‘A True Work of Art’: Barrell Craft Spirits Rolls Out Bourbon With a Distinctively Japanese Twist
Barrell Craft Spirits unveiled a blended bourbon finished in Mizunara oak casks. (Photo: Barrell Craft Spirits)
On Tuesday, Barrell Craft Spirits unveiled the third release within its Cask Finish Series, which debuted in September. The release is a blended bourbon finished in Mizunara oak that hosts a suggested retail price of $89.99 per 750-milliliter bottle.
Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Mizunara is a blend of 6-, 7- and 9-year bourbons from Indiana; 8- and 14-year bourbons from Tennessee; and an 8-year-old bourbon from Kentucky. The bourbons possessed a variety of different mashbills and were matured in Mizunara casks for a year and a half before the whiskey was bottled at a cask-strength 116.42 proof.
Mizunara oak is notoriously difficult to work with, and whiskeys typically finished in Mizunara host a hefty price tag for that reason. Whisky Advocate claims the twisted and gnarled bark makes fashioning barrel staves from the wood quite a daunting task, and Barrell Craft describes the casks as “a true work of art.”
Barrell claims the Mizunara oak adds aromas of “sandalwood, herbal spice and coconut” to the bourbon. The brand says the bourbon hosts aromas of strawberry, sugar cookie, white peach and palo santo. The pour is pleasantly viscous and hosts herbaceous qualities of peppermint, lemongrass and honey. The Mizunara oak lends the bourbon a distinctive finish that has aromas of spearmint, lime zest and ginger, according to the brand.
Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Mizunara Tasting Notes, Via the Brand
Nose: Starts with a burst of strawberry, golden raisin, amontillado sherry, and a touch of sawdust. Then sweeter notes of honey, vanilla, sugar cookie, and white peach appear, followed by cocoa, cherry, oiled leather, toasted corn, and palo santo.
Taste: The palate is viscous with herbaceous notes of lemongrass, star anise, and peppermint striking first. Honey, sweet cornbread, and dates appear followed by galangal and a woodsy note.
Finish: Spearmint, palo santo, lime zest, and ginger.
More About the Barrell Craft Spirits Cask Finish Series
Barrell Craft debuted the Cask Finish series in September, and it was meant to showcase the spirits brand’s innovative approach to the finishing process.
When the series launched, Barrell Craft released two whiskeys, and the first was a whiskey finished in Amburana casks. Amburana is a hardwood typically found in South America which is often used in cachaça production. The wood possesses plenty of baking spice aromas.
The other whiskey that rolled out was Barrell Craft’s A Tale of Two Islands. The whiskey was part of a continuation of the brand’s venturing into the rum category with the release of Tale of Two Islands Rum. Barrell Craft unveiled the rum in 2018 and matured it in peated Islay single malt casks.
The 2023 Tale of Two Islands was a blend of 5-, 6- and 9-year-old bourbons from Indiana blended with 5- and 6-year-old bourbons from Maryland. The whiskey was bottled at a cask strength of 118.22, and had plenty of “coconut macaron” aromas.
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