Bardstown Bourbon Company Fusion Series #2 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $55
- 98.9 Proof
- Blend of 2, 3 and 12 years
- Batch #2
- Kentucky

I've heard a lot of media love for Bardstown Bourbon Company. From what I've picked up, they're primarily a contract distilling company but are also putting out some of their own distillate, and some of that distillate has been blended into their Fusion Series bourbons.

In this particular batch, 18% is their own 3 year wheated bourbon, 42% is their own 2 year and 10 month high rye bourbon, and 40% is a 12 year bourbon from an undisclosed source. What's great about these whiskeys is the transparency, providing not only the ratios for the blends, but also the age and the mashbill of each whiskey that makes up the blend.

I had sampled Batch #1 of the Fusion Series on two different occasions, and I wasn't overly impressed either time. Accordingly, I did not find myself reaching for a bottle off the shelf. However, as Christmas came around, this bottle came to me as a gift, and I was more than happy to now give it a fair shake.

It had a light, spicy cinnamon note on the nose, followed by a sweet and soft caramel undertone. I also got something bright and fruity, almost like dried apricot. All in all, it smelled sweet with a light spiciness and with a bit of rich cooked sugar.

The flavor, though was very caramel forward. This was definitely sweeter than the Batch #1 I had tried. It drank very much like a wheated bourbon. The caramel translated to an almost cola flavor, and at times came across as brown sugar.

I did get a nice black pepper spice to balance that sweetness out a bit. Some of the tangy qualities of the dried apricot seemed to make their way through from time to time, but those flavors were fleeting.

Aside from the rich cola and caramel notes, though, I also got a sweet vanilla along with baked goods. By the last few pours, I was distinctly reminded of those soft, store-bought iced sugar cookies, the ones that come in packs of 10 or 12 and come with really bright frosting and usually sprinkles. Perhaps you can relate, perhaps you can't, but that's what I was getting.

After sampling the first batch, I likely wasn't ever going to get around to trying Batch #2. Now that I was gifted a bottle, however, I realize that would have been a mistake. I found this bottle to be really tasty, and I certainly would go back to it again, not to mention try future batches.

Grade: B+