Barrel char | Toffee | Maple sugar candy | Some ethanol | Very fragrant & robust

Honey | Maple syrup | Barrel char | Crème brulée | Light caramel | Seasoned oak | Unique | Thik & rich with a heavy - almost syrupy - body

Tobacco | Charred oak | Maple sugar candy | Spicy crescendo with a velvety mouthfeel | Long

According to company founder and whiskey curator Blake Riber, Seelbach’s Private Reserve Finished Bourbon started off as a joke, but morphed to a concept that eventually became a reality. The bourbon used for this release was distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, aged in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and then finished and bottled by Manifest Distilling in Jacksonville, Florida. A total of 1,040 bottles were released exclusively via Seelbach’s website.

Seelbach’s Private Reserve is a unique combination of ages and finishes, and the end result is as unique as the process suggests it would be. It’s an assembly of flavors - and the corresponding intensity of those flavors - that you don’t typically see and which could only be driven by barrel finishing (in this case, in ex-bourbon maple syrup barrels). Also notable is the bourbon’s weight and mouthfeel, a heavy body with a satisfying delivery. This combination may catch some off guard because it borders on having too much going on, but ultimately keeps you coming back to explore further. It’s an interesting and unique tasting release offered with plenty of detail to get enthusiasts excited about the process undertaken to curate it.