Barrel-proof bourbon is whiskey turned up to 11 — hell, sometimes it’s turned up to 111. It’s not for the faint of heart, is my point. It can burn, be overly spicy or woody, and lose a lot of nuances thanks to the proof being overwhelming. It can also be deeply flavored, brilliantly balanced, and pack a punch that adds to the overall experience in new and fun ways. And that makes it pretty beloved, especially by long-time whiskey drinkers who are looking for a little somethin’ extra in their pours.
Naturally, any time a style grows expansive, a lot of mediocre crap ends up on the shelf. That could be a complete waste of your cash. Let me help you avoid that, today.
First and foremost, let’s get a little clarity on what “barrel proof” means in the American whiskey world (other regions often use “cask strength,” but there’s no hard and fast rule and a million examples that can go either way re: labeling). Essentially, we’re talking about a blend of barrels that are bottled without any proofing after aging (whiskey is often proofed before barreling to adjust barrel entry proof for a long list of reasons that we don’t have time to get into here). Once aged, barrel-proof barrels are blended and the label gets the mean barrel proof or ABV of those barrels.
(As aside about my last aside, when you see a label that says “full proof” or “barrel entry proof,” it means that the blend of whiskeys was created to match the proof that the whiskey went into the barrel — sometimes by proofing the whiskey with more water before bottling and sometimes not at all. When you see “barrel proof” or “cask strength,” that means that the blend of whiskeys was bottled at whatever proof the whiskey was out when it came out of the barrel — that’s always without any final proofing water before bottling.)
Below, I’ve conducted a blind taste test (shout out to my wife for the assist!) of new barrel-proof bourbon whiskeys and one “barrel entry proof” which was also bottled at barrel proof.
Our lineup today is:
- A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength Bourbon Batch #2
- Hirsch The Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished In Cognac Casks
- Larceny Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch No. B523
- Cedar Ridge Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey Small Batch No. 0001
- Maker’s Mark 2023 Limited Release BEP Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Finished With 10 Virgin Oak Staves
- Booker’s “Charlie’s Batch” 2023-01 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- New Riff Silver Grove Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Aged 4 Years
- Bulleit Bourbon Barrel Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch No. B523
While I was simply looking for the best-tasting bourbon in this blind test, I also had to consider how those higher ABVs were used in the final blend. Was the high proof balanced with the rest of the flavor profile? Or did that barrel proof completely wash out the palate, leaving me with nothing but burn? These things matter when picking the right barrel-proof bourbon to enjoy, so let’s dive right on in!
Part 1 — The Barrel Proof Bourbon Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a leathery nature on the nose with classic bourbon deep flourishes of very black cherry, salted caramel, cinnamon toast with cream butter and old vanilla pods, a touch of orange oil, and woody spice berries and barks.
Palate: Apple orchards and cherry pies open the sweet palate toward a massive heat from the ABVs that eventually fades towards creamy Nutella and maybe some cherry tobacco.
Finish: The heat comes roaring back on the finish with brash woody winter spice and burnt orange with a touch of vanilla trying to find a counterbalance to all the heat.
Initial Thoughts:
Wow. Right out of the gate and my palate is blown the f*ck up by this pour. There was so much going on that tasted great and then it was completely muted by the ABVs. Shame.
I had to reset my palate after this taste with celery and fizzy water. It was that much of a proof bomb.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose feels lush and oaky with a sense of Christmas cookies, mincemeat pies, and sticky toffee pudding next to stewed plums over fresh scones with a hint of brandy butter.
Palate: Old leather boots filled with cinnamon bark and a medley of dates, figs, and prunes lead to chocolate cut with red chili and vanilla and kissed with salt and dry cedar.
Finish: That cinnamon bark intensifies with dark red fruit, light chili pepperiness, and a sense of old malted cookies dipped in vanilla toffee on the very end.
Initial Thoughts:
This is balanced and lush. The ABVs are there but it’s nuanced and adds a nice buzzing rather than a slashing burn. It’s nice.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose runs deep with dark chili pepper spice next to salted caramel, cherry cake, and rich vanilla with a hint of nuttiness.
