Bardstown Bourbon Co. Château de Laubade Armagnac Finish

Rating: 20/23 I'd been curious to try Bardstown for a while, then I tried a couple that I thought were interesting and quite good, so I wanted to try more. I just finished a series of Château De Laubade tastings, so when I was looking through my samples for one to try, this spoke to me. N: Bold, leathery, kind of spicy, and slightly meaty. There are of course some rich fruits in the cherry and blackberry range. There's definitely some substantial barrel tannins coming out with the spice and leather. It's overall not the most complex and decadent nose, but it is quite a good one. Really, quite enjoyable. P: That tartness and bold woody bitterness that I expect of Armagnac tannins hit me straight up, but the flavor isn't overpowering. There's some bold leatheriness here as well that reminds me of Joseph Magnus, then that fades into barrel spices (ginger, cinnamon, clove) with some limestone adding a mineral lightness to the profile. Dried cherries come in at opportune moments throughout, as do notes of chocolate and vanilla. Really, this is a very decadent dram. There's just a touch of young meatiness here, but not too bad. I'm very impressed. This has great complexity with decadent flavor. It isn't the most subtle, but it honestly does succeed pretty well at subtlety. F: There's a delightful mustiness like some really delightful cabernets have. It's intertwined with slightly floral vanilla and makes for a lovely finish. - Conclusion - This isn't making my top 5, but it is an excellent dram. My main complaint is that I could have done with a somewhat fuller body with a more viscous palate. Side by side, Joseph Magnus (21/23) is bolder, more leathery, oilier, less sweet, more integrated, and less complex. Honestly, I think that oloroso finishing is really coming through for the Joseph Magnus. Overall, I think that the two are quite close in quality. This has a more youthful bite to it, but the old tannins from the Laubade casks really give this some great maturity. Between the two, I'm inclined to favor the Joseph Magnus, but I can really see going either way. They're both just such great drams. A fresh bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed (18/23) just can't compete with this. The quality difference is stark. The Wild Turkey is less complex with just as much burn and more funky flavor from the alcohol that comes across as a bit off (at least side by side). There's no way that this can be as low as a 19 and I'm kind of thinking that a 20 is a bit low. I've sometimes thought that the Joseph Magnus could be a 22, but I think that still leaves this solidly in the 21 range. Which is an excellent score! I'm thrilled to find that this is a 21 and excited to try more Bardstown! On my final sip of this tasting, I am more seriously considering a 20 again, but this is definitely on the high end of that if it lands there. Coming back to this, it's definitely at least a 19, but I'm not so sure about that 21. I think I'm dropping this to a 20, but I don't think it's as low as a 19. It's a 20 or 21. Coming back for the last few sips, I almost gave this a 21, but after the last one, I landed on a 20. Thank you @Milliardo for sharing this sample of such a delightful dram!

So 2020 bourbon of the year? I already know one person calling this a contender...and I might have been the one who brought him the bottle and then said if he reviewed it before I had 3 bottles, he was cut off. :) Nose - cinnamon, fall leaves, clove, baked pie crust, and then this MGP rye note that you can't mistake. This is one of the least sweet and more just complex and yet not dry or bitter or anything like that of traditional bourbons (so complex that sentence is likely a run on). It's a level of balance I can't describe or compare it to. Taste - 12 years in oak barrels followed by 18 months in these Armagnac casks provides a level of depth and complexity in this bourbon that really has few rivals. This is simply WOW whisky. Spicy, complex, tobacco, oak, cinnamon, apples cider, rye spice, touches of vanilla and caramel. There's so much more to this than I can describe. Water brings out more sweetness up front but doesn't turn it. The spices and flurry of flavors doesn't subside. Fall orchard fruits and spices while in a tobacco barn is all I can really use to explain the nuance of this one. For me, I do tend to want a bit more vanilla and caramel sweetness and I want an oak sweetness that I don't find here in my bourbons. But this is a finish bourbon, and with that comes an acceptance of nuance and just differences. This isn't as sweet as the 30 year old armagnac I have in my closet, but it does bring out some of those notes. I'm left with just a big old smile on my face and a big old WOW. 4.5 on this one. I did this side by side with the four gate batch 6 and it make the batch 6 seem like a cheap boring bourbon (it isn't). It's close but I'd take this over a cigar blend. I liked this so much I bought 4 bottles for myself. I have been screaming at the roof tops for people to get this one. I've very well may have turned this locally into a special allocated bottling that it wasn't before I started telling people about it. So now I share it with you guys. This is a top 25 all time bourbon imo. This isn't special, it's a masterpiece in the bourbon space and worth paying secondary prices while they're still reasonable. MSRP is about 130 on this one. The secondary is still only about 250 shipped. BUY THEM ALL! I can't recommend a bottle more strongly given that even secondary prices are still so reasonable.

