Toasted caramel | Light vanilla | Charred oak | Light syrup | Oatmeal raisin cookies | Baking spice | Mesmerizingly scrumptious scents

Syrup soaked raisins | Cinnamon stick | Oat bites | Baking spice | Light leather | Heavy baking flavors

Dry oak | Dry oats | Dry leather | Cinnamon stick spice | Dry & lingering

Woodford Reserve Toasted Oak Oat Grain is fully matured Woodford Reserve Oat Grain Bourbon finished in new, heavily toasted barrels. The press release states that Woodford Reserve’s Distillery Series, created by Master Distiller Chris Morris, is meant to “push Woodford Reserve’s creative boundaries of whiskeys to the extreme.” The distillery releases three distinct expressions a year in the series.

Woodford Reserve Toasted Oak Oat Grain does exactly what Morris set out to do in terms of pushing what Woodford Reserve can be. Woodford Reserve is often written off as boring by some, however, this release should change the minds of many who may think that. The bourbon is full of rich baking scents that draw you in right from the start. Highlights of oatmeal raisin cookies and oat bites remind you that this is an oat bourbon, yet are balanced incredibly well with baking and cinnamon spice along with undertones of drier notes. Its oatmeal and baking-flavor focus reminds me of last year’s All the Cookies bourbon by Old Dominick. The only fault of this whiskey is that I'd love to see it come in a few proof points higher to really give more depth to the flavors present. Woodford Reserve nails this release, delivering a flavor profile that is delicate yet focused enough in all the right areas to make you wish that this was an ongoing release.