Barrell Craft Spirits, Part 2: Two ryes

On Monday I reviewed a quartet of Barrell Craft Spirits bourbon(-ish) releases, hoping I'd understand the whiskies enough to actually ponder and opine. The attempts were mostly successful! Now onto the ryes, both in the Barrell Seagrass range.

Something struck me as I looked at the Seagrass label this weekend...

Was this whiskey named SEAGRASS because it is made from rye produced at former SEAGRAM'S distilleries??? Yes, I'm aware that Barrell has a philanthropical relationship with The Ocean Foundation. That's a great thing! But how about it? SEAGRASS = SEAGRAMS? Should I be very proud of myself, or has this theory already been plastered all over social media?

To those new to this rye curio, it's a blend of American and Canadian ryes, finished in Martinique Rhum, Madeira, and apricot brandy barrels. Yes, Barrell's blenders are once again hunching over their blending tables, squinting at their samples, and swirling their beakers, trying to create something unique and palatable at the same time.

I reviewed a different batch of Barrell Seagrass Rye last month, and enjoyed the whiskey. Not enough to run out and buy a bottle, but pretty close to it. This time, I have a different batch of the standard Seagrass AND a gray label (fancy stuff) Seagrass edition aged 16 years. The 16yo had the same barrel finish, but it's fashioned from 100% Canadian rye, so you don't have to open up a new credit card just to afford one bottle.

Here they are, side by side, as I use Monday's approach to review them:

Part 2: Two ryes

Barrell Seagrass Whiskey American and Canadian Ryes 60.1%abv	Barrell Seagrass Whiskey Canadian Rye 16 years old 1,861 bottles, 66.67%abv
Like its 59.92%abv sibling batch, this whiskey possesses a crazy crazy nose. It starts with a peppery rye spirit base, then spins out to apricot jam, orange zest, and a snuffed citronella candle. Then a fennel bulb, warm Sprite, maple syrup, Carpano Antica, and calamine lotion.	This one's nose begins with such a strong chlorine note, that I wonder if it has anything to do with the ethyl burning my skull. Beneath the heat, one may find dark chocolate, eucalyptus, rosewater, and dry soil up front. Then milky coffee, kale, green bell peppers, and raspberries.
The palate arrives hotter than expected. Plenty of rye spirit at the center, again, but it's surrounded by bubblegum, lemon bars, honey, and bitter citrus peel. The sweetness is nearly overwhelming.	Thankfully, the palate is neither too hot nor too sweet. It's like a journey through a tree. Really. First there's bark, then pulp, then bark again. Honey, cinnamon, and lime candy surround the wood, while a hint of pinot noir keeps showing up in the background.
Rye candy finish. Honey, cardamom, and lemon hard candies.	It has a very similar finish to the 60.1% standard Seagrass, mostly lemons, honey, and dried herbs. No burning sensations.
DO I GET IT? I think so!	DO I GET IT? Yes.
This may be the sugariest rye I've ever tasted. That position used to be held by Angel's Envy, and their rummy rye. With this whiskey, I appreciate that the rye spirit shows through all the decoration, but it also exists completely separate from the finishing casks' contributions. Nothing merges, at least within the palate. The nose, the highlight, lives in its own dimension.	16 year old North American whiskey is going to be oak juice no matter what, and this whiskey proves it again. Aside from that alarming chlorine experience, the nose isn't too zany; in fact, I kinda like it. Meanwhile, the palate bludgeons the drinker with a tree trunk. It doesn't matter what the finishing casks held, the wood wins, eliminating complexity. Perhaps one can give it a positive spin: the wood provides focus. It also holds the whiskey back.
Rating: 79	Rating: 78

FINAL THOUGHTS...

Here's a link to that 59.92%abv batch of Seagrass. As of this morning, it remains my favorite Barrell product. The casks and the sweetness barely graced that batch, and the rye element was very solid. Today's 60.1% batch smells and tastes much younger, while also pushing the finishing barrels harder, resulting in something that feels less baked; the dreaded capital "C" Craft affliction.

