Review #192: Barrell Foundation Double Barrel

MASH BILL: 73% corn, 23% rye, 4% malted barley (derived)

AGE: Blend of the following 7 bourbons:

• 5, 6, and 9 yr old Indiana bourbon (guessing MGP)
• 5 and 6 yr old Maryland bourbon (guessing Sagamore)
• 8 yr old Tennessee bourbon (guessing Dickel)
• 8 yr old Kentucky (lots of options, but guessing Barton)

PROOF: 100

COST: $55 for 750mL bottle (I’m reviewing a sample)

Barrell Craft Spirits has a reputation for high quality cask strength whiskey. Through the early 2020s, the amount of labels they had on shelves seemed to grow exponentially. As their popularity grew, so did their price point it seemed. Today, their standard labels toe the line of the magical 3 digit price point that starts to make people think 2 and 3 times before they take the bottle up to the register, and when you get into their grey and gold label prices, unless you find them on sale I feel like most people just avoid them. In 2024 though, Barrell launched the Barrell Foundation series, which attempts to cut into a lower price point market around $50. Whether this was a result of them seeing less success due to overall spirits market changes for American whiskey, or an attempt to break into a different bourbon market, I’m not certain. But at this price, with the Foundation series you are still getting Barrell’s reputable blending skills but at 100 proof instead of cask strength.

The Barrell Foundation series has the standard Foundation offering which is just the blended bourbon proofed down to 100 proof for bottling. But the Foundation series also offers a Double Barrel expression, which is the same blend as the regular Foundation, but then the blend is dumped into a second new American oak cask, helping to add the popular double barrel profile of more vanilla, caramel, and oak tannins. In this review today, I’m reviewing the inaugural Barrell Foundation Double Barrel bourbon. Let’s get to it!

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: Autumnal orangey, brown (1.4), oily appearance with slow, teardrop legs.

NOSE: Caramel sauce on vanilla ice cream right away. Dipping my nose deep in the glass I get a nice chocolate covered cherry and almond nuttiness. There’s a decent amount of spice too that comes across as baked apples dredged in baking spices with a light orange peel and oak note.

PALATE: Creamy mouthfeel. Lots of caramel at first. A bright cherry note slowly builds in with a little burn of pure vanilla extract. Bitter oak, toasted almonds, orange roll, and clove sneak in towards the end. The clove is quite prominent going into the finish as black pepper starts to join in.

FINISH: Medium length finish. Starts out as a soft finish with clove, caramel, and vanillin heavy oak initially. As time goes by, the vanilla fades, as does the clove, and the oak becomes more tannic. A little cinnamon and a hint of orange peel enter towards the end.

RATING: 6.8/10

OVERALL: There is nothing not to like about this for any bourbon lover. But it was a little boring. There wasn’t anything memorable about the flavor profile of it. It had a lot of classic bourbon notes, all pretty well defined for 100 proof, too. The mouthfeel of this was probably the best part though. When it hit the palate, the creaminess of it allowed the sweeter notes to pop just a bit more (similar to how an astringent mouthfeel makes the spice pop more). For $55, this is a great all-around sipper, but it’s not necessarily going to intrigue your senses if you’re wanting to dive into tasting notes.

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select, Hillrock Estate Sauternes CS

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, BBCo Origin High Wheat, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, Maker's Mark Wood Finishing releases, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Woodford Reserve Batch Proof 121.2, BBCo Disco #7 and #13, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08, RR15