Palate: The taste is lush with a deep sense of creamy winter spices mixed into mincemeat pies and eggnog next to malted buckwheat pancakes drizzled in toffee syrup and sprinkled with roasted walnuts, pecans, and almonds with a whisper of wild sage.
Finish: Sharp cinnamon bark and cherry vanilla tobacco round out the finish with a nice balance of creaminess and sharp woody spice leading to a warm and long Kentucky hug (ABV warmth).
Initial Thoughts:
This is pretty classic with a nice and gentle burn that leaves you buzzing (around your mouth).
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of orchard fruits and barks that leads to a dry grassy graininess (hello, craft whiskey) with a soft apple pie and peach cobbler vibe that leads to a floral honey cut with clear Caro corn syrup sweetness.
Palate: That sweetness attaches to the dry grains on the palate with a sense of white cornmeal over smudging sage with a hint of orchard and winter spice bark rounding out the palate before the ABVs start to rise.
Finish: The rise of the ABVs peak pretty quickly with a pleasant buzzing, more honeyed sweetness, and dry prairie grasses on a summer’s day.
Initial Thoughts:
I like this as a crafty. It’s kind of fun. The ABVs aren’t overpowering but they’re there. It’s about a million miles away from a classic bourbon though (but maybe that’s the point).
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Roasted vanilla beans and pan-toasted winter spices (nutmeg, clove, allspice, and cinnamon) mingle with lush and butter caramel sauce, brown-sugar rock candy, and a whisper of old wicker furniture with a hint of pipe tobacco.
Palate: That brown-sugar sweetness drives the palate toward woody and warm winter spices that create a nice buzz alongside a creamy eggnog edge next to vanilla sheet cake sprinkled with toffee chards and dried orchard fruits.
Finish: The end dries out a tad as the warm spices ramp up toward a holiday cake made with plenty of vanilla, brown sugar, buttercream, and toasted woody spices before being kissed with fresh pipe tobacco that was left in a cedar box for a spell.
Initial Thoughts:
This is damn fine. It has a really good balance of ABV heat with a deep flavor profile.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Toasted almonds and walnuts lead the way on the nose with a deep and rich vanilla cake lightly dusted with cacao, dry cherry, and cinnamon with a touch of old oak cellars and black-mold-encrusted old deck furniture.
Palate: The soft caramel and vanilla open the palate before a rush of woody and sharp spices — clove, anise, allspice, red chili pepper — arrive with a sense of old wood chips on a workshop floor leads to salted toffee dipped in roasted almonds and dark salted chocolate with a whisper of cherry cordial backing it all up.
Finish: That soft sweetness counters the hot spices for a while on the slow finish as the spices take on an orange/cherry/vanilla Christmas cake vibe with plenty of nuts and ABV heat.
Initial Thoughts:
Goddamn, this is delicious. It’s hot but it makes sense that it is with all that’s going on in that it is kind of like climbing a set of stairs into ever more intense and deep flavors and sensations. This is a winner, folks.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sweet salted caramel and dusty old cinnamon sticks lead to oily vanilla pods, red chili spiced cherry syrup, and a sense of cedar planks soaked in red fruit and maple syrup.
Palate: Dried blueberries and woody huckleberries combine with rich salted caramel and ground almond with a sense of classic cherry vanilla bourbon notes adhering to a light sense of chewy tobacco.
Finish: That tobacco really leans into the caramel/cherry/vanilla on the finish as the bourbon-iness of everything peaks with a soft Kentucky hug and subtly sweet end.
Initial Thoughts:
This is very nice but a little on the thinner side. The ABVs were there but this felt more like a standard bourbon — in the best way — than anything else on this list.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is full of classic bourbon notes of spiced cherry cake, vanilla pods, soft oak, and a touch of leather and nuttiness.
Palate: The taste delivers stewed peaches next to peppery spice, a hint of Christmas spices, and rich vanilla caramel cake with a twinge of cherry/ginger.
