The Barrell Private Release Series is a project in detailed blending on a scale small enough to allow extreme precision. The Private Release Series lets us exercise our blending expertise while maintaining a single barrel-like scale controlled entirely by hand and by palate.
Every ounce of every ingredient changes the overall character of these blends, as does the barrel that each one is aged in. While we may be able to replicate the recipe for these releases, the unique nature of each ingredient and the barrel they are married in makes every bottling singularly special.
Brian Schmidt, Topflight Panel Member:
Barrell's Private Release program takes their brand mission of creating the best possible whiskey and combines it with micro-blending to create unique and exclusive offerings. This selection takes rye whiskey and bourbon from Kentucky and Indiana that are blended and then finished a Jamaican rum cask. In some ways it's everything you'd expect from a rum cask finish. Banana and tropical fruit notes meet oak on the nose with caramel and vanilla hiding behind the fruit. This continues onto the palate with burnt sugar, cacao, and smoky notes. Extremely well balanced pour that does not remotely drink like a 121.9 proof. A very smooth finish with an excellent mouthfeel which becomes even more buttery with every sip. As it sits and opens up, those notes develop into s'more or creme brulee with a marshmallow cream meeting a smooth caramel. I highly recommend trying this pour both neat and or on a big rock and for making a fun Hot Toddy (Hot Buttered Rum style).
TOPFLIGHT: Series 1, Barrel No. 6
PROOF: 121.9
BARREL: Finished in Jamaican Rum Cask
