Malts of Scotland Images of Bardstown 'Main Street'

Malts of Scotland, the famous German independent bottler, for a while now no longer limits itself to Scotch whisky. They have travelled across the Atlantic and already bottled quite a few casks from America. The name of the distillery is not mentioned on this Images of Bardstown ‘Main Street’, but how hard can it be? There are only three distilleries in Bardstown: Heaven Hill, Barton and Willett. As Willett only started producing in 2012 and Heaven Hill has already been bottled by MoS with the name on the label, it’s a safe bet that this liquid was produced at Barton. Whatever, let’s just get started…

The nose is honeysweet, but with a twist. I get a surprising amount of sandal wood and pine nuts. Also a hint of mint, sweet butter, maraschino cherries and even some red fruit – think strawberry. This is a surprisingly fresh nose for a bourbon, despite the rather active oak.

It is wonderfully oily and honeysweet on mostly maple syrup and oak. Yes, the oak is very prominent and offers pencil shavings, cumin, aniseed, chia seeds and something that reminds me of coffee grounds. Again a touch of mint.

That mint is mostly expressed in the finish, but the bourbon dies a sweet death at the end of the day.

Yes, when tasting this, I am fairly certain this is Barton. By the way: it is not a swimmer, so avoid adding too much water. Jan, thanks a bunch for the sample.