I’m a big fan of the Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend so for the price point they both sell at was nervous this wouldn’t compare being they both use Armagnac barrels after maturation. The BBCo Chateau De Laubade delivers and then some. This is a special bourbon! I tried it first neat and then with a very small splash of water. There is a lot of complexity and a lot of flavors going on and they are all equally amazing and balanced. Nose Neat - I got a lot of warm flavors toffee, caramel, lot of honey, little bit of cinnamon. Nose Water - All of the above, but then it really started to bring out the fruit flavors apricot, cherries, apples, and grapes. If I could bottle the scent into a candle I’d buy a dozen. Even my wife who isn’t big on bourbon said it smelled amazing. Palate Neat - has almost like a buttery syrup texture that makes it so smooth. A very balanced sweetness with honey, caramel, toffee, citrus, do get a little bit of a dark dried fruit flavor, not an overpowering spice but just enough to balance the sweetness. Palate Water - That little splash, just wow! It really opened up. I got honey, toffee, caramel, chocolate, apricots, apples, cinnamon, oak, tobacco, etc. it has a ton going on. Finish - Get ready to go on a ride because it just hangs there (the case for both neat and water). I could still taste it probably 20 -30 minutes after I had finished. I got a lot of oak, leather, grape, and even hints of tobacco. The Armangac barrels really bring this bourbon to another level every time I went back I’d get another scent and flavor to jump out. If you can find this I would highly highly recommend buying. It has all the qualities you’d want of a regular bourbon, and I don’t know much about Armagnac barrels, but I would certainly argue that it’s a perfect compilation between the two. I didn’t want to put the glass down. There was nothing about it I didn’t like. I even ended up buying three more bottles (one as a gift). With as many high quality bourbons are being produced these days it’s hard to give a top 5 as it’s always changing, but this Labaude would easily be in my top 5 right now. Well done BBCo.

For this release, Bardstown sourced a 12 year old MGP bourbon then collaborated with Chateau de Laubade to acquire some of their Gascon oak Armagnac barrels to finish the bourbon for 18 months before it was deemed ready and bottled at 59.2%. The nose starts with musty grapes, dusty leather-bound books and cavernous minerality then cocoa powder dusted prunes, cigar wrappers and candied pecans followed by caramelized pears, dehydrated figs and cherry pie filling that transitions to spearmint, cloves, ginger and freshly lacquered antique furniture with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a rich oily mouthfeel starting creamy sweet orange that fades to musty grapes, dusty leather-bound books and cavernous minerality before a mild spice that quickly fades to cocoa powder dusted prunes, freshly lit cigar and pecan pie followed by caramelized pears, fig jam and cherries jubilee that transitions to spearmint, cloves, ginger and freshly lacquered antique furniture with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long with freshly lit sweet pipe tobacco, flinty minerality, caramelized pears, Morello cherry jam, musty grapes, spearmint, cloves, dusty leather-bound books and freshly lacquered antique furniture. This is a stunningly complex and rich bourbon that the combination of old MGP with those Armagnac casks has created a musty, earthy and cavernous forward dram that the traditional bourbon notes of creamy citrus, roasted nuts and mild rye are secondary but all the flavors work in near perfect balance to create a unique experience of earthy, sweet, savory and spice that finishes long and lingers for minutes after each sip. For me, this is the best bourbon that Bardstown has ever created and was a bargain at the price of $125 when I bought it. Unfortunately the secondary seems to have gone nuts over this one and isn’t worth the mark up, but I did see this in a few bars in Kentucky for a reasonable price and would recommend anyone to give it a try if they can find it for a justifiable price.

Finally starting to slow things down. New digs. New locale. The holidays racing forward. But now a bit of downtime. Amongst the disarray of boxes, I found the sample provided by @pkingmartin. In a bourbon-y mood, this seems to fit this evenings mood. As this settles in the glass, that lovely aroma of leather-bound books that are a tinge musty awakens the senses. And that aroma just stays as the other aromas swim through. Baking spices make up some of those additional aromas. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger snap cookies. Cigar tobacco and then the fruits: Maraschino cherries, lemon and orange zests blend with the baking and oak spice. A sort of liquid Christmas. The spirit arrives rich, thick and syrupy. Subtly sweet counterbalanced with those aforementioned baking and wood spices. A Caramel and toffee swirl with cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and black pepper (allspice essentially). The pepper spice crescendos, but as it ramps up in strength, bitter dark chocolate, like the 95% cocoa chocolate comes forward with dates and figs. Added in is charcoal and cigar ash which all work there way towards the finish. The finish is long lasting and and enjoyable. The oak and wood char coat and stick. Caramel, spearmint, cherries, apples, pears and the bitter dark chocolate. There are bourbons, the eveydayer’s that most are quite familiar. We mix and enjoy. Then there are bourbons the are we stumble upon or are given a sample and are blown away. This falls into that latter category. An exceptional bourbon that is bold, balanced, flavorful and aromatic with a long lasting finish. Thanks to @pkingmartin for sharing. A lovely pour. Cheers! [95/100][Tasted: 12/17/22]

Neat. Neck pour. Being an MGP nut, I was quite excited to hear about this release. The nose is recognizable MGP with some interesting differences. The finish really mellows out the bright notes (like vanilla or butterscotch) but keeps the sweetness in tact. You get this nice layer of raspberries and blackberries. Heavily charred, rich caramel. Flaky buttery pie crust. Hint of milk chocolate. Just really inviting and comfy. Texture is super think and syrupy. Lights up the tongue with intense fruit sweetness. It’s so oily it costs everything. The raspberries and blackberries are so intense up front, they dominate everything else. Once they subside, the oils bring another round of flavors matching the nose. Caramel, buttery pie crust. Berries and chocolate on the long long legs. Just devastatingly delicious. The longer I sit with it the bright notes are shining through more and now I am getting a delicious MGP butterscotch. This is an amazing pour. I haven’t gotten into Bardstown yet but couldn’t resist this one. It does not disappoint. I need to try Cigar Blend still but the finished MGP I have had, I think this is the best.