bourbons. The aggregate mash bill has come to 79% corn, 14% rye and 4% malted barley (malted barley that low strongly suggests packaged enzymes were used in the mash for at least some of the constituent sourcing).
The batch proof here came out as 116.96 (58.48% ABV), and the pricing is still a reasonable $89.99, on par with major brand cask strength whiskeys that are not quite as well aged.