It's a rough estimate, but 4-out-of-5 teenage North American whiskies are not going to work with my palate. I wonder if that has something to do with the thinness of column still spirit? Or just aggressively charred oak? Or both?

Next up, four Barrell bourbons!

Barrell Craft Spirits, Part 1: Four private releases

Having spent nearly two decades of my life engaged in creative pursuits, I know what it feels like when an audience doesn't get an original work. Most of the brain screams in frustration, "They don't understand it, so why are they criticizing it?! It's a Them problem, not a Me problem!" The agony is only intensified by that tiny voice mumbling in the background, "They don't get it because I missed something. I fell short somewhere."

Successfully blending spirits requires a unique skillset. Fashioning one high-quality whisky from dissimilar whiskies, then hitting that mark again and again really is a craft, and perhaps, with its greatest successes, it approaches an art form. 

I don't get many contemporary whiskies, but that's usually not because of the blenders. Most new whiskies from established producers don't come across as creative endeavors, rather they seem like corporate decisions to expand a product line with contrivances that no one ever asked for, like a McPizza or MegaLeg.

That's why I'll give new companies more leeway than conglomerate-controlled brands. For instance, I want to get Barrell Craft Spirits. They've gone all-in on casketry and cask-fuckery (my subtle terms), or in-cask blending (Serge's more thoughtful phrase), to produce something different. Barrell blends whiskies (and rums) from different distilleries and using a wide variety of casks. These casks include pear brandy, apricot brandy, Jamaican rum, blackstrap molasses rum, Martinique Rhum, Sicilian amaro, California Cabernet, Port, Madeira, Oloroso, Armagnac, Tokaji, Mizunara oak, French oak, and toasted American oak. And there are probably more.

Thus Barrell aims to create something new through a level of cask blending that's rarely been tried, but "new" can mean anything from a unique flavor profile, to a cocktail in a bottle, to a garbage fire. It's a risky approach, likely filled with flops along the way. So I want to understand, to get, some of Barrell's creations. Some of these blends do actually work, right?

Thanks to a whiskey group's organizer, I was able to buy into 10 Barrell bottle splits. Yes, this requires a lot of drinking. That's okay, the kids are out of town. 🙄

Part 1: Four private releases

Here's a quartet of four Barrells – one single barrel and three blends – that were selected by individual California retailers. The first two were bottled for my former haunt, Hi-Time Wine & Spirits. The single barrel Barrell appears to be just bourbon without any finishes. The three blends were all cask-finished, and not one of them was called "bourbon", but rather "whiskey".

Okay, I'm well hydrated, here it goes:

