Blackwood Distilling Co. has announced the arrival of Blackwood Toasted Bourbon, with a new style of blending bourbons finished in both toasted and charred secondary barrels.
The brand is almost 2 years in the making, and led by owners Guinness and Lisa McFadden. The couple named Blackwood after their stable, home to 2019 Kentucky Derby Winner Country House. Having worked his way up through the horse racing world from a groom to owning a Derby winning thoroughbred, Guinness soon set his sights on another Kentucky industry – bourbon.
He enlisted the help of two friends, Justin Sloan and Justin Thompson, as consultants to handle sourcing and blending the bourbon he envisioned. After finding what they were looking for in a group of six-year-old barrels from Bardstown, Kentucky, the group set to finishing select single barrels from the groups in three different types of secondary barrels – toasted, char #2, and char #4. When those single barrels were deemed ready, they set to blending.
Just nine barrels were chosen for Blackwood Toasted Bourbon Batch 1, and while the brand declines to give the exact breakdown of each secondary finish, they do tell us that the majority were toasted. The final blend is bottled at a cask strength 121 proof, with notes of crème brûlée, gingerbread, toasted pecan, and charred oak. All bottling and labeling was done by hand.
According to Thompson, “We didn’t want this to be a sugar bomb that some toasted bourbons become, but we did want folks to hopefully experience just a spritz of crème brûlée flavor to help balance out the full-proof backbone.”
Sloan adds, “You can really see what those char-4 barrels do on the backend of the palate on this one. It really extends the finish and adds just a little bit of extra oak on there.”
Just 1700 bottles of Blackwood Toasted Bourbon will be arriving on shelves at Justins’ House of Bourbon, Total Wine, Ernie’s, and other fine Kentucky retailers beginning Friday, February 25th, at a suggested retail price of around $150.
