Tasting notes

nose

maple syrup, dark butterscotch, brittle caramel, bittersweet chocolate and burnt marshmallow, with a thread of sweet hickory smoke

palate

dried cherry and cranberry, blackberry jam, ripe apple, chai tea and warming clove

finish

warm and drying, with clove lingering

Mash bill

Woodford Reserve has not published a separate recipe for this release. It starts from the house bourbon, which is made from corn, rye and malted barley. Rye adds the spice, malted barley adds the bread and chocolate notes, and corn carries the sweetness.

Why it's craft

Woodford Reserve makes its own whiskey in Versailles, Kentucky, on a pot and column still combination, and ferments in cypress tubs. This release takes its bourbon through more than one finishing barrel, each of new oak. The distillery site has whiskey roots to 1812, and Woodford Reserve is owned by Brown-Forman, a publicly traded company under family control. The release is limited to two bottles per person.