Nestled in Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World, the Bardstown Bourbon Company is a new breed of whiskey maker, building a reputation for innovation while honouring tradition. The company blends Bourbon and Irish Whiskey, Canadian Whiskey and Bourbon or Bourbon and Rye as well as experimenting with a wide range of wood finishes. This bottling is a case in point: Their first cooperage collaboration, celebrating the equally forward-thinking West Virginia Great Barrel Company. A synergy in modern production led to a custom blend aged in cherry wood barrels toasted with infrared technology.

According to drinkhacker.com, "The barrels are composed of alternating staves of lightly toasted cherry oak, medium toasted cherry oak, and the more common American oak. However, it’s the final distinctive detail that gets top billing on the bottle – those toasted staves were created using infrared technology. In speaking with Bardstown Bourbon Company’s VP of Hospitality and Product Development Dan Callaway, he told me that the idea behind utilizing infrared toasting was to reduce the tannins from a second barreling. "We were looking for a cooperage to innovate with on barrel maturation and we found the infrared toasted cherry wood was a perfect match for 95/5 rye,” Dan says. “I started about 1.5 years ago and did tons of experiments with bourbon and rye, as well as different toasts.”

We received a 50ml sample. Being a blend of 6 year old Indiana rye with 12 year old Canadian whiskey, this is not exactly a mainstream style. Some of the usual sharpness and definition of the grain feels like it's been soaked up by the oak, yet even from our small taste, the flavour saturation is impressive. Medium spices and bitter dark chocolate rise to moderate the sugars, closing with a mouth coating, oily finish. Is it more like a rye or is it more like a Bourbon? Either way, it's a fascinating take. 55% Alc./Vol