Visiting Bardstown Distillery is always a blast. They've built out this swanky tasting bar with a view inside the warehouse. The restaurant is great, the staff is always so welcoming and down to earth, plus they have a sneaky vintage bourbon bar with an incredible array of ultra-rare old bottles. They also typically give you a little chemical breakdown of each barrel with the cycle graph of the elements they believe to be the most important flavors and their respective levels in that particular sample. Both our last two barrels scored 10 out of 10 on the gallic acid register, which implies a high intensity of complex woodiness. Now unfortunately, this year’s samples did not get the graph treatment, so I have no idea where this barrel would have scored, but what is clear is we have a very different style from previous barrels. Firstly, this is the lowest proof barrel we have had by a significant margin, likely the result of aging on the lower floors, I assume. Let’s have a taste. The color is deep copper (1.0). The nose bursts from the glass. It’s extremely fruity and while the oak is there, it’s not as forward as previous barrels, instead its full of sweet cornbread, dried peaches and toasted vanilla bean. On the palate, the confectionery character does not hold back, with a syrupy sweetness and more dried stone fruits. It is not until the midpalate that the rye spice kicks up and starts to build against the ultra-decadent sweetness of the nose and entry. This battle persists through the finish to culminate in a soft, peppery, woodsy tone that frankly gives it an exotic character. A lovely style that I hope to see more of from this exceptional and always exciting distillery.