Baking spices | Marzipan | Caramel | Cherry cobbler | Brown sugar | Toasted oak | Faint raisin | Warming

Burnt brown butter | Brown sugar | Rye spice | Cinnamon stick | Christmas spices | Burnt caramel | Charred oak | Dried tobacco leaf

Rye spice | Baking spices | Chewy oak | Leather | Toasted sugar | Lingering rye spice

B.R. Distilling Company is located in Memphis, Tennessee, and currently sources much of its whiskey from Green River Distilling, but also from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana. Their latest release explores alternative cooperage and its impact on their whiskey. For this 1,000 case release, cherry wood casks were used as a finishing barrel, a type of wood not often found in the American whiskey space. The barrels were created from sustainably harvested wild-cherry wood casks from the Jura region of eastern France. While the distillery source is not provided, the bourbon’s mashbill points to Green River Distilling being the most likely source.

Blue Note Cherry Wood Cask Volume 1 can best be described as the perfect fall and winter bourbon. Full of warm spices, the bourbon responds nicely to its time in its cherry wood finishing barrels. The whiskey opens with a warming aroma full of baking spices, marzipan, caramel, brown sugar, and cherry cobbler scents. These morph to a more earthy flavor profile as burnt brown butter, charred oak, and burnt caramel collide with rye spice and a healthy dose of Christmas spices. The sip fully embraces its earthy attributes as chewy oak and leather prop up toasted sugar, rye spice, and baking spices.

While cherry wood has been used by others in the past to finish their bourbons, in general, it  isn’t a common finishing cask. What’s most notable with Blue Note Cherry Wood Cask Volume 1 is how spice-forward and warming it is. Thanks to its rich baking and Christmas spices, the bourbon transports you to a crisp fall day or late winter night around the holiday season. Its proof shows in the boldness of its flavors, especially at the midpoint; however, the bourbon self-regulates and never comes across as overly forceful. For the price, this is a fun, unique finished bourbon that those seeking spice-influenced pours will appreciate.