Peach | Corn | Caramel | Light cherry | Light oak

Honey | Brown butter | Mixed dried fruit | Golden raisin

Cinnamon | Toast | Oak | Rye spice with a hint of cherry | Medium length

Musician Neil Giraldo founded Three Chord Bourbon, and the company’s Backstage Series takes his background and fuses the two. According to the company, the series brings together iconic bands with each of their unique bourbon blends in bottles adorned with the band’s artwork. First released in 2023, their 2024 follow-up includes 11 new releases.

For this release, Three Chord partnered with Halestorm, an American rock band formed in 1997 in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. The bottle is adorned with a beautiful collage of cherry blossom trees and three foiled skulls. The blend is a union of straight bourbon from undisclosed distilleries in Indiana and Tennessee that is then finished in cherry bounce barrels. Cherry bounce is a spirit made with cherries, whiskey, and baking spices.  

The bourbon opens with a light but generally effective aroma that features pleasant scents of peach, sweet corn, caramel, and light cherry. The palate is straightforward, with honey, brown butter, and mixed dried fruits at its core. The finish introduces light amounts of cinnamon, toast, and light oak with a hint of rye spice and cherry.

Given the great packaging and anticipation of cherry in its flavor profile, there will be some letdown after the first sip. The cherry note, unfortunately, isn’t as apparent as one would hope and expect. But that is not to say this whiskey has nothing to offer. It’s light and features a decent amount of complexity. Its price is surprisingly low given everything on offer, though some will still consider it too high given the straightforwardness of its overall sip. The company should have pushed the cherry bounce note harder, even if that meant pushing into what could be considered unbalanced territory given the bottle’s overall theming in an effort to live up to expectations.