Cream corn | Rye grain | Light vanilla | Light oak | Light

Rye spice | Vanilla cream | Peppery oak | Touch of honeycomb | Faint candy corn

Rye spice | Light cream corn | White peppercorn | Faint oak | Light lingering spice

Dark Arts is a blending, rebarreling, and finishing house located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. Launched in 2023, the brand states that they are “inspired by the alchemists of old, our Master Blenders wield underutilized maturation and blending techniques to transform wood, fire, grain and water into liquid gold. Using equal parts mastery and belief in the unknown, we procure high-quality ingredients, create custom blends, and age them in unconventional barrels to craft unique and elevated whiskeys.” Their Barely Legal Bourbon is named after the fact that the whiskey just qualifies as a bourbon due to it containing 51% corn, the minimum required to be labeled bourbon.

Dark Arts Barely Legal Bourbon lives up to its name. The sip opens on cream corn and rye grain scents, which highlight the two grains used in its mashbill. Adding to the light opening aroma are light vanilla and light oak scents. The palate and finish deliver a similar light experience, which leaves you wanting more than what is present. While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the composite of the sip that Dark Arts Barely Legal Bourbon delivers, for the price, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The bottle in review is number 181 from batch 2.