Finish: The stone fruit, cherry, woody spices, and vanilla all come together on a lush and warming end.
Initial Thoughts:
This was very thin comparatively. I wouldn’t even have guessed it was barrel proof to be completely frank. It had a nice flavor profile, very classic in fact, but it just didn’t sing on the palate.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of funk and fruit on the nose — think standing by a barn in an apple orchard — that leads to salted caramel, cherry tobacco, and rich dark chocolate cut with red chili pepper flakes with a lush vanilla foundation of almond cakes and powdered sugar icing.
Palate: Rich winter spice cakes with a hint of rum raisin drive the taste toward dark cherry spiced tobacco with a rush of ABVs that cause a deep buzz before old cellar dirt floors and oak arrives with a dark sense of chocolate and espresso all kissed with salt.
Finish: Cherry Coke and gingerbread drive the finish with a lush and vibrant sense of red chili pepper spice, black pepper woodiness, and cinnamon bark softness before stewed apple and buttery pie crust lead back toward a vanilla almond cake vibe with a lingering warming sensation.
Initial Thoughts:
Again, this is damn fine whiskey! This is a winning pour that’s wonderfully balanced between ABV warmth and deep and darkly classic Kentucky bourbon notes.
Part 2 — The Barrel Proof Bourbon Ranking
9. A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength Bourbon Batch #2 — Taste 1
ABV: 72.25%
Average Price: $2,999
The Whiskey:
This new batch (late 2022) from Sazerac’s Virginia distillery is all about upping the ante on the last bold ABV release. Batch #2 takes the ABVs even higher in this cask-strength bourbon bomb thanks to the careful selection of old barrels that are batched and left completely uncut and non-chill-filtered.
Bottom Line:
I’ve liked this in the past but this time it was just too unbalanced toward the ABVs. It wasn’t a Kentucky hug at all. It was a Virginia kick in the face. It’s a real shame too, as there is some great nuance going on in this whiskeys profile. You’ll just need a big rock or a tablespoon of mineral water to find it.
8. Bulleit Bourbon Barrel Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 8
ABV: 59.5%
Average Price: $92
The Whiskey:
The sourced bourbon is small-batched from hand-selected barrels and bottled at Diageo’s new Bulleit Kentucky facility without any filtration or cutting down to proof. Basically, we’re talking about Bulleit dialed in to as close to bourbon excellence as it can get.
Bottom Line:
This is good bourbon but didn’t feel like barrel proof at all, hence it’s low ranking. Still, this 100% felt like a crowd-pleasing bourbon that’ll work wonders in a cocktail.
7. Cedar Ridge Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey Small Batch No. 0001 — Taste 4
ABV: 58%
Average Price: $39
The Whiskey:
This Iowa whiskey is all about the Iowa corn. The mash is 74% corn, 14% malted rye, and 12% malted barley that is rested in oak for a few years. Since the temperature in Iowa swings by 100 degrees through a single year, aging doesn’t need to last forever. When the barrels are just right, they’re batched and bottled completely as-is.
Bottom Line:
This was a nice crafty bourbon. If you’re looking for a classic bourbon, this ain’t it. If you’re looking for something different to break up the static of Kentucky bourbon, this is the bottle to snag. It’s tasty and well-balanced.
6. New Riff Silver Grove Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Aged 4 Years — Taste 7
ABV: 56.8%
Average Price: $55
The Whiskey:
This new and very limited release from New Riff (it’s a distillery-only release for now) is an hommage to Cincinnati’s Carthage neighborhood and the Edward Brinkmann Distillery’s 1933 bottling of “Silver Grove.” The actual whiskey in the bottle is made from a mash of 65% corn, 30% malted rye, and 5% malted barley. That whiskey was left alone for four years before batching and bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is damn fine bourbon from one of the best “craft” distilleries working today. If you’re anywhere near Northern Kentucky, or Cincinnati, Ohio, get yourself over to the distillery for a bottle ASAP. That all said, this was on the lighter side. You feel the ABVs but they take a back seat to the rest of the profile. So when ranking barrel-proof bourbons, this takes a knock on that front.
