Bardstown Bourbon Company: Fusion Series #3

This sample was sent by the producers fas part of the media kit for the 2020 Kentucky Bourbon Festival with no strings attached.

I’m starting to think I have too much whiskey. I know. I know. I’ve said this before. But honestly, when you can toss a sample in a drawer and forget about it for six months, the thought does pop into your head.

Because that is exactly what happened with tonight’s whiskey. I originally got this as part of the media kit for the 2020 Kentucky Bourbon Festival. There were a few bits of swag in there, a book, and a couple of 50mL bottles of bourbon. This, Maker’s Mark, and a Jim Beam product, I think. I tossed all three into the drawer of my cocktail station. I had the idea that I might review the Bardstown Bourbon Company one, but one thing led to another, and, well, here we are in March.

So what is it? That is a good question and it required a little digging on my part as there wasn’t any documentation provided. And there was little info on the bottle other than the proof to distinguish this release from any of the others. After a bit of time on the company website, I realized that this is the third iteration of Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Fusion Series. The proof was what gave it away if you are curious.

So what is the Fusion Series? I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of it previously. Living in the Whiskey Hinterlands of Minnesota means that unless a small company sends me a sample, I might not run across their stuff until I make it to Kentucky. And such was the case here. I’d only had one product from BBC, the Collabor&tion (which I found pretty hit or miss with one being very tasty and the other being much less so), and hadn’t really kept touch with what the company was doing.

The Fusion Series is a blend of Bardstown Bourbon Company’s own bourbon with older sourced bourbon. And they’ve given a very nice breakdown of what they used to make it. This is comprised of 40% 13-year-old Kentucky bourbon (undisclosed source, but the mash bill was disclosed as 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley), 18% 3-year-old BBC bourbon (mash bill 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley), and 42% 3-year-old BBC bourbon (mash bill 60% corn, 36% wheat, and 4% malted barley).

Let’s see how it tastes.

Bardstown Bourbon Company: Fusion Series #3

Purchase Info: This sample was provided as part of a media kit for the 2020 Kentucky Bourbon Festival. The suggested retail price is $59.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.00

Details: 49.45% ABV. A blend of 40% 13-year-old Kentucky bourbon (undisclosed source, but the mash bill was disclosed as 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley), 18% 3-year-old Bardstown Bourbon Co bourbon (mash bill 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley), and 42% 3-year-old Bardstown Bourbon Co bourbon (mash bill 60% corn, 36% wheat, and 4% malted barley).

Nose: Almond, vanilla, cinnamon candies.

Mouth: Nice mouthfeel. Cinnamon, caramel, and Vanilla custard.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Cinnamon, mint, dark chocolate, and oak.

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Thoughts: this took me sips to get into as it needed a little time to open up. But once it did, it was lovely. Sweet, creamy, and spicy with a nice mouthfeel. I enjoyed it. I will have to keep an eye out for other releases after I can get to Kentucky again.

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Maker’s Mark Private Selection Program: The New Roasted French Mendiant Stave

I’d like to thank Maker’s Mark for providing the sample kit for the new stave with no strings attached.

So, Maker’s Mark has decided to tweak the Private Select program. They’ve decided to retire the Roasted French Mocha stave and replace it with a new one called Roasted French Mendiant.

When the Maker's Mark Private Select program was first introduced, I wrote a whole article about it. From that post, we know that the Roasted French Mocha is a French oak stave designed to bring dry, dark chocolate, coffee, and char notes to the finished bourbon.

So, you might ask, the names of Roasted French Mocha and Roasted French Mendiant are remarkably similar? What is the difference? That’s a fine question and Maker’s Mark was kind enough to provide the answer along with the samples they sent. Quoting from the press release:

The new stave takes the flavor cues folks have come to know and love from the program’s Mocha stave and expands on them with amplified milk chocolate, buttery nut, deep coffee and dried dark fruit notes. … In introducing Mendiant, we wanted to bring in a new and exciting stave that takes flavor cues from Mocha but enhances even more rich and creamy classic Maker’s Mark® notes. Mendiant, like Mocha, is also a French oak stave with a classic cut but is cooked low and slow vs. high and slow to achieve a delicious new finish.

