Gold Bar Rickhouse Cask Strength is a straight bourbon from the San Francisco-based Gold Bar Bottle Company, triple copper pot distilled from a mash bill of 80% corn and 20% rye. It is matured in extra charred new American oak barrels then raked over French oak staves for added complexity. The bourbon is bottled at cask strength 103 proof (51.5% ABV), non-chill filtered, and retails for around $35.
This is… difficult stuff, much more so than the Black expression. Overwhelming with over-charred wood up front, the nose is daunting and pushy, a mix of burning lumber, spilled wine, and chimney soot, all whipped up with notes of fresh-milled grain.