Baking spices | Sandalwood | Hint of pear | Approachable

Butterscotch | Baking spices | White pepper | Nutmeg | Toffee | Caramel | Leather | Cigar box | Toasted oak | Seasoned oak | Wood accents throughout

Allspice | Baking spices | Touch of tobacco | Caramel chews | Dry on the backend | Long

The foundational release in Frank August’s Case Study series, Case Study: 01 is a blend of five barrels of Kentucky straight bourbon that were finished in medium toasted Japanese Mizunara barrels. Mizunara is a porous species of wood and is often used to make barrels to age Japanese and scotch whiskey. According to the company’s press release, because of Mizunara’s porous nature, samples were pulled and tasted every 30 days and then finally bottled after finishing in the Mizunara barrels for an undisclosed amount of time. This release is less than 1,000 bottles.

The result is a very approachable bourbon that does not specifically taste as if it was finished in secondary barrels, but rather offers a baking spice forward flavor profile that is quite complex on the palate. Coming in at over 14 proof points higher than the company’s flagship Frank August Small Batch allows the flavor profile of Case Study: 01 to show through with more intensity by comparison. The bourbon really shines on the palate, which is quite complex, offering layers upon layers of different spice and oak notes. The integration is very well done, not yet pushing the boundary of being over-finished, instead landing right on the mark. Frank August Case Study: 01 Mizunara Japanese Oak Bourbon is a well-crafted bourbon that showcases the quality of bourbon that can be achieved when attention to detail  and made on a very small scale.