To create the Barrell Dovetail Whiskey, the Barrell Craft Spirits folks took some 10-year-old whiskey from Indiana (no type specified), some 11-year-old bourbon from Tennessee (cough, George Dickel, cough), some cabernet barrels, some black strap rum casks and some port pipes. The Indiana whiskey they finished in the cab barrels while some of the Tennessee was finished in the rum casks and some was finished in the pipes.
Then, when they felt the time was right, they blended the three whiskeys together. And that my whiskey friends, is the birth of the Dovetail. An interesting approach, but not wholly rare these days.
Finished bourbons and ryes have long since left the realm of oddity and are now firmly a regular way of doing business. Some have done it quite well, while others have been… less than successful. We’ll see how their experiment turned out in the whiskey review below.
Barrell Dovetail Whiskey Review: Details and Tasting Notes
In Barrell Craft Spirits’ Words:
Dovetail is blended to highlight some of our favorite flavors. Woody bourbon; terroir driven Dunn Cabernet; toasted french oak; Late Bottled Vintage Port pipes; black strap molasses casks; all working in tandem to create a buttery and deep whiskey as unique as it is delicious. Dovetail took almost a year to get right, from blending to labeling, all coming together in a seemingly perfect point.
Details (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)
Region: USA (Indiana and Tennessee)
Distiller: Various (MGP and George Dickel)
Blender: Barrell Craft Spirits
Mash Bill: Corn, Rye and Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak, ex-Cabernet, ex-Rum, ex-Port
Age: 10 Years
ABV: 61.9%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Batch: February 2019 (123.8 proof)
Bottle: 11,059
Price: $100*
Tasting Notes
EYE
Caramel
NOSE
Quite rum-like on the nose with big notes of brown sugar, molasses and powdered sugar that move into oak, tropical fruit, nuts and butterscotch.
PALATE
Like a wine and rum cocktail. Notes of sticky sweet dark fruit, rum (brown sugar and spice), oak and some buttery toffee.
FINISH
Long -> Rum sweetness, oak, brown sugar, spice and winey fruit.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Ok balance, full body and a syrupy feel.
Barrell Dovetail Whiskey Review: Overall and Score
The wine and rum casks really show through on this one. The Aroma is a cavalcade of dark sweet notes with brown sugar leading the way; Palate is odd with battling notes of whiskey, wine and rum; Finish pulls it all together and fades out to a rummy brown sugar.
A lot of good qualities reside in the Barrell Dovetail Whiskey, but I’m not finding the balance; the thread that ties it together, and makes it make sense, eludes me. It’s a fun experiment and as it opens I’m finding more and more to enjoy about it, but in a disconnected “ooh what’s that over there” kind of way.
I think it’ll do very well in cocktails, but as a sipper, it’s not fully coming together for me.
SCORE: 84/100 (B)
*Disclosure: This Barrell Dovetail Whiskey was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Barrell Dovetail Whiskey Review 100
- Nose - 84
- Palate - 84
- Finish - 84
- Balance, Body & Feel - 84
Barrell Dovetail Whiskey Review Summary
Barrell Dovetail Whiskey is an interesting experiment, but I’m not in love with the result. It’s good, it’s fun and it’s unique, but not quite hitting the spot.
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