Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Cherry Wood Smoked Barley

Nose: Cherry cola, vanilla pod, pine sap, caramel sauce, brown sugar, oak chips, a faint aroma of burning leaves. Palate: Oatmeal biscuits, diluted malt extract, buttered popcorn and smoked dried cherries on the arrival. The development shows more of the same, intensified by leathery cocoa notes and a persistent, mild but faintly resinous background smoke. Ginger, chicory and rye spice with an odd character. The texture is good, full and satisfying. Finish: Medium. Chocolate malted milk, mildly smoky and drying. An unusual whisky – interesting to taste but I would not want a bottle. It seemed to be uncertain as to its own character. There are five quite separate facets to it: corn, barley-malt, cherries, oak wood and smoke. The combination of these elements necessarily presents complexity, but complexity does not equal balance or integration. In fact, I thought this was quite incoherent, like a room full of voices, none particularly loud but confusing as a whole with each trying to talk over the others. The sweet sherry note was nice, the dry profile (from the high malt content) was a good counterpoint to the sweetness, and the cask influence was fine. However each actor was performing in a different play. I’m also not a big fan of wood smoke as a drying process. It’s legitimate, sure – I just don’t like the taste. Peat smoke has a certain softness of character that is not found in wood smoke and I’ve yet to taste any wood-smoked whisky that has appealed. This is also rather overpriced and in the final analysis only just above average for me. Tasted at the Sydney Whisky Show, 15 May 2021, my tasting #14 “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

This whiskey is a paradox. On the one hand, there is nothing more American than cherry pie, and this is precisely what you get with this remarkably unique bourbon from Woodford Reserve. Cinammon, vanilla, pie crust, and warm sticky crimson cherries. It’s a beautiful, decadent thing to nose on your porch, or deck when a sweltering stagnant July day holding its breath finally exhales into a merciful evening breeze. On the other hand, this does not taste like a whiskey made in America. Maybe Irish? With a mash bill that contains 30% malted barley and pot still distillation, you get a malty, biscuity, and even slightly smoky experience. If bourbon is the American spirit, this deoch has a thick foreign accent. But no other bourbon tastes like cherry pie. I have had this bottle open for about 2 years now, and it’s just a little over half finished. It is an unforgettable whiskey because I have not tried anything that tastes similar, and it is a fine whiskey when I’m in the mood. However, I wish it was even more like cherry pie, and was a little sweeter like a bourbon, with a little more pie crust; rather than the dry cereal and wood notes of a more European whisky. This is one of those whiskies that I will miss if I haven’t had it in a while, but once I’ve had a pour, I am satisfied, and move on to something else. Score: * (unforgettably good) How much does a bottle cost? In 2017, this limited release was $100-110. This is not widely available anymore. How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $100

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #16: Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Cherry Wood Smoked Barley. Kentucky Straight Bourbon. 45.2% ABV. NAS. Paid $104 It’s a pretty unique experience, but not worth ~$100 for a re-experience. Cherry wood smoked barley is a perfect description for this odd bourbon. Cherry and wood are prominent on the nose. Cherry cola, artificial sweetener, some blackberries. The wood is a dank, sweaty, decaying variety. It’s not obvious that is a bourbon. On the palate, this is halfway to Redbreast. Biscuits, brown sugar, malt, and of course cherry. Smokiness on the finish. This mashbill includes 30% malted barley that has been exposed to cherry wood smoke in the drying process. This creates a truly unique dram that may have you guessing if it is a bourbon, Irish, or Scotch when tasting blind. Very interesting initially, but once you get accustomed, the heavy-handed cherry and wood notes start to prevent you from repeatedly reaching for the bottle, which is in that awkward area of being too expensive to just drink for no good reason, but is not good enough to enjoy for a special occasion. A 375mL bottle for half the price would have been perfect. MARK: 88/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #17: Highland Park. $90. 43%. 15 years. 88/100 #18: Glendronach. $59 (1L). 43%. 12 years. 87/100 #19: Ledaig. $60. 46.3%. 10 years. 87/100 #20: Longmorn. $94. 48%. 16 years. 87/100

Compared with Amrut Portonova (a weird comparison, I know), this tastes weak. It's dry with a lot of cherry going on. It's very different from the Woodford Reserve Double Oak because it is kind of mild and very fruity and mineral. There's a bit of a fullness in there balancing it out, but it is not terribly rich. It doesn't have that usual young flavor, so that is nice at least. There is some rye tartness here but there is also some malted sweetness. That little bit of caramel and hint of smoke really help to round it out. This is quite drinkable even though it wouldn't make it high on my list. The wood is clearly there, but it is lightly present. This tastes lightly aged but it also doesn't pick up any bad notes from the wood. That fruity sweetness is smooth and refreshing. There's some vanilla and cherry Pepsi presence, but it is all tactful. A little Bitter alcohol comes through, but it is surprisingly mild considering the delicate nature of this drink. Yeah, it's good. The finely executed flavors are nice, but it just isn't my kind of drink.

Almost overpowering banana bread notes on the nose, which follows through on the palate. I don’t get any cherry on the nose or palate...just because the barley was smoked in cherry wood doesn’t mean you should expect to get any cherry notes on the nose or in the taste of this bourbon. The large percentage of barley in the mashbill clearly comes through with a scotch/bourbon blend-like flavor. However, I still don’t really get any of the smoke that I expected. I guess it’s very subtle. This is a very unique bourbon due to the high barley mashbill. It’s not horrible, but I definitely expected more for the price.

Surprisingly I get banana bread on the nose. Not a hint. It's strong and obvious to me. Plus some sap. On the palate, obvious creamy malt notes. It's sweet at first, a bit one notey. The malt quickly follows, some earth notes, a hint of nuts, some dark fruit. Strong dark chocolate, I seem to get that with Woodford offerings. The banana bread is there in the aftertaste. Interestingly, I'm searching hard for the smoke flavor and just not getting much of it. But this stands on its own without it. It's definitely interesting, worth trying. 11/9/17