Barrell Armida Review
In Depth Review
As I sat at the computer, sipping on the remnants of my latest pour, an unusual thought crossed my mind. Maybe Barrel Armida is best experienced without an introduction. It’d be easy to get caught up in the fact Barrell used Tennessee whickey (likely Dickel) to create this blend. It’d be easy to question the reasoning behind Barrell using Jamaican rum casks, peach brandy, and Sicilian Armaro casks on the same whiskey. In many cases even one finishing cask can overpower a whiskey – let alone three. But I was told that Armida a whiskey you need to experience to understand. So let’s skip the introductions and dive in.
Age: Non-Age Stated Sourced TN Whiskies
ABV: 56.77%
Cask: Bourbon finished in Pear Brandy, Jamaican Rum casks, and Sicilian Amaro casks.
MSRP: $89.99
Distillery Name: Barrell Craft Spirits
Review Date: 11/8/21
Color: Bright Caramel
Nose: This whiskey, with its strange combination of finishing, wastes no time in diverging from the traditional bourbon experience. The nose starts off sweet, with fresh cut fruits, melted sugars, and Starburst candy. Then come waves of wood oil, pear, and a tart sour apple. If you are looking for typical bourbon notes of caramel, butterscotch, and toffee, keep looking. You won’t find any of that here. And while the trio of finishing casks seem to mask most of the bourbon notes, the nose is intriguing and rewarding – with new notes coming through every time I come back.
Palate: As the whiskey begins to wrap its flavors around my tongue, all I can think is – what the hell is happening here? Have I entered another dimension? Is this bourbon? Did I bite into a pear by accident? Is this even whiskey? Did Barrell slip a pre-mixed cocktail into the bottle? There are funky fruit notes coming from the Jamaican rum, a burst of sweetness from the pear brandy, and even a touch of bitterness from the Amaro. Peaches and cream mixed with the heat of red hots, with a little more of that Starburst note that came through on the nose. The bourbon is lost in the fray – but maybe that’s the point. Tennessee whiskey seems to take well to finishes and this is no exception. The only let down here was that the mouthfeel wasn’t as good as I expected. With such a strong burst of flavor, I expected a more enveloping mouthfeel but instead found most of the excitement stayed near the front of the palate.
Finish: Long lingering finish that shifts away from the juicy cut fruits of the palate and more towards a dried fruit experience. Think trail mix fruit. The sweetness carries through the finish with just a flash of bitterness near the end. This wild ride finishes with a satisfying heat that reminds you this is high proof whiskey after all.
Final Thoughts: It’s easy to fall into the oft repeated trope that bourbon doesn’t have the expansive flavor profiles as other types of whiskey (read - Scotch). But Barrell is working to flip that misconception on its head and beat it into submission. With their deft blending skills, Barrell is rewriting what bourbon can be. Armida is no exception. It starts with an explosion of flavors working to convince you that this isn’t whiskey at all. It’s instead some strange sort of cocktail amalgamation of disparate liquors and regions. It truly is an incredible experience – and unlike any whiskey I’ve ever tasted. One minute I found myself enjoying the cacophony of flavors only to find myself utterly confused by the notes on my next sip. Armida is an intense whiskey. This isn’t an easy sipper for those casual Sunday afternoons on the porch. It’s much deeper and richer than that. And in a bourbon world that has been criticized for chasing only a handful of notes, Barrell Armida is a shot across the bow of your palate. Tread carefully. Be thoroughly rewarded.
I’ll be picking up another bottle. I can’t get enough of this wild ride.
Score: 95