Barrell Single Barrel Bourbon Hi-Time #25L8, 8 years old, 54.78%abv	Barrell Whiskey Blend Hi-Time #AQ27, Tokaji Finish, 62.29%abv	Barrell Whisky Blend Roco Wine & Spirits #CJ30, Oloroso Finish, 61.04%abv	Barrell Whisky Blend Cypress Craft Liquor #AQ06, Armagnac Finish, 64.33%abv
At first it noses like candy. Specifically, orange creamsicles and black cherry soda. The angles arrive later: fennel seeds, white peppercorns, and nocino	The nose is all over the place. Port, cheap cream sherry, low-ester Jamaican rum, flowers, brine, and milk chocolate. It gets more vanilla-ed with time.	Barrel char. There are other things on the nose, like roses, cherry lollipops, almond extract, maple, and peanuts, but it's mostly barrel char.	I did not see this coming. It's cream soda, vanilla fudge, and Mt. Gay rum on the nose. Maybe some hints of lime zest, and eucalyptus in the far back, with time.
The palate comes in hotter than expected. Fennel seeds and black pepper arrive first. The sweets, second. Caramel, dried cherries, and brown sugar, with a hint of tart citrus.	The fizzy palate offers black cherry soda and rye-like pepperiness on the first sip. Subsequent sips offer bitter oak, cherry lollipops, and sour cherry candy.	Less barrel char in the palate, thankfully, but less of everything in general. Vanilla, caramel, and marzipan. And that's it.	The palate is VERY SWEET: vanilla-spiked Mt. Gay rum, bottled sour mix, chile oil heat, and a bit of oak spice, never really coming together.
The finish recombines some of the palate. Tart citrus and brown sugar are the loudest. Vanilla and black pepper, the quietest.	It finishes with an odd sweetness, like Aspartame-affected orange and cherry sodas.	A simple finish too. Marzipan, caramel, and bitter oak.	It finishes all funky tangy sugary, like a sweet rum and sour mix cocktail.
DO I GET IT? Yes! I recognize this as bourbon.	DO I GET IT? I thought I did until the finish. So...kinda?	DO I GET IT? Yes-ish.	DO I GET IT? Nope.
The edgier notes combine well with the fruits and sweets, and the tannins have yet to invade. There's nothing here that differs from younger cheaper bourbons, but I'd still be happy to drink this again, anytime.	The palate says, "bourbon". The nose says, "PAR. TAY." The finish says, "Bury me in a cocktail." That's a lot of voices I'm hearing in my head. Not sure if this blend needed more or less time in the Tokaji barrel.	It seems like a plain straightforward bourbon, so I wonder why they didn't label it "bourbon". The oloroso cask had almost no influence, and I think this "whiskey" could have used a wee pick-me-up.	I went back to the pic of the actual bottle to make sure I'm not drinking one of Barrell's rums. This is definitely something new, a 128-proof sugary cocktail in a bottle, but I can't imagine that being the intent.
Rating: 81	Rating: 77	Rating: 79	Rating: 72

FINAL THOUGHTS...

With more NOPEs anticipated and a lack of brutal oak experienced, I declare this tasting a success. I've had a pair of armagnac-bothered High Wests that I wasn't sold on, so I wonder if that brandy doesn't quite work with American whiskey. Would cognac be too gentle? On the other hand, I want to try more sherry-cask-finished bourbons because it could be an intriguing mix, depending on the type of bourbon and sherry. As for Tokaji? Good luck to the blenders.

For Part 2......actually I don't know which whiskies will be part of Part 2, yet. That will be a game-time decision. In the meantime, if you've had any of these four whiskies, please share your thoughts!

Things I Really Drink: Arran 14 year old (2010) AND Arran 14 year old (2017)

(Arran mini-cluster homepage)

As I've mentioned at least a dozen times, the 14-year-old was my favorite standard Arran single malt. It first appeared in 2010, then was retired in 2018. I'm not sure what motivated Arran management to kill off the 14, but they seem to have replaced it with a lot of NAS releases, a practice that was tapering off (rather than starting up) at most distilleries in 2018. In the five years since, I haven't bought any official Arrans.

I have in my possession here one of the first and one of the last batches of the 14 year old released in the USA, the former bought in Orange County, the latter in Chicago. The bottles have been sitting side-by-side collecting dust since their purchases. Since unpeated Arran tends to drink well in the summer, and I wanted to consume my remaining Arran samples, I thought July would be a great time to open both bottles. And indeed the time was right.

Back when Arran first updated their range in 2015, I attended a small gathering with the Arran rep and some whisky buddies. From the resulting post, here's the scoop on the shift from 14yo to 14yo:

As Arran's annual production has more than doubled since the distillery opened, there was a decision made to alter the cask management to manage the output.  The original 14 year old was from approximately 80% first fill bourbon casks, the rest from ex-sherries.  As per what I was told, James McTaggart (their master distiller) has elected to often use refill sherry casks for primary maturation and then later transfer that whisky into first-fill bourbon casks.  So that makes up a large part of the new 14 year old.  Also, I was told there are some older casks in the new 14 (and 10) to keep the whisky similar.  Again, that's hearsay, but official hearsay.

