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Some of you have probably noticed that it’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a Barrell Craft Spirits product. It’s not because I stopped loving what they were making, but some of their decisions from 2021 to 2023 made me gradually drift away from the brand.
Outwardly, their bourbon blends were becoming somewhat repetitive ever since they transitioned to a standardized base blend. What I mean is that they typically started a blend with a standardized blend from a few different tanks (they had a Dickel tank, an MGP tank and a Kentucky Bourbon tank to my knowledge) and then added some more unique barrels in to make the batches take on a different flavor profile. In my opinion, everything started to taste very similar which is why I cut back on buying their batches. I assume a lot of enthusiasts noticed this as well because after Batch 035 (released in August, 2023), they shifted to releasing four bourbon batches per year to just one.
Then came their tiered approach to the regular, Grey Label and Gold Label releases. I found the original price structure appalling. Even though I couldn’t outright tell you the sources and ages of every component in these releases, I knew enough to have a ballpark idea. I determined that they were easily charging double the price of what other non-distiller producers were charging for the same liquid. Their pricing structure alienated many buyers and the bottles began to collect dust on liquor store shelves. In some small way, enthusiast’s cold shoulder to paying these prices probably forced Barrell to lower prices for those labels in 2024.
Perhaps the only thing that Barrell was getting right during that time was their Private Release selections of bourbon, whiskey and rye. Just because I didn’t go out of my way to buy many of them doesn’t mean I wasn’t aware of the fanfare that they had.
Barrell sees the market dip and adjusts accordingly
Once again, this is just my observation on what Barrell has done over the last 18 months, but they seemed to change their sales focus starting early in 2024. This timeline syncs up with the financial difficulties they faced around that time. Reports showed they were trying to liquidate tons of assets (barrels, buildings, etc) along with laying off all of their marketing staff. All of this closely followed their new facility coming online in Jeffersontown a few months prior which made many wonder if they had grown too much, too fast.
I genuinely felt bad for Joe Beatrice and his team. This small brand had been the apple of my eye since I first got into whiskey in 2018 and it looked like they were going under. The brand quickly pivoted away from large batches of mid-priced bourbon and towards very small releases of premium-priced whiskey. Either they were finding their roots again or they realized that the future of whiskey is exclusivity (more on that in a minute). I happen to think it’s an equal mix of both.
Let’s talk about exclusivity and how it might actually be better for business. This probably isn’t the place to dive too deep on this concept, so I’ll keep it simple by telling the story of Elijah Craig and Larceny Barrel Proof batches. Anyone in the scene from 2017 until 2023 knows how hard it was to find these bottles. They were allocated just enough that you needed to know a person or be in the right place at the right time to have a chance to buy one. Starting around 2024, production either increased or interest decreased, but now you can find them with ease. And the crazy thing is, people don’t even want to buy them now that they know they can reliably find them on the shelf.
What producers are finding out is that an object loses its value when it becomes easily available to the masses. If you’re a woman, you probably know of the handbag brand “Coach.” My wife loved getting those up until the point where she noticed every other woman had one – so she stopped buying them altogether. My point is this: Barrell is now focusing on very small batches of blends for that same reason. If their product is everywhere all the time, people won’t feel the desire to buy one right then. They need that feeling of risk if they decide to not buy it right then. Barrell realized that and now they’re back to the basics by releasing small, limited batches of products and things seem to be going better for them.
T8KE Collaborates with Barrell
I’ve known t8ke ever since I started reviewing bourbon and rye on Reddit’s r/bourbon forum. I’ve met him in person a handful of times and even did two barrel picks over Zoom during the pandemic. We’ve been on bad terms ever since I published a hit piece (everyone else’s words, not mine) about an Art of the Spirits release that he put his name on. But I get it, his name/brand is his livelihood whereas what I do is just a hobby on the side. So whenever something bad is said about a product he’s associated with, it impacts his income.
