By Richard Thomas
Ranking: B-
Damaged Barrel Small Batch Bourbon
(Credit score: Damaged Barrel Whiskey Co.)
As coated in earlier Damaged Barrel evaluations, the corporate’s gimmick is stave inserts, which they’ve trademarked as an “Oak Invoice.” This places a selected twist on the secondary maturation course of, generally known as ending. Whereas standard ending entails transferring the whiskey from its authentic, main cask to a different cask in order to accumulate the completely different traits of that cask, stave inserts obtain an analogous impact by breaking apart that secondary cask and sticking its components into the unique barrel. Damaged Barrel prefers to use the stave therapy after dumping, placing the staves into the batching vat.
This concept didn’t originate with Damaged Barrel Whiskey Firm, and it’s value noting they’ve a trademark, not a patent. Most level to the British firm Compass Field as the primary to make use of stave inserts for ending, and the primary American whiskey firm to do that was Maker’s Mark.
The flagship of their stave insert bourbon is their Small Batch. For this, they use a recipe of 40% French oak staves, 40% ex-bourbon cask staves, and 20% sherry cask staves to complete a two 12 months outdated, 70% corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley bourbon. Damaged Barrel sources their bourbon from Owensboro, and Thirteenth Colony bourbon has the identical mash invoice. This Small Batch is bottled at 95 proof.
The Bourbon
Damaged Barrel Small Batch’s nostril leads with dried fruits and nuts, served up in a hoary picket bowl. The flavour follows in an analogous vein, however atop conventional bourbon brown sugar and vanilla, and with spicier character. That is the place the French oak and Sherry cask staves come into issues, the previous including the woodier, spicier kick and the latter giving the whiskey it’s dried fruit and nutty notes. That mentioned, despite the fact that Damaged Barrel places an fascinating twist on their bourbon, it’s nonetheless clearly a pour with an immature and lightweight character.
The Value
This bottle goes for $35.
