Cinnamon | Cherry cobbler | Sandlewood | Baked pie crust | Vanilla extract

Cinnamon | Toasted oak | Honey | Light brown sugar | Light clove

Rye spice | Cinnamon spice | Honey graham cracker | Milk chocolate fudge | Spearmint

As the Amburana finish craze begins to slow, producers are finding creative ways to inject new life into their Amburana finished whiskeys. Three Chord, who is not new to creative blending and finishing, took a 6 year Indiana rye and finished it for 2 months in an Amburana barrel, then blended it with a 6 year old Kentucky rye finished in a cherry bounce barrel for an undisclosed amount of time. Cherry bounce is a spirit made with cherries, whiskey, and baking spices. It’s a wildly creative blend on paper that doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

The rye’s nose is every bit what you would expect it to be and more, with rich cinnamon, cherry cobbler, sandalwood, and baked pie crust creating an infectious aroma. The palate starts with a healthy amount of cinnamon, but is noticeably tempered, which is surprising given that 60% of this blend was finished in Amburana for 2 months. The cherry bounce element, unfortunately, doesn’t rear its head as prominently as you would like it to. The result is a finish that isn’t as balanced as it could be, with heavy rye spice against cinnamon spice demanding most of your attention. Touches of honey graham cracker, milk chocolate fudge, and lingering spearmint conclude the sip.

I hoped this whiskey’s cherry bounce finishing aspect would be more pronounced as melding cherry, rye, and Amburana sounds like a match made in heaven. As many producers have seen, Amburana barrel finishing can be a devilish game as a whiskey can go from minor barrel influence to overdone in mere days. That’s not to say that Three Chord Rye is over-finished; perhaps the opposite is true: it needs more cherry bounce finishing time, or a higher percentage of cherry bounce finished rye in the blend. That said, given its price and its tweaks to an Amburana-finished whiskey, it still has a lot to offer, especially for anyone who loved Penelope’s Rio release. But given the hopes this release gives off and its premise, it just didn’t quite live up to its potential regardless of what it accomplishes.