To summarize, the original 14yo was produced from 80% 1st fill bourbon casks and 20% sherry casks. Most of the 2015 updated version had its original maturation in refill sherry casks, then had a second round in 1st fill bourbon casks. I can confirm the whiskies are similar but different. Here are my notes, consolidated from a number of separate and combined tastings:

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Arran 14 year old (46%abv, ncf/nc, L 06 08 10, 2010)

A glorious nose! Kiwi, lychee, and yuzu arrive first, with almonds, halvah, and brine appearing 5-10 minutes later. The fruits lean more towards flowers after 20+ minutes, and a bit of milk chocolate replaces the nuts. There's also a funky note in the background. Picture: Loch Lomond Weird + Dunder + Dunnage. I love it.

The palate reads maltier than the nose, and those almonds turn into almond extract (yes, I know that comes from bitter almonds). Limes, grapefruits, and cara cara oranges fill the middle. Sometimes I find mango juice in the background, sometimes it's toffee pudding. No complaints either way.

Tropical and citrus fruit juices, sweet and tart, make up most of the finish. Hints of toffee, bitter herbs, and malt linger in the back.

Time has not mellowed me out, so I was worried that this Arran 14 would never live up to my expectations. Yet it does, and more. With bolder tropical fruits, less vanilla, thicker texture, and a longer finish than I remember, the original Arran 14 is one of the best mid-teens standard OBs I've ever had. Slainte!

Price - $54.99 at one of my secret stores in 2016

Rating - 90 (probably a bonus point for sentimental reasons)

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Arran  14 year old (46%abv, ncf/nc, L 18 07 17, 2017)

Yep, a different nose on this one. It begins with hefty nutty notes, like brazil nuts, walnuts, raw almonds, and sunflower butter. The cheerful fruitiness shows up, but it takes time. Here it's all limes and peaches. A little bit of yeast and pine show up in the far back.

The palate is fruitier than the nose. The nose's raw nuts appear, helping moderate all the sweet plums and oranges. Figs! Like the 2010 bottling, this one has some maltiness to it. It gains an herbal bitterness (almost wormwood) after 30 minutes. A little bit of toasted oak here and there too.

Another very good finish. Oranges, yellow cherries, and a touch of tart mango slowly fade into a gentle pepperiness.

The sherry casks had a greater influence on this version than on the old one, making it more contemporary in its style. It does feel warmer and spicier, but the fruits remain, and the wood never takes over. One can feel the balance in the 14, an equilibrium that slipped away in the first releases of the 16, 17, and 18 year olds.

Price - $79.99 at a not very secret store ca. 2018

Rating - 88

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It's a shame that Arran eliminated the 14 year old expression five years ago. May they someday find it in their hearts (and warehouses) to roll it back out in the future, no matter which recipe they use, the 2010 or the 2017. Both result in excellent single malts. Sherry cask fans may prefer the latter, while other folks (like me!) prefer the former. Arran's blenders have never been afraid to experiment, but I hope they realize they have succeeded with age-stated classic bottlings, like the 14 year old.

Arran 24 year old 1996, cask 1996/904 for Nickolls & Perks

(Arran mini-cluster homepage)

This cluster's quintet of Arran single casks ends with the oldie of the group, a 24-year-old bottled for the Nickolls & Perks shop. The single first-fill Oloroso hoggie offers the sort of color that makes certain whisky fans lose their wallets. For the past decade, my fave whisky color has been five-beer-piss, though whiskies of that hue are entirely different fluids than this sort of coffee-colored stuff. But, my mind is freed, so here it goes...

Distillery: Lochranza (the distillery formerly known as Arran)

Ownership: Isle of Arran Distillers

Range: Premium Cask

Age: 24 years (5 Aug 1996 - 10 June 2021)

Maturation: first-fill Oloroso hogshead

Cask #: 1996/904

Outturn: 277 bottles

Exclusive to: Nickolls & Perks

Alcohol by Volume: 49.3%

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Huge nose here. Figs, molasses, almond butter, and apricot jam. Fresh raspberries and dried cherries. Then beef stock and a hint of dashi?

