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Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve: Cascadia Garryana Oak Barrel Finish spirit image
92Excellent

Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve: Cascadia Garryana Oak Barrel Finish

Bourbon Bardstown Bourbon Company
  • Distiller

    Undisclosed

  • Bottler

    Bardstown Bourbon Co.

  • ABV

    53.75%

  • Age

    9-10 Years

  • Price $60 to $99.99

Released on March 17, 2026, exclusively at Bardstown Bourbon’s distillery gift shop in Bardstown and its Tasting Room in Louisville, Cascadia Garryana Oak Barrel Finish is the first 2026 release of Bardstown Bourbon Co.'s highly acclaimed Distillery Reserve series, which produced two of the top 10 whiskeys of 2025, according to The Daily Pour's annual top 100 list.

This latest release is a blend of three bourbons: 80% is 10-year-old Kentucky bourbon distilled from a mashbill of 70% corn, 18% rye and 12% malted barley; 12% is 10-year-old Indiana bourbon distilled from a mashbill of 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% malted barley; and 8% 9-year-old Kentucky bourbon distilled from a mashbill of 74% corn, 18% rye and 8% malted barley.

This blend was finished for 10 months in 10 custom Garryana oak barrels crafted by Oregon Barrel Works, a cooperage that produces just 1,000. barrels per year. Garryana oak, or Quercus Garryana, is a species of American white oak found most commonly in the Pacific Northwest. It's been popularized in the whiskey world by Seattle single malt house Westland Whiskey, but to our knowledge this is the first Garryana-finished bourbon. Oregon Barrel Works pt a three-hour toast on these finishing barrels, which Bardstown Bourbon Co. says managed to "unlock additional layers of spice and complexity found deep inside the red layer." The vbarrels were then aged on the sixth floor of Bardstown Bourbon Co.'s warehouse over the course of the summer. Bardstown Bourbon Co. says it "gradually" proofed the bourbon "over time" after aging, in an effort to "fully integrate."

Bottled at 107.5 proof, it's available in highly limited quantities at $99.99 per 375-milliliter format.

Suggested Cocktails
Aggregated Reviews
  • Raided Score: 92
  • Amongst The Whiskey
  • By Jes Smyth
  • The barrels used to finish relatively older whiskey worked out in Bardstown's favor.
  • Read Full Review
  • Raided Score: 92
  • The Daily Pour
  • By David Morrow
  • For me, this is a winner (not quite up there with 2025's Distillery Reserve releases, but good and interesting), but I'm curious to see if it's polarizing among those who get a chance to try it.
  • Read Full Review

Raided Score is a conversion from an external site's score, to our in house uniform scoring system. Please see the FAQ for more.

House Review
  • Nose:

    Lovely nose — oaky, decadent and delivering a nice balance of light and dark notes. Bavarian cream and caramel intertwine with dark chocolate, chamomile, almonds, oak, molasses, toffee, peaches and cream and green apples.

  • Taste:

    The palate brings a really lovely, silky viscosity and a strong balance of flavors. Plenty going on here. Espresso, cinnamon, clove and tobacco lead the way, working against softer, toasted-oak notes — sweet cream, toasted marshmallow, butterscotch and caramel — for dominance. All the while, there's a fruity profile here in the background: apples, strawberries, lime peel and a touch of banana. The back palate brings tannin, leather, white chocolate and cinnamon.

  • Finish:

    The finish is very long, opening with toasted oak and caramel, followed by marshmallow fluff and sugar cookies, and then maple cream, graham cracker, cocoa, cinnamon and then closing on a profile of overripe Granny Smith apples and honey.

  • Overall:

    A very good, complex bourbon. It's much more oak-forward than I'd expect given the age — and different — which tells me I'm getting that oakier profile from the Garryana. It's woody in a way that's different and a bit hard to describe: bitter but not in a tannic way, leathery, a little bit chocolatey, and with a bit of a lime-peel vibe. It may be a bit aggressive for some, but I think overall the flavors here are quite well balanced, and the toasted finish really works, balancing out some of those bitter Garryana flavors with soft sweetness. For me, this is a winner (not quite up there with 2025's Distillery Reserve releases, but good and interesting), but I'm curious to see if it's polarizing among those who get a chance to try it. Overall, though: It's very good bourbon, and the mouthfeel is killer.

  • Score:

    92

  • Disclosure: The producer provided this sample to review free of charge, and without expectation of review or rating.

  • By David Morrow
  • Our in house critic rates spirits on a scale of 0-10 (10 best) and is aggregated the same as external sources