Bardstown Bourbon Co. Discovery Series #3

A tale of three bourbons. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Take several of my favorite distilleries, blend their well-aged product and charge a hearty but honestly not unreasonable price given the work required to make it all come together. Is it worth it? Is the sum better than its parts? Sadly no, not really. Is it still incredibly enjoyable? Yes. Nose really showcases the older MGP. The oak and anise jump out of the glass as well as a bit of funk. Good, but almost muted as compared to my high expectations. The body is medium viscosity at best and a bit hot, but not unpleasantly so. Lots of up front wood notes and a bit of pepper, then an almost bubble yum sweetness that I get with Wild Turkey and possibly the oak and cherry notes of Heaven Hill. What I couldn’t pick up as well was the mineral/pencil lead and anise notes that I love about MGP. They are subtle and tucked into the finish with a bit of leather but not showcased (for being ~50% of the blend). This is no Boone County! I shouldn’t have expected to be either but was disappointed with the lack of “oomph” on the palate. Neither is it an ECBP gobstopper of fruit, wood, chocolate, etc, etc... Need to give it some time to be sure but at $130 likely not a re-buy when I could have a bottle of both ECBP and Remus for slightly more and really enjoy the flavors separately. Would miss the Turkey funk but a bottle of rare breed thrown in would fix that. Ok, now getting well above the $130 mark but also getting 3x the volume. Buy it, share it, dissect it, enjoy it. You won’t head this one as “my precious” and maybe that’s not a bad thing. ———— I still love this, but if you’re still reading save $100 and buy a bottle of WR Rare Breed instead. You’ll thank me. Note - this is delicious but is there’s 95% overlap and honestly the added bit of sweetness here detracts from the balance that rare breed alone strikes.

Neat. Sample. Excited to try this! The Fusion Series was a bit off for me but still excited about the Bardstown brand. And this has MGP, so of course I am excited. I am not always a big fan of MGP blends though. I really like the nose. Some nice sweet oak, fresh leather and such a strong caramel. Nice strawberries. Vanilla buttercream. Light banana bread and some walnuts in there too. Something else here, sweet and dark. Like a dark maple. A really strong nose. Mmm, velvety mouth feel. The moment it hit my lips I thought “Yum.” Wow, the maple. So sweet. Over the top sweet. It’s so much lighter up front than I would have expected. Sweet oak, light maple, and that creamy vanilla butter cream. Transitions to a nice white cake and there is more frosting in the finish. The caramel and leathers are coming out too. The legs are delicious and last awhile. Starting to get some citrus and orange peel on the back end of the finish, I was trying to figure out where the rye would pop up. Best MGP blend I have ever had. The Barton compliments the low rye MGP so well. Not sure what the third barrel is. This is a buy next time I see it. At $130 this crushes something like a Sam Houston 14.

My brother-in-law and I took our wives to Bardstown earlier this year, toured the distillery and had lunch. Made a day of it. My brother-in-law bought a bottle of Discovery 3. I opted for a bottle of Rebel 10 year across town. His bottle has been open a couple weeks and we tasted and critiqued last night. First thing I notice is a rich buttery nose. It reminds me of hot buttered waffles with a generous amount of maple syrup. It's 110 proof but the alcohol is nicely in the background. The palate is mostly true but a nutty element comes in along with some dark fruits. This is a most enjoyable bourbon although the finish is a bit short. If this was under $50 a bottle I would love it and that's my problem with the Bardstown Bourbon Company. Their stuff is good but the pricing borders on ridiculous. On the other hand, their restaurant is fabulous and the pricing most reasonable.

OK lets go. Nose - Apples, spice, alcohol, bit of nut, dust, and more spice. Taste - So I'm totally getting the fruity cinnamon and spice and apples of a Barton with the spicy rye mess of the MGP 21 and 36% ryes (this is a 21%). The bottle is all about spice and more spice. The balance and the blending here seems a bit off. It doesn't blend well imo. That said it's a wonderful overall flavor profile. I really enjoy it. I'd love a richer and more mellow bourbon in here to bring down the spice. Overall a 3.0 bourbon, really good stuff, but just not there if you're looking for that next level stuff like the discovery 2 was. 130 bucks a bottle here, and I think this is a spice lover bourbon only. Get the discovery 2 first and if you've had 2-3 of those, maybe get this next.

Apples and cloves on the nose. A hint of orange, too. Not a lot of ethanol for a 110 proof, which is a good thing. Palate is smooth, sweet and complex, with notes of mint, vanilla, and cherries, giving way to leather and oak on the finish. The finish becomes spicier as it lingers, but never becomes too hot.

This is excellent, with a nice complexity and a good nose as well as taste. It makes for a great supper and you’d never guess it was a 110 proof. Having said that, I would have given it a higher score, but the finish is so smooth as to be almost nonexistent.