Louisville, Kentucky-based Barrell Craft Spirits will introduce Barrell Vantage, a blend of straight bourbons finished in three distinct expressions of virgin oak: Mizunara, French and toasted American oak casks. As the newest ongoing release in the BCS portfolio, this expression emphasizes each wood characteristic and flavor contribution in the blend and skillfully highlights the toasted-characteristics and elegance of these finishing casks.
BCS’s unique vantage point in the whiskey world, combined with a passion for experimentation and nuance, enables the team to discover new flavor profiles and complexities in bourbon blends. Barrell Vantage is the result of deliberately pairing specifically identified bourbons with carefully selected cooperage, giving rise to a final expression that focuses on the subtle flavors and their compounding profiles.
Each component whiskey in Barrell Vantage is finished separately, then systematically combined according to a blending process fueled in equal parts by a scientific approach, experience, creativity, and experimentation. This process focuses on the wood characteristics and the specific flavor contributions that each cask contributes to the blend. The result is a masterfully blended, perfectly balanced representation of the harmonious synergy between bourbon and barrel.
Through past introductions including Armida, Dovetail, and Seagrass, the BCS team has many years of experience with three-part barrel finishing. With Barrell Vantage, the team applied those same techniques to the oak itself, using different char levels, toast levels, and oak origins to create a multidimensional blend. Ultimately, Barrell Vantage is defined by balance and depth of flavor and highlights the blending expertise that’s come to define Barrell Craft Spirits.
“Barrell Vantage is a bourbon dedicated to the arts of barrel selection and blending,” said BCS founder Joe Beatrice. “We drew upon our years of blending expertise, creativity, and testing to create a bourbon with impeccable balance and depth of flavor that embraces different char and toast levels, along with its oak origins. Barrell Vantage is an exciting step forward in our never-ending journey to take bourbon to new heights.”
Founded in 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky, BCS selects and blends products that explore different distillation methods, barrels and aging environments, and bottles them at cask strength. BCS’s extensive stocks of high-quality casks mean they can craft extraordinary blends that maximize the nuances of each ingredient. Creative finishes, a liberated approach to blending, and a deep-seated commitment to releasing each whiskey at cask strength guides every product release.
Barrell Vantage was distilled in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, and then crafted and bottled in Kentucky at cask strength, 114.44 proof (57.22% ABV). It is now available at select retailers and online via the BCS website at barrellbourbon.com for the suggested retail price of $89.99 for a 750ml bottle. The BCS award-winning line of products, which includes batches, ongoing releases and limited releases, is currently sold in 48 states throughout the U.S.
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