The thick palate arrives with a much less tannic edge than Monday's 20yo cask. Very dark chocolate, mint leaf, and eucalyptus fill the fore, with pipe tobacco and milky coffee in the middle, and tart limes and Serrano chiles in the background.

The tobacco gets smokier in the finish, mixing with milk chocolate, sweet citrus, Serranos, and a whiff of metal.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Of course, the figs won me over at the start, but the lack of harsh, bitter oak kept me around for more. It's the sort of cask-driven winesky (yes, if port casks can produce wineskies, so can sherry casks) with which I can get on board. This is also one of the only members of this mini cluster with a palate nearly as vibrant as the nose.

This cask does get the disclaimer — one that's becoming more and more prevalent — that its whisky could have been from any one of scores of distilleries around the world. There's nothing about this drink that says Arran, or even Scotland. Just good carpentry here, with no beams nor seams exposed.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Arran 20 year old 1998, cask 82, 20th Anniversary Trilogy for Japan

(Arran mini-cluster homepage)

After last week's trio of single casks for the US, this week brings a pair of single casks released for other countries. Both are sherry casks and have at least two decades on them. 

First up is a release that I had to look up. Apparently Arran released three casks in Japan celebrating some sort of twentieth anniversary. Since the distillery's production hit its 20th birthday in 2015, I'm guessing 2018 marked twenty years of legal Arran single malt, and possibly 20 years of Arran single malt in Japan. Today's cask was the first release, a sherry puncheon. The second bottling was a sherry hoggie, and the third was a bourbon barrel, each release having a smaller outturn than the previous.

Six years ago I tried a solid 21yo Arran single sherry cask celebrating a different 20th anniversary at the late Shot Bar South Park. Any excuse to bottle a single cask is okay with me.

Distillery: Lochranza (the distillery formerly known as Arran)

Ownership: Isle of Arran Distillers

Range: 20th Anniversary Trilogy

Age: 20 years (3 Feb 1998 - 7 Feb 2018)

Maturation: sherry puncheon

Cask #: 82

Outturn: 479 bottles

Exclusive to: Japan

Alcohol by Volume: 52.3%

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts off with brown sugar, dried currants, shortbread biscuits, and toasted pecans. Candied orange peels and a hint of barley paint the corners. It takes on more orange oil with time. The palate starts off very fruity (plums and nectarines) and lightly oaky with dried herbs in the background. But peppery tannins start to take over quickly, with some concrete and tart lime notes in the background. It finishes with tart fruits, mild tannins, and a hint of iron.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or ¾ oz of water per 30mL whisky

Oh not great. Woody woodiness on the nose, with a side of wood. Also vanilla and barrel char. Some notes of ocean, mint, cherries, and flowers decorate the background. Flowers and burnt oak on the palate. It's almost smoky. Some oatmeal cookies. It gets really sweet. It finishes tart, with bitter oak and barrel char.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Just like last week's casks, this one does not take to water well. In fact, dilution ruins it. So keep this one neat. It doesn't need a shower. I bet this cask was gorgeous a couple years before it was dumped into bottles, but here it is at 20, feeling older than its age, and not in a glamorous way. (It's a bad sign when I can relate to a cask.) Sadly, I don't have samples of the other two anniversary bottlings, but it was fun to have one!

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 84 (neat, 10 points lower when diluted)

Arran 21 year old 1996, cask 596 for Spec's

(Arran mini-cluster homepage)

This week's Arran theme has been Single Casks Bottled For Americans! Today's cask was bottled for Texas liquor retail giant, Spec's. Big news for this one: it's from an ex-bourbon barrel! No sherry touched this one! It also rolls in at 48%abv, which is a sign of either cask weirdness or cask awesomeness. Lemme see what the angels left for Texas.

