Review #740 - Bardstown Discovery Series #13

Written By Me, My Wife & Whisky

With their thirteenth release in the Discovery Series, Bardstown Bourbon Company explores the concept of double maturation: here, we have a secondary aging period in Hungarian oak, which tends to add some sweetness and some sharper baking spices to a whisky. As usual for the series, this is a blend of several bourbon from different distilleries; this time, they all originate in Kentucky.

  • 45% 9 year bourbon with a mashbill of 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% barley (potentially Barton)

  • 22% 9 year bourbon with a mashbill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% barley (potentially Heaven Hill)

  • 20% 15 year bourbon with a mashbill of 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley (potentially BuffTurkey, Jim Beam, or Wild Turkey)

  • 13% 8 year bourbon with a mashbill of 70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% barley (potentially Green River)

Extrapolating from those component percentages, we get an age of just over 10 years on average, and the mashbill in total is 74.6% corn, 15.6% rye, and 9.8% barley. That's a middling amount of rye influence, so we could see some spice, but also a decent amount of sweetness from the corn and barley.

Bardstown Discovery Series #13

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 140 (2025)

Age Statement: 8 Years

Strength: 55.4% ABV

Details: Bottled 2025

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 1 month from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Leathery, oaky - the wood notes are dominant. There are some accents of wood char and earthy notes in the background, and we also get baking notes like cinnamon, dusty vanilla, and nutmeg. More savory spices like paprika and smoked rosemary appear with time; there are subtle hints of fruit like plum and orange at times.

Palate: Drying leathery oak, quite spicy, with cinnamon, anise, and some sharp orange peel. Caramel corn and vanilla add a bit of sweetness; we get toasted oak and some wood smoke, too. The mouthfeel has a medium thickness.

Finish: Licorice, leather, a bit of tobacco, and pepper - oak dominant again, and somewhat dry. Vanilla and toasted oak are accents; again we get orange peel and earthy flavors, and there's a touch of 'crafty' oak in the finish, which is medium-long.

Final Note: This is a tasty, if slightly simple, bourbon in our experience. This does bring a lot of those baking notes and spices from the double-oaking time in the Hungarian oak, but it also became a bit wood-dominated because of it. Nice vanilla, orange peel, and licorice notes, but also tons of leather, tannins, and toasted oak, which begin to overwhelm. We think this is one for the oak-lovers.

The bourbon is good, but for this tasting experience, the price is a bit high for us. This is the same price that the last few Discovery Series bourbons have been released at, so that's fair enough when considering the price, but the bourbon in this bottle is a bit younger on average and somewhat dominated by that oak. Value, overall, is just below average for us.

Our Rating: 7.2 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.52

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Me, My Wife & Whisky
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