Baking chocolate | Faint brown sugar | Nutmeg | Light toasted caramel | Slight earthiness | Strawberries & cream | Honeycomb | Cantaloupe | Ripe mixed melons

Honey | Syrup | White peppercorn spice | Orange | Peach fizz  | Summer fruits | Dab of rye spice | Velvety mouthfeel

Rye spice | Mellowed oak | Slight barrel char | Leather | Dry cinnamon stick | Prickly ginger | Faint honey | Gentle lingering heat

Barrell Craft Spirits launched their Cask Finish Series in September 2023. According to the company, the intent of the series is to utilize “the company’s blending and finishing expertise to make bespoke blends of straight bourbon whiskeys with unique finishes.” So far, the series has featured two releases each year, with 2023 highlighting Amburana and A Tale of Two Islands, and 2024 showcasing Mizunara and now Ice Wine.

In order to create the fourth entry in the company’s Cask Finish Series, the company blended 11 bourbons from four different states. According to the company, “the blend was then further matured in ice wine casks. Ice wine is a type of dessert wine that is produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. This produces a more concentrated grape juice since the grape's water freezes, but its sugar and other dissolved solids do not. The grapes are picked on the first freeze, which makes Ice wine production tricky to preplan and limited to the geography in which it can be produced.

As a lover of ice wine, I was pleasantly surprised to see Barrell Craft Spirits select ice wine barrels for their next Cask Finish Series. The bourbon starts off with a huge array of scents that span the gamut from earthy and traditional to fruity and rich. It’s a really good way to kick things off and leads into a really great midpoint. Sweet notes and summer fruits mingle with dabs of spices and ride in on a velvety mouthfeel. The end of the sip reveals a finish that is less fruit influenced, instead showcasing traditional flavors along with a pleasing ginger note, which helps fuel the gentle lingering heat to cap things off.

Once again Barrell Craft Spirits delivers another solid entry for their Cask Finish Series and continues to showcase that when it comes to blending bourbon, they’re at the top of their game. To be able to take a range of 11 different bourbons, spanning seven different ages, four different states, and four different grains in the mashbill and get it to harmonize with the ice wine casks is incredibly unique. Keeping the price below $100 is even more impressive. The resulting bourbon is able to highlight both traditional bourbon notes while also pulling in the sweeter characteristics of ice wine without one overpowering the other. This is a really fantastic sip and one that’s unique thanks to the use of ice wine casks. Consumers might think they’re burned out on finished whiskeys, but, Barrell Craft Spirits just dropped the mic, and released one of the best finished whiskeys in 2024 that is worth exploring thanks to its expressive, easy-to-sip flavor profile.