Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Review

In-Depth Review

In today’s world finishing whiskey is not a new phenomenon. But while many distilleries have experimented with previously used barrels to create wine finishes, Armagnac finishes, sherry finishes, and special wood finishes, there are only a handful that are experimenting with brand new barrels for the secondary finishing process. Not only is using brand new barrels more expensive, it has the potential of over-oaking the whiskey and ruining all that lovely flavor. Some succeed. Others fail spectacularly.

Woodford Reserve has been refining the process of double barreling since their release of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked back in 2012. And while I have tried Double Oaked a few times over the years, this bottle will be my first chance to really dig into one of Woodford’s more premium offerings. And while I am a huge fan of finished expressions of Scotch, I have found finished bourbons to sometimes miss the mark.

Double Oaked is made by taking normal Woodford Reserve bourbon and dumping it into a brand-new charred barrel and letting it mature in the secondary barrel for a little less than a year. This new barrel acts like an injection of flavor, accelerating the wood’s interaction with the distillate in order to create a whiskey with more layers, complexities, and heavier wood flavors. And while Double Oaked is still bottled at 90.4 proof (like more mainstream Woodford products), it should feel like a dramatically different product than traditional Woodford Reserve. Let’s dive in to find out.

 Age: Non-Age Stated

ABV: 45.2%

Cask: Twice barreled in new charred oak casks

MSRP: $45

Distillery Name: Woodford Reserve

Review Date: 5/25/21

Color: Dark, rich amber. 

Nose: Starts off with strong notes of oak and barrel char. Toasted marshmallows, candied nuts, and buttered popcorn. The kind of buttered popcorn smell that can take you back to times of sneaking into movie theaters, awkward first dates, and getting kicked out for making too much noise. On the nose, there is a lot of maple syrup sweetness but with an umami undertone – almost like a chocolate covered bacon, perhaps? Baking spices like ginger and clove also make an appearance. The effect of the double barreling is immediately apparent as the nose feels deep, sweet, and full of toasted oak. It’s definitely not shy – but it’s also not aggressively in your face.

Palate: Cherries. Dark chocolate covered cherries. Maraschino cherries. Candied cherries. Cherry flavored syrup. The cherry flavor here is undeniable. It’s like someone at Woodford accidentally threw some cherries into that second barrel before they filled it. Poking through are sticky caramel syrup and freshly baked ginger snaps along with the traditional bourbon oak and vanilla flavors. The palate is thick and vicious, with a deeper, richer flavor that I was expecting for 90 proof. The palate is full bodied and satisfying but perhaps borders on too sweet. If there ever was a dessert bourbon Woodford Double Oaked would fit the bill perfectly. A whiskey to be enjoyed around a campfire during those warm summer evenings.

Finish: Relatively short finish for such a flavorful palate. The sweetness remains but the oak appears more prominently on the finish with a lingering oak spice that provides only the most subtle hint of heat. The more you drink, the more the oak notes dominate. All that oak can turn bitter, so I found myself taking another sip to bring back some of that sweetness from the palate to help balance.

Final Thoughts: This is a great bourbon for those looking for something rich and complex without the high proof. The palate punches above its weight while the felt bland at times. The cherry sweetness dominates the entire experience, and some may find it a bit cloying with so much sweetness, so its best treated like a dessert bourbon. But Woodford Reserve Double Oaked is a big and complex bourbon for 90 proof and really shows how much adding another barreling into the maturation process can pack a lot of intense flavors into otherwise standard Woodford whiskey.

Score: 89