Distillery: Lochranza (the distillery formerly known as Arran)

Ownership: Isle of Arran Distillers

Age: 21 years (24 June 1996 - 7 Feb 2018)

Maturation: bourbon barrel

Cask #: 596

Outturn: 140 bottles

Exclusive to: Spec's

Alcohol by Volume: 48%

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Yet another zany nose! At first I get watermelon candy and brown ale, then grapefruit + anise + mint. Finally it eases into Rainier cherries and vanilla beans. The palate starts off very butterscotchy, then shifts to orange candy and caramel. After 30 minutes it descends into flowers and cardboard, remaining hotter than expected. It also finishes a bit hot, and sweet and acidic, with caramel and butterscotch in the distance.

It's youthfully hot, yet also slightly oaky. So, I'll try some water.

DILUTED to ~43%abv, or ¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Though the nose may be more boring, it's also more pulled together with its combo of malt, vanilla, Thai basil, and citronella. Going further down the cask path in the palate. Vanilla up front, bitter oak in the back. Cologne and lime candy. It finishes like a cheap daiquiri slushy, all vanilla, coconut, lime, and sugar.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Again, the palate collapses with a touch of water. Anyway, aside from some of the nose notes, the American oak dominates the whisky. I do enjoy the butterscotch angle, but then it flops into cardboard. Overall, it's a bit of an oddity, especially with the nose's fireworks. With the barrel losing more than 40% of its fluid, and more than 25% of its alcohol, the whisky could have been much worse, but also potentially better. I think the oakiness would appeal to the American palate, or at least the Texan one, so I have no doubt Spec's cleaned their shelves of this one easily.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - I think it was around $170ish in 2018
Rating - 81 (neat)

Arran 16 year old 1997, cask 217 for the USA

(Arran mini-cluster homepage)

In this cluster's intro I stated my preference for Arran single malt between 10 and 14 years of age, but their single casks can flourish beyond that window. Monday's cask, a 14 year old, will be the youngest of the five casks I'm reviewing for the cluster.

Today's 16 year old cask was part of the "Premium Cask Selection" series that seems to still be chugging along. Cask 217 was part of the 2014 Spring batch of "Premium" casks bottled for the US. Like the other four casks from this cluster, it has a reasonable ABV. In fact, I don't think I've had a single Arran cask that was above 57%, and most are under 55%, which may be why they arrive so comfortably into my system. Anyway, an almost-17-year-old....

Distillery: Lochranza (the distillery formerly known as Arran)

Ownership: Isle of Arran Distillers

Range: Premium Cask Selection

Age: 16 years (17 Feb 1997 - 5 Feb 2014)

Maturation: sherry butt

Cask #: 217

Outturn: 562 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 53.2%

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

A fun nose! Dark chocolate, red Twizzlers, and peaches up front. Almond extract and black walnuts in the middle. Jute and dried apple in the back. The palate starts sweet and tangy (oranges and guavas) with moderate notes of iron and fresh ginger underneath. After 40+ minutes it's all guava and honey. It finishes with oranges, iron, and toasted salted almonds. Extra tart grapefruits appear in later sips.

DILUTED to ~46%abv or < 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Another one that changes form with moderate dilution. The nose is all honey, marzipan, dried apples, and black raisins. Like Monday's cask, this one gets MUCH oakier on the palate when at 46%abv. Sweet, tannic, peppery, and very almond-y. Just marzipan and black pepper on the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Water brings out too much aggressive oak again so, like its Taste Off partner, the 14yo 2002, this one works much better at full strength, where it's more complex and delicious. Even the metallic note works with the fruit. But nose wins (again) by a significant margin; had the palate matched it, this could have been a 90-pointer. Whiskybase is bereft of notes and ratings for this one. Has anyone else tried it?

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - I don't think it was much more than $100 in 2014.
Rating - 87 (neat)