Still tasty AF though.
5. Larceny Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch No. B523 — Taste 3
ABV: 62.2%
Average Price: $59
The Whiskey:
The spring edition of Larceny is here. The whiskey is a barrel-proof version of Larceny wheated bourbon (68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley) created from a small batch of six to eight-year-old barrels. Those barrels come together and go into the bottle 100% as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice Larceny release (there are three of these every year). It’s balanced and classic but doesn’t quite pop. I’ll probably use this more for killer old fashioneds than sipping.
4. Maker’s Mark 2023 Limited Release BEP Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Finished With 10 Virgin Oak Staves — Taste 5
ABV: 55.35%
Average Price: $69
The Whisky:
This is the final chapter of Maker’s Mark “Wood Finish Series” before the next set starts dropping. The whiskey in the bottle is made from classic Maker’s that’s batched at barrel entry proof (BEP), which is 110-proof. Next, the whiskey is finished with ten bespoke wooden staves inside the barrel, all made from new (or “virgin”) oak. Those barrels are then batched and bottled without any proofing water.
Bottom Line:
This is excellent whiskey. It’s on the woodier side, yes, but it all makes sense to the senses as you slowly sip it. This is the bottle you get when you want a slow and delightful sipping experience with a well-made bourbon that has a nice bite to it.
3. Hirsch The Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished In Cognac Casks — Taste 2
ABV: 63.5%
Average Price: $210
The Whiskey:
This cask-strength version of Hirsch is made from a classic bourbon mash of 72% corn, 13% rye, and 15% malted barley. That hot juice then rests for six years in new American oak. Those barrels are batched and then re-filled into 30-year-old Hine XO fine cognac casks for another year-and-a-half of resting. Finally, the whiskey is batched and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
This might be my favorite Hirsch release. It has a serious depth that’s perfectly accented by the subtle cognac notes. If you’re looking for a great food pairing whiskey, this is a must-have as the tasting profile feels very culinarily focused.
2. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch No. B523 — Taste 9
ABV: 62.1%
Average Price: $69
The Whiskey:
The latest Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is here (number two of three for 2023). This edition is a batch of bourbons that are a minimum of 11.5 years old (down from the usual 12-year age statements). The batch is bottled completely as is without cutting with water or chill filtration.
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent Elijah Craig release. It’s deeply classic while going to new and funky places that 100% elevate this pour. The ABVs are balanced and nuanced and add to the overall profile.
This might as well be tied for first place but the next pour was just that little bit extra so here we are.
1. Booker’s “Charlie’s Batch” 2023-01 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 6
ABV: 63.3%
Average Price: $97
The Whiskey:
This first Booker’s Small Batch of 2023 has arrived! This release is an hommage to Charlie Hutchens — the woodworker who makes Booker’s boxes the whiskey comes in and a long-time family friend to the Noe family who makes Beam whiskeys. The whiskey is a blend of mid to high-floor barrels from five warehouses. Those whiskeys were batched and bottled 100% as-is at cask strength after just north of seven years of aging.
Bottom Line:
This is a warm whiskey — the quintessential Kentucky hug bourbon if you will. That said, there’s just so much going on in the flavor profile with beautifully layered heat, smells, and tastes that it transcends. My advice is to pour this over a single large rock and slowly let it wash over you one slow sip at a time.
Part 3 — Final Thoughts on the Barrel Proof Bourbon
There are some great whiskeys on this list. You really cannot go wrong with anything from the top five. The Hirsch and Maker’s are going to be the most easy to find while the Booker’s should be widely available… for the moment. Then it’s likely to hit the aftermarket. The Larceny and Elijah Craig are a bit more allocated (only sent out to special accounts) so they will be a little more fleeting, but they’re worth tracking down — both are great editions.
At the end of the day, if you’re just grabbing one, the Booker’s is what you want.
