Woodford Reserve announces the release of Distillery Series, its latest line of complex offerings, which will be available for purchase at the Woodford Reserve Distillery beginning in late July. This new series showcases the brand’s continued commitment to providing an unmatched whiskey experience and leading the spirits industry through innovation and craftsmanship.
The Woodford Reserve Distillery will release up to three expressions of the Distillery Series concurrently at various times throughout the year. The inaugural two offerings, Double Double Oaked and Sweet Mash Redux, will be available for purchase at the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, KY, with a suggested retail price of $49.99 for a 375ml bottle. These small-batch offerings range from finished whiskies to straight bourbons and other unique spirits. Master Distiller Chris Morris has spent the last several years developing and perfecting the individual expressions within the Distillery Series which, in true Woodford Reserve form, offer consumers a first-hand look into the brand’s creative dexterity. Made with the same approach as other Woodford Reserve products that focus on adjusting one or more of the five sources of flavor, Distillery Series expressions represent alterations across four of the five sources: grain, fermentation, distillation, and maturation.
“With the Woodford Reserve Distillery Series, we used our industry and sensory knowledge to create an eclectic line of one-of-a-kind expressions,” said Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris. “By pushing the creative boundaries of whiskeys even further, we are inviting our customers who visit our distillery to experience extreme variations of whiskey.”
Double Double Oaked and Sweet Mash Redux are currently the only Distillery Series expressions to be considered straight bourbons. Double Double Oaked is the result of finishing mature Woodford Reserve Double Oaked for an additional year in its second, heavily toasted lightly charred new oak barrel. The extra year in the barrel creates a bourbon that is distinctly spicier than its original counterpart, known for its sweeter taste and finish.
Sweet Mash Redux, with prominent fruit and herbal flavor notes, is not new to Woodford Reserve, who in 2008 released Sweet Mash Finish as part of its Master’s Collection series. While traditional Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select is a sour mash bourbon, modifying the fermentation process to include a non-soured mash creates a bourbon of higher pH effect and heightened fruit notes throughout.
As early as the mid-1800s, the site of the present-day Woodford Reserve Distillery was the location for visionary distilling practices, an attitude that Oscar Pepper and Master Distiller James Crow, the first people to commercially distill at this location, fully embraced. Together, they perfected several whiskey production processes that continue to be used throughout the industry and have since become synonymous with great whiskey. The Woodford Reserve Distillery Series is produced to honor that early whiskey innovation that occurred at this site. Today, the Woodford Reserve Distillery is visited by more than 130,000 guests each year.
Tasting Notes for Double Double Oaked:
Color: Roasted coffee bean
Aroma: A robust medley of rich maple syrup, dark butterscotch, brittle caramel, bittersweet chocolate, burnt marshmallow and sweet hickory smoke notes dominate the nose.
Taste: Rich dried cherry and cranberry fruit swim in a blackberry jam brightened with hints of ripe apple. Chai tea and warming clove notes develop to spice up the palate.
Finish: Warm and drying with a lingering clove character.
Tasting Notes for Sweet Mash Redux:
Color: Burnished gold
Aroma: Softly sweet with delicate notes of anise, cedar and a subtle cassia bark note mingle with an overripe apple fruitiness. A malty shortbread note dusted with brown sugar and glazed with caramel combine to suggest a slice of Dutch apple pie.
Taste: Soft and sweet with hints of malt sharpened with a spice medley and cedar.
Finish: Subtle spice, oak and fruit notes gently fade in a warm farewell.
Woodford Reserve is a product of the Brown-Forman Corporation, a producer and marketer of fine quality beverage alcohol brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Southern Comfort, Finlandia, Korbel, Tequila Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer, Chambord, and Tuaca. Please enjoy your bourbon responsibly. For more information on Woodford Reserve, visit www.woodfordreserve.com or visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodfordreserve.
