Stellum Bourbon Review
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
(Credit: Stellum Spirits)
What complaining I have ever heard about the overall handiwork of Barrell Craft Spirits has come in a particularly wistful form. Sure, some of their Barrell Bourbon/Whiskey/Rye releases have been a little disappointing (who hits their mark every single time with almost 40 at bats?), but usually folks just wish their releases weren’t always one-shot limited editions, here today and never to return.
Now Joe Beatrice, founder of Barrell Craft Spirits, has addressed that by starting a new brand that takes his outfit’s blending skills and applies it to a regular release, Stellum Spirits. The story behind the Stellum Bourbon release will be familiar to anyone already knowledgeable of Barrell Bourbon: the sourced whiskey from Tennessee (presumably Tullahoma), Kentucky (anyone’s guess) and Indiana (presumably MGP, and in this case a few different mash bill stocks) and blended them together, bottling the result at cask strength, 114.98 proof (57.49% ABV). The Kentucky and Tennessee stocks were said to be older and used to round and smooth out the profile, but no age statement was made for Stellum Bourbon.
The Bourbon
This pour has a dull amber look in the glass, and a nose of toasty, musty oak seasoned with some clove and allspice. The whiskey has a light texture on the tongue, with a sweetness based on marshmallow and caramel, accented by that musty, toasty wood and a dash of black pepper. The finish rolls out of that spicy end, winding down as a sprinkle of cinnamon and pepper.
Keeping in mind this is a less expensive (see below) and regular release version of the Barrell Bourbon handiwork, with very familiar sourcing, it is in no way a cheaper version of Barrell Bourbon. My take is that it measures up to the solid B+ standard set by most of the more than two dozen Barrell Bourbon batches released to date. If your go-to bottle sits in the $50 range and you love cask strength bourbon, this might very well replace whatever high octane brand you’ve got on your shelf.
The Price
A bottle of Stellum Bourbon can be had for $55.
Wasn’t too impressed with this one, gave it a C border C -. Respect your guys opinion always
Different folks, different strokes 🙂 For my part, I don’t know why anyone would pay even MSRP for Pappy 23 Year Old; it’s very over-oaked.
Stellum Bourbon:
Nose: Fruit cake, Holiday profile. Dried fruit- raisins, apricot, brown sugar, baking spices, prune.High alcohol bite! Smells like when as a kid, you’d open a tin of fruitcake sent by a far away Aunt. That round tin. The pieces of cake that fell off of the paper, crinkled cover.
Palate: Wow! ALCOHOL bite! Earth tone, funky dried fruit. Cardamom, a hint of baked apple. FRUITCAKE with butter.
Finish: Bitter red grape peel. Dried fruit, raisin, fruitcake. Lingering bitterness. Alcohol bite until the end.
Definitely pleasant. High alcohol content is predominant. Smooth, but you will not forget the high proof. YOUNG tasting despite the blend of an old whisky. Did I mention Fruitcake?
Not Fire Oak, but then again Fire Oak isn’t a cask-strength product. I’d buy it again.
Take aways: Fruitcake, raisin, dried fruit. Hot Toddy-type feel. Would be wonderful to enjoy by the hearth with snow on the ground after a nice walk in the woods. Not a campfire-sipper. Has its place in the more refined atmosphere of the holidays.
I’d buy it again to have on-hand. There are better-lots of them. I don’t lament the $55.00….
I’ll add in Pipe Tobacco. A Cavendish. So, imagine your Uncle, sitting out by the fire, wearing a herring bone, tweed jacket. He reaches into his breast pocket and removes his pipe-A nice briar affair. As he lights it, your mom removes a baked apple, spice cake from the oven. He lights his pipe and exhales the marvelous aroma. At that point you happen to open the bag of raisins that your Mom was baking with. For some reason you dropped the raisins into a tub of butter. You grabbed them and took a handful at the same time your brother opened the tin of fruitcake. Because he is bigger than you, he grabs you and shoves a handful of the fruitcake into your face. You recover and forgive him. You sit by the warmth of the fire and enjoy yourself from that point on. However, you always smell fruitcake and are pissed about your brother man-handling you.
This whisky is a door-opener. The price point is such that a person can enjoy a higher end product, yet not break the bank. Complex, and tame enough for a person that is new to fine whisky to appreciate and enjoy it. Cask strength adds a new dimension, Buy this whisky and enjoy it. Worth every penny!