In 1768, William Bard, born to Irish immigrant mother and father, journeyed into Kentucky to find salt for cargo again to Pennsylvania. Skilled as a surveyor, Bard later drafted the primary recognized map of Louisville in 1779. Not lengthy after, he settled south of the town, the place he and his brother David based the city that will take their household identify and finally earn recognition because the “bourbon capital of the world.”
The Bard household presence in Kentucky continued into the nineteenth century. In 1823, Isaac Bard, son of William, relocated west from Bardstown to Muhlenberg County. There, he turned as a revered native chief and established a working farm that is still within the fingers of Bard descendants almost two centuries later.
Industrial improvement arrived in Muhlenberg County in 1903 when W.G. Duncan opened a coal mine within the space. An organization city quickly adopted, created to deal with mine employees and named Graham after Duncan’s center identify. Because the operation flourished, the neighborhood expanded. In 1925, Duncan commissioned the development of a college to serve the rising inhabitants. Designed within the artwork deco fashion, the constructing was finally closed and left vacant in 2004.
A brand new chapter started in 2015 when Thomas and Kim Bard acquired the previous college and launched an in depth, long-term restoration that is still underway. Thomas Bard, a fourth great-grandson of William Bard, as soon as attended lessons in the identical constructing that now homes The Bard Distillery.
The Bard story extends past household heritage. Kimberly Carter Bard brings her personal fascinating background, with a profession that features driving within the Nascar Busch Collection, now referred to as Xfinity, and time as a Monster Jam driver in Central America.
Whereas renovations proceed, The Bard Distillery has been distilling spirits since late 2019, releasing restricted bottlings that embrace whiskey distilled on website. Thus far, the distillery has concentrated totally on mixing bourbon sourced from different producers beneath the Cinder & Smoke label.
Cinder & Smoke Founder’s Choose has historically represented a particularly restricted mix drawn from the most effective barrels owned by The Bard. Transferring ahead, the distillery plans to spotlight those self same high-caliber casks as single barrel releases. As a part of this transition, Batch X of Cinder & Smoke Founder’s Choose Kentucky Straight Bourbon, aged 10 years, has been designated “The Ultimate Batch.”
This concluding launch brings collectively three barrels from two undisclosed distilleries, each energetic contributors on the Kentucky Bourbon Path. Contractual necessities stop the identification of both supply, although one is situated in Bardstown and the opposite operates within the western area of the Path. The Bardstown barrels carried a #4 char and matured for 12 years and a pair of months. The western Kentucky barrel featured a #3 char and aged for 10 years and three months.
All three barrels spent their remaining six years ageing at The Bard Distillery, resting in former lecture rooms with cinder block partitions, massive home windows, and no local weather management. After mixing, the whiskey entered a mingling part at 116 proof for 4 days. On the fifth day, proofing down started, steadily reaching 100 proof over a complete marrying interval of 9 to 10 days.
Housed inside a restored artwork deco college, The Bard Distillery stands out as a visually interesting vacation spot on the Kentucky Bourbon Path. Past the setting, the mixing has earned consideration in its personal proper. Because the distillery turns towards single barrel choices, how does the final version of Cinder & Smoke Founder’s Choose measure up? What does The Ultimate Batch reveal when poured into the glass?
Cinder & Smoke Founder’s Choose Bourbon “The Ultimate Batch” 10 Years Previous Assessment
The bouquet opens with the aroma of recent croissants from Cheddar’s, coated in honey-butter glaze, adopted carefully by a gentle notice of orange marmalade. Because the citrus brightness fades, pecan sandies matriculate, finally yielding to a transparent notice of dusty chalkboards. That individual notice is fairly ironic, on condition that The Bard Distillery occupies a former schoolhouse, with lecture rooms left largely unchanged and chalkboards nonetheless mounted the place they had been when the constructing was vacated in 2004.
On the palate, an preliminary push of dusty corn enjoyable, usually present in smaller craft operations, units the stage. Whereas discernible, it by no means veers into disagreeable territory. As soon as the palate adjusts, Whopper malted milk balls come ahead, including a pleasant sweetness. Halfway by means of, darker flavors floor: Luxardo cherries with a suggestion of lemon peel, all carried by a medium-thick mouthfeel. The citrus aspect supplies a lift in opposition to the heavier, soil-driven flavors with out overwhelming them.
The closing sequence introduces supple leather-based alongside darkish chocolate, adopted by an earthy character akin to a forest flooring after rainfall. As these notes recede, pine needles make a remaining look, neatly punctuating the profile.
Total, this expression is very gratifying. Earth-forward bourbons usually are not usually my desire, but Cinder & Smoke Founder’s Choose delivers that profile with finesse. Whereas the mix’s element distilleries stay undisclosed, I strongly suspect that the lone barrel sourced from western Kentucky originates from M.B. Roland Distillery. Throughout the vary of M.B. Roland releases I’ve encountered, some wonderful, others much less so, a constant thread of earth-driven taste has at all times been current, even in probably the most gratifying single barrels. The oldest of these I’ve sampled reached 6 years of age, so the inclusion of a 10-year-old barrel on this three-barrel mix would logically contribute an earthy dimension.
Moderately than dominating the profile, that character performs extraordinarily nicely with the 2 barrels sourced from the Bardstown distillery. Whereas The Bard Distillery should still fly beneath the radar for a lot of outdoors western Kentucky, this remaining batch of Cinder & Smoke Founder’s Choose deserves critical consideration. Thomas and Kim Bard display a transparent aptitude for whiskey mixing, and this launch stands as proof of that talent.
100 proof.
A- / $100
Cinder & Smoke Founder’s Choose Bourbon “The Ultimate Batch” 10 Years Previous
USD100
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