Raspberry | Burnt sugar | Caramel | Baking spices | Oak

Brown sugar | Plum | Oak | Vanilla | Touch of maple | Sweet

Caramel | Baking spices | Cinnamon | Rye spice | 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 Underoath, an American rock band that leans towards metal. Formed in Tampa, Florida in 1997, the band has released nine albums so far, and is working on their tenth which is expected later this year. The bottle is adorned with a foil label depicting what looks like someone wearing a medical mask. The blend is a union of 40% 8 year old Kentucky straight bourbon, 45% Tennessee straight bourbon, and 15% 2.5 year old Kentucky straight bourbon.

This is one of the few bourbons released in the 2024 Backstage Series that isn’t finished. Instead, it opts for older base components, which results in a more complex sip. Ironically, it has one of the fruitier aromas in the series, with raspberry doing much of the heavy lifting. The palate skews traditional while peppering in plum and light maple. The finish leans towards baking spices, with cinnamon being the most pronounced and finally ending on rye spice.

There is plenty to enjoy about this blend, which offers good balance and just enough unique flavors to keep it interesting as you explore what it has to offer. It’s also slightly higher proof than other releases in the Backstage Series and benefits from that. The flavors offer a little more punch, and the older components provide more weight to them. It doesn’t offer much uniqueness but instead is a more classic-style sipper.