When you think of infused alcohol, you most likely think of Vodka. Infused Bourbon might not even be on your radar. Broken Barrel looks to change that with the introduction of Bourbon infused with Broken Barrel Staves. After a minimum of two years in new charred oak barrels, the bourbon is dumped to steel tanks, where each batch of Broken Barrel is hit with new French oak staves, ex-bourbon barrel staves, and a blend of ex-sherry cask staves.
Broken Barrel’s founder Seth Benhaim, had already found success with his first liquor brand of single bottle infused vodkas, Infuse Spirits. Benhaim believed that there was a missed opportunity in traditional barrel finishing. He wanted Broken Barrel to be an expansion of the barrel finishing concept, involving not only broken barrel staves, but also the combination of multiple barrel types all finishing aged bourbon in tandem.
Bourbon Review: Broken Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon
ABV: 57.5% (115 Poof)
Type: Bourbon
Age: 2+ Years
Color: Copper
Mash Bill: 70% Corn, 21% Rye, 9% Malted Barley
Oak Bill: 40% Ex Bourbon Barrels, 40% New French Oak, 20% Sherry Cask Oak
Distillery: Owensboro Distilling Co
Location: Owensboro, KY (USA)
The Nose: Whoa, that’s sweet is the first thing that roars through my mind. There is an abundance of honey, butter, sugar and a touch of vanilla. The aroma comes of as the halloween candy, candy corn. But there is also a bit of an alcohol aroma showing the bourbon might be little young.
Tasting Notes: The first sip is a complete 180˚ from the aroma. It’s spicy with an abundance of cracked peppercorn and rye. It is also very reminiscent of sherry with a long salty finish that has a touch of dried fruit and roasted nuts. The problem with this is that they don’t compliment each other well.
The Pairing: We opted to pair our cigar with the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Sungrown which sees the wrapper aged inside a bourbon barrel. The cigar helps off set the salt and dried fruit component of bourbon, but the bourbon is too strong for the cigar having a negative effect on it. As always our pairing does not affect our final score, but if it did it would only be by fractions of a point.
Conclusion: Every review is based on a persons particular taste. There is no catch all format for reviews and the words of a reviewer should never be taken as gospel. With that said, I am not sure what this bourbon is trying to be. It lacks balance. Its rough around the edges. It’s something I would turn down if it was offered to me. If this was my first foray into bourbon I would probably not try bourbon again for many years. To be honest I am not sure how someone thought this was good enough to be put on the market. But this is one man’s opinion.
Score: 70
Price: $42.99 (750ml)
Disclaimer: Broken Barrel sent review samples that were used to formulate this review. This is in no way influenced the review or final score.
