Tasting notes

nose

Baked cherry, apricot and peach with vanilla cream, brown sugar, toasted oak and hazelnut

palate

Sweet aged oak, toasted hazelnut, cola and light maple syrup, with cherry and clove

finish

Long; baked cherry, barrel char and dark brown sugar, with coconut and red fruit and a slow rise of spice

Mash bill

75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley, 48% of the blend; 78% corn, 10% rye and 12% malted barley, 29%; 78% corn, 13% rye and 9% malted barley, 15%; and 60% corn, 26% wheat, 10% rye and 4% malted barley, 8%. The first three are Kentucky bourbons aged 14 and 10 years from distilleries Bardstown does not name, and the last is its own six-year whiskey.

Why it's craft

Almost half of this blend is a single 14-year-old Kentucky bourbon, with two 10-year bourbons and a small share of Bardstown Bourbon Co.'s own six-year whiskey. The Discovery Series is the company's annual blend of aged whiskey. Most of it comes from distilleries the company does not name, and the blend says so. Pritzker Private Capital has owned Bardstown Bourbon Co. since 2022.