Woodford Reserve is a Kentucky distillery known for its premium bourbon, but the latest release doesn’t fall into that category at all. The new entry in the annual Distillery Series is a blended malt whiskey called, appropriately, Blended Malt—and we have the details.
As defined by the TTB, the organization that regulates alcohol in the U.S., malt whiskey must be made from a mashbill of at least 51 percent malted barley and aged in new charred oak containers (which are virtually always barrels). That differs from a single malt, which in America doesn’t yet have a legal definition, but will likely be required to be made from a mashbill of 100 percent malted barley. A blended malt whiskey, on the other hand, must be made up of at least 51 percent straight malt whiskey (aged for at least two years in new charred oak), while the rest can neutral grain spirits or other whiskeys, and can include coloring and flavoring. Those last two elements are not included in this new whiskey, however. It’s a combination of two completely different malt whiskeys: One is a 100 percent malted barley whiskey aged in used barrels and finished in a port cask, the other is a blend of five different malted grains that was aged in new oak. According to a rep for the brand, this means it’s classified by the