Open the Bottle - Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Store Pick from Hazel's Beverage World in Boulder, Colorado.
I've always wanted to try this bourbon as one of the more well-known takes on moving mature whiskey into a new barrel for additional aging. Is that finishing or just more aging since a new oak barrel is employed?
Woodford heavily toasts and lightly chars the secondary barrel so how might that differ from something such as Old Forester 1910 where the second barrel is toasted but it is also super heavily charred? I think I like 1910 but frankly, I never can make up my mind on that one even after drinking a few bottles of it.
My first reaction to Double Oaked is not good. It's all over the place. Spicy, bland, dank paper product palate, thin, and has a nose that can't make up its mind. I'm not exactly happy that I spent nearly $60 but as we know, the first few sips from a new bottle don't necessarily tell the complete story so I'll stay with this bourbon over the next month or so and let you know how it develops. I can already tell you that over the few days between opening it and typing these notes, it has changed a lot. Much of the offensive mid-palate dankfest has faded and the finish has stretched out into candied cherries that isn't unpleasant at all. Let's hope it continues to improve. Cheers!
