Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked was a limited edition release that was part of the company’s Distillery Series and was introduced by Brown-Forman in 2015. Starting in 2025, the company increased the bottle size to 700mL and also turned it into a national limited edition release. For this release, the company states “Double Double Oaked is handcrafted by finishing fully-mature Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon for an additional two years in a second, heavily toasted, lightly charred, new oak barrel (hence the name Double Double Oaked).

Unsurprisingly, the sip opens with a heavy scent of rich oak. Baking spices appear most prominently afterward, with faint baking chocolate, warming vanilla, and mellowed tree bark. Inhaling deeper and trying to eke the most out of its proof further reveals syrup, whipped coffee, lightly burnt caramel, and Kentucky cream pull candy. It’s a surprisingly flavorful and pleasing aroma, considering the bourbon’s proof and the fact that it spends extended time in not three sets of oak barrels in total. Overall, it's a great way to start off the sip.

The midpoint again reveals the time spent in multiple barrels, as heavy oak leaning towards the bitter side pops up front. Rye spice joins in quickly after, along with dry cinnamon, clove, and green peppercorn spice. The one knock against the sip at this point is that it has a thin mouthfeel, which takes away from the flavors that are trying to push through the oak note.

A quick pop of rye spice is followed by extremely dry, spicy oak. Leather and tobacco leaf make a brief appearance before transitioning to dry baking chocolate and a light burnt coffee bean. The dominant trait, however, is the dry spice-infused oak that lingers but also comes with an intense sensation of trying to suck all of the moisture out of your mouth. Up until this point, the multiple oak finishing barrels add intrigue, however, at the very end, things start to feel like the oak finishing has gone overboard, taking an otherwise well done bourbon slightly too deep into dry territory.

It has been a long time since I initially reviewed Woodford Double Double Oaked. Back in 2017, Woodford was only finishing Woodford Double Oak for a little under one year to create Woodford Double Double Oak. The result was a bourbon that didn’t enhance their standard Double Oak Bourbon at the time. Fast forward 8 years, and that equation has changed. The additional time that Woodford now finishes their Double Oak Bourbon offers a slight but noticeable differentiator between the two products that Woodford fans will be pleased to see. For everyone else, though, it’s a harder sell.

The question is, is Double Double Oaked necessarily better when compared to other standard double oak finished products? The purpose of any barrel finished product is to stand out in the market both as a differentiator from your own brand offerings and, more importantly, as a differentiator from other whiskeys in the marketplace. It’s easy to do with barrel finishes that have held other spirits or wine in the past, but as we’ve seen, it is also accomplished with a secondary oak finishing.

Brown-Forman is no stranger to an additional oak barrel finished product, both with the aforementioned Woodford Double Oak and with their 1910 Old Fine Whiskey. Price aside, both enhance their standard product and the latter much more so. This is where Double Double Oaked hits a wall. For having spent two additional years in a third oak barrel, it doesn’t deliver a standout sip in a crowded marketplace. This is clearly the flavor profile Woodford was after, but one that many consumers will most likely shrug their shoulders at. It’s worth acknowledging and giving credit to the fact that this is one of the few triple-oaked bourbon products on the market, but at the end of the day, Brown-Forman missed an opportunity to have this be a standout release based on the sip delivered and truly hit a home run when it comes to uniqueness. Or maybe the more significant question left unanswered: do triple oak bourbons work?

The theme of rising bourbon prices last year has carried over into 2025. While some brands try to put out more economically priced products, none are rolling back prices on limited editions. In fact, many are steadily raising prices, and Brown-Forman is no exception.

Woodford Double Double Oaked was a distillery-only release product in years past. In 2024, the bourbon came in its traditional 375mL bottle and was priced at $80, an increase from 2023’s pricing of $60. It does need to be pointed out that prior releases only finished Woodford Double Oak for one additional year to create Woodford Double Double Oaked versus 2025’s two additional years. This clearly comes at a cost, but the question remains if that cost is worth the 25% price increase that this year’s release saw when you respectively scale up the old 375mL pricing.

Fans of Woodford Reserve will gravitate towards this offering due to the ability to finally get their hands on a former distillery release product. Still, it’s hard to justify the price being asked for this release for the average consumer. Barrel finishing comes at a cost, but when Woodford Double Oak can be purchased by most consumers for $60 or less, it's hard to justify that an additional barrel and 2 years of aging is worth a $140 increase.

Woodford Double Double Oaked is a bourbon that lives two lives. Fans of the brand will be happy that they can finally get their hands on a bottle without traveling to the distillery. Those who like the company’s Double Oaked Bourbon will have fun comparing the two and seeing the slight contrast between them.

For others, though, expecting a standout sip from the triple-oaked bourbon, they’ll be left scratching their heads. There’s no denying that this bourbon is overpriced for what it offers, and it has a hard time standing out in a sea of barrel-finished products based on quality alone. I give credit to Woodford for extending the extra finishing time to 2 years, but I was also left wanting more from the sip, in particular the finish. The lower proof could be to blame, but even so, this bourbon walks the line between average and slightly above. The sip starts off strong but ends with a whimper.

Unlike Angel’s Envy Triple Oak, Double Double Oaked affords bourbon drinkers the chance to try a true triple oak finished bourbon versus a blend of three oak-finished bourbons. This alone should drive interest and set expectations high. However, for the price and the sip delivered, I’d recommend seeking out a pour at a bar first before plunking down $200 for a bottle of this triple-oaked bourbon.