Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Seagrass

This is Barrell’s third version of Seagrass with the other two being regular Seagrass and a Gray Label 16-year Seagrass. For me, I found the regular Seagrass to be a fruity treat with light earthy rye notes in the background to prevent it from being overly sweet and the 16-year to be the opposite with those earthy rye notes up front with some well-aged oak while those fruity finishes worked in the background to add some fruity sweetness. So, I was intrigued when their 20-year Gold edition came out and wanted to find out what direction Barrell decided to take, but that high price tag was a hindrance in my pursuit to find out until @ctbeck11 was generous enough to provide me with a sample to finally satiate my curiosity. The nose is bold and rich starting with a mix of dehydrated apricot, caramelized pineapples, raspberry syrup, vintage leather and a light forest rye flavor in the background then the rye takes center stage with freshly baked pumpernickel bread with whipped cinnamon honey butter on top and a light river rock minerality followed by bananas foster, cherry brandy and mandarin oranges that transitions to candied ginger, charred pine cones and polished antique furniture with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich oily mouthfeel starting with a moderately sweet and sour fruit forward mix of apricot jam, caramelized pineapples, raspberry sorbet and vintage leather then a slightly bitter and sour rye spice that slowly fades to freshly baked pumpernickel bread with whipped cinnamon honey butter on top, espresso and light river rock minerality followed by a banana split with sour cherries, toasted walnuts and tangerine orange that transitions to candied ginger, pine needles and polished antique furniture with high ethanol burn. The finish is long with charred pine cones, dark chocolate mocha, banana split, cherries jubilee, dehydrated apricots, walnuts, a moderate rye spice, leather and polished antique furniture. For this version, Barrell went back to the original with those creamy sweet and sour fruits upfront that is an exceptionally well-crafted and balanced blend with the flavors of the rye, Martinique rum, Madeira and apricot brandy all working in harmony to create a fairly complex and sweet whiskey with the rye and well-aged oak working as a background note while rum, brandy and Madeira bring in bold fruit notes that are dominant but fade enough to allow those earthy forest floor rye flavors to come through as well as the well-aged oak. This is likely what customers were thinking the Seagrass 16-year would be as the older rye components enhance the normal Seagrass with well-aged oak notes and polishes out some of the youthfulness with those 20-year old ryes while maintaining the sweet DNA of the regular. For me, I still find the 16-year to be my favorite as I enjoy those earthy rye flavors being front and center with light fruitiness from the finishes, but if you’re a fan of a sweeter and fruitier rye profile and want some well-aged oak, than the 20-year would likely not disappoint.

Nose: this is a new nose to me. Different aromas than the single malts, bourbons and ryes I’m used to. I get airy thin honey. Also something floral like rose petals. There is a heavy raw sugar cane presence but it’s not there on every inhalation. There is faint plum and apricot but it’s a secondary or tertiary aroma. I don’t nose any rye but a lot fruitiness. The other thing I find interesting is that the nose is very very soft given the 64.06 abv. A few times I nose wet wood, not oak exactly more like what I would imagine apricot juice sitting in a wood barrel would taste like which makes sense since this rye spent some time in apricot brandy barrels. The nose is complex and tremendous and grew on me over the time I spent with this. Later I thought I nosed a little rye spice a little red hot but it was almost like a whisper and then it was gone. Also later a caramelly flavor emerged. Body: this is tasted neat. Huge. A strong Kentucky Canadian hug. Palate: sugary sweetness, high C, some darker fruity flavors I think the plum I nosed earlier. But it’s like a fresh juicy plum not an old fermented syrupy plum, this dram is alive with complex flavors all taking turns coming to the forefront. Caramel and I get more of the rye spiciness. Finish: long. Not smokey like I love my finishes but sweetness that lingers and just slowly ever so slowly fades away. 2-3 minutes later I’m still getting flavors wafting out. Sugary sweet fruity flavors. Note: another 1010 purchase. Not cheap, phew. But the last gold label was really amazing. This is really an interesting dram. So many flavors and aromas and they come in different combinations I feel like this is a whiskey Willy wonka would take great pride in creating. Complex and sweet. It feels like someone or lots of someone’s would have had to put a lot of TLC to get this all to blend together. This is really top not.

We (as in @pkingmartin , @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington , @Richard-ModernDrinking and @ctbeck11 ) had our quarterly online tasting. This was one of the spectacular pours of the evening, courtesy of @ctbeck11 . The other four were 1) Bardstown Chateau Laubade batch 1 2) Craigellechie 13 Armagnac finished , 3) Lagavulin 12 2021 and 4) 15yr Jacob’s Well. I wasn’t a fan of the regular Seagrass. I didn’t dislike it, just that I didn’t like it as much as their previous Dovetail or Armida. Not something I’d go out and buy. But this….this is a different beast. It probably shares the DNA with the regular Seagrass, but it’s evolved to an elegant silky pour. You gotta add water to this. The heat is simply too much. But, once you do, you’ll get aromas of honey, sweet fruits, maple syrup. Palette is buttery, molasses, dark cherry, and oak. It’s really elegant. The 800 lb gorilla in the room though is the price. At $500, it’s way on the upper end, and above most of the affordability range, including mine. But, should you happen to treat yourself or someone special to a memorable gift , this would be a great one to consider. Thanks to @ctbeck11 for the pour!

OK, so regular Seagrass is quite possibly my favorite Rye. For this version, there has been a bottle of this at a nearby store for $300. So far, I've resisted buying it. In Louisville and our hotel bar has it. I'm in... Delicious... I like the standard version better. There, I typed it. It's wonderful as you'll see by my score. But I'll defer back to the standard bottle. This is more like canned peaches and the accompanying syrup. More honey notes. Seagrass is phenomenal, this is amazing... So I don't want this to read as a negative review

Clearance sale at the bar. Apricot-forward nose, a little ethanol, custard. The palate is at first quite hot, but it mellows out considerably after having a chance to air. Again apricot-forward, sweet, there's a slight hint of banana peel in there, maybe a little bit of dill. Diverse mix of flavors and pretty well-integrated once you get through the heat. It's nice, but not my favorite Seagrass, and at the price they were trying to sell this for, it should be.

Great cohesion between tropical fruits and rye spice. Nose: Dill, Peaches, Apricots, Pineapples, Sultanas, Spearmint, Cinnamon, Raspberries, Herbs, Bubble Gum Palate: Herbs, Jalapeños, Apricots, Mangoes, Pineapples, Coconuts, Sultanas, Cinnamon, Figs, Plums, Golden Syrup, Kiwis, Nutmeg, Green Apples, Licorice Finish: Bananas, Marshmallows, Green Apples, Kiwis, Pears, Lavender, Parma Violets, Cinnamon, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Bubble Gum