I also understand that to get to t8ke’s level, you’re going to eventually rub some elbows with people in the industry. Barrell Craft Spirits and t8ke were a natural fit because the industry is moving towards very small batches of whiskey that produce more bottles than a single barrel, but not so many that you’re sitting on piles of unsold inventory for months at a time. After all, product storage still costs money and not selling out quickly might be interpreted as the product being flawed.
Going back to the subject at hand, t8ke is constantly on the lookout for how he can collaborate with producers to get his name and brand seen by more people. The producers want to tap into the group of followers that t8ke has because they know he influences them what to buy. In the case with Barrell Craft Spirits, they allowed him to have a direct influence on the blend every time he put his name on the label. He has done this previously with a Private Release Bourbon, Grey Label Infinite Series, an Infinity Single Barrel and many bourbon releases. Now his most recent collaboration blends rye whiskey and bourbon from Kentucky and Indiana together. This bourye is called “Synthesis I” which seems to indicate there will be more batches in the future.
What are the breakdown of components here? I don’t know. Obviously MGP is going to be one of the main components due to the “Indiana” on the label. I’d probably think some Green River, Bardstown Bourbon Company and possibly some Barton, Willett or Beam distillate have also been added in. There is, however, no Dickel in the blend. That’s been a source of contention between enthusiasts and Barrell for a while now. t8ke was probably keen to this and told them he didn’t want any.
All whiskies in the blend are said to be at least 7 years or older and the final proof came out to 118.22. So how is it? Thanks to my friend Mike over at Mostly Peaceful Bourbon, I’m finding out today. So let’s get into it. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: The scents start off leaning towards some classic MGP rye notes of brown sugar, pine needles, generic herbs and clove. Then comes the sweet bourbon scents with banana bread, vanilla, caramel fudge and a hint of marshmallow. Barrel influence shows it has arrived to the part with some sweet oak notes as well as a hint of leather. Fruit scents are slightly less than I would have envisioned, but I can still detect citrus rind and artificial strawberry (like Fruit by the Foot). Overall, it’s a great nose with lots of scents that keep revealing themselves – drawing you in for another sniff.
Palate: The bourbon and rye whiskey are fighting for your attention as caramel corn, peppermint candy cane, cinnamon stick and herbal flavors rush your tastebuds at once. I can find Cinnamon Twists from Taco Bell, pine needles and vanilla. Remember how I said I couldn’t find much fruit on the nose? Well it’s here on the palate. Flavors of black cherries, apricots, orange pulp and a little bit of strawberry find
Finish: Long and sweet with a good amount of spice (allspice, cinnamon, clove). Tannins like leather and oak play nice and add maturity. Citrus fruit flavors are sweetened like they’ve been candied. Chocolate, and mint (Andes After Dinner Mints?) linger along with pine needles. The rye whiskey influence extends a long way after the sip is completed.
Score: 8.3/10
I was pretty impressed by drinking this whiskey. Barrell and t8ke seemed to have nailed with for a fun, unique and flavorful bourye. In fact, this is on my list of top 3 bouryes of all time. Speaking of which, I think more producers need to blend their own because it truly is the best of both worlds to have the flavors of each complimenting each other in your glass. Imagine if someone like Old Forester did this and how awesome it would be.
For $120, this puts it squarely in the sights of High West’s Bourye. Except we know we’re getting a whole lot more proof and around the same age for the components with the Barrell bottle. I’ve been saying for years that High West has done absolutely nothing about keeping the Bourye title that they invented and trademarked. Barrell Synthesis is what happens when others see your great idea and decide to do it even better.
Final Thoughts
If you’re the kind of enthusiast that loves rye whiskey almost to the point of loving it more than bourbon, then Barrell Synthesis should be on your short list of bottles to get next. I think it’s still available because the brand is trying to regain all of the followers it used to have while newer enthusiasts don’t quite know what to make of the modern-looking bottle as well as the great unknown of what blends like this taste like.
I look forward to the next release to see what new flavors they can show us. The sky’s the limit.