I was very interested to taste the difference between these two. I haven’t liked every Private Selection I’ve had that included the French Mocha stave, but all of the ones I’ve liked have included it. And I’d never tasted it on its own. So this should be a fun look.

Maker's Mark French Mocha vs French Mendiant

Purchase Info: These are available as part of the Maker’s Mark Private Select Program. They are only available on their own if a participant in the program has elected to go that route with their selection. These samples were sent for review purposes. The suggested retail price for a bottle of Maker’s Mark Private Select is $69.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Mocha

Details: 54.95% ABV

Nose: Strong caramel, vanilla, oak, and chocolate.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, oak, chocolate, and a hint of mint.

Finish: Sweet and warm with lingering notes of chocolate, cinnamon, and caramel.

Mendiant

Details: 54.75% ABV

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, chamomile, and hints of oak and mint.

Mouth: Cinnamon, caramel, vanilla, almond, and herbal notes.

Finish: Sweet and warm. Lingering notes of caramel, vanilla, almond, and hints of chamomile.

Thoughts: These are both very good. I'd choose the Mocha personally as I love those chocolate notes. The Mendiant is much spicier while the Mocha is sweeter...

…when neat.

Since Maker's was nice enough to throw a vial of Maker's Cask strength in the package, let's see how each of these does in a 50-50 blend.

The blending definitely changes things up. The noses are very similar with the Mendiant being slightly more herbal. Both, however, are caramel bombs. On the mouth, the Mendiant seems to integrate better than the Mocha. The Mocha stays chocolaty and overpowers the notes from the Maker's Cask Strength. The Mendiant shows as sweeter and has more caramel and herbal notes than the Mocha. Strangely, my favorite has switched when blended with the Maker's Cask Strength. I much prefer the Mendiant in a blend.

Which might be why they are making the change.

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Larceny Barrel Proof, Batch A121

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

It’s funny how our tastes develop. There was a time in my bourbon journey that a bottle of 80 proof Ancient Age or Cabin Still was right in line with my preferred flavor profile. These days it is only the rare sub-90 proof bottle that gets me coming back for more. Somehow along the way, I’ve started to enjoy higher-proof whiskeys. I’ve decided that I really enjoy being able to put a cube of ice in there and still have something robust to enjoy.

And I’m not the only one to notice a change in my palate. My wife has also noticed a slight change over the years. Of the two of us, she is the fan of wheated bourbons in our house. I’ll drink them, but I usually prefer the “normal” bourbon that uses rye as a flavoring grain. When Larceny came out, it was her favorite bourbon. Super easy to find, affordable, and lined up exactly with her palate. These days, however, she finds herself drawn to other bourbons both wheated and not.

Yet even with that, we’ve both been big fans of the Larceny releases so far. I like the higher proof and more concentrated flavors. She likes the more robust version of the Larceny flavor profile (maybe this more concentrated version has ruined the 92 proof for her?). In fact, this is what we said about the last batch:

This typifies exactly what my wife wants in a bourbon: sweet and oaky with lots of caramel. She wants it on the record that if she sees this, and if it is allowed, she wants to buy two bottles. I also really like it in case you were curious.

Let’s see how 2021’s first batch compares.

Larceny Barrel Proof, Batch A121

Purchase info: This was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: Batch number: A121. 57.4% ABV. "Made from a mingling of 6 to 8-year-old bourbon." Non-chill filtered.

Nose: Oak, toffee, mint, baking spices, and fleeting hints of dark chocolate.

Mouth: Follows the nose with oak, dark chocolate, caramel, and baking spices.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Notes of dark chocolate, oak, and baking spices linger.

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Thoughts: The one word I can think of for this is "Robust" It has a great mouthfeel and the dark chocolate notes are fantastic for a lover of dark chocolate like me. I like this more than the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof we looked at last week.

Comparison with the last batch: C920 was way sweeter on the nose showing much more caramel to A121's dominant oak notes. The sweeter notes of C920 continue on the mouth bringing added heat to the party as well. A121 has a thicker mouthfeel and more oak and cocoa notes. Overall, these are quite different and which you like more will depend on whether you prefer hot and sweet caramel flavors or robust with oak flavors. In my opinion, they are the two best batches of the four released so far. I think I like A121 better, my wife likes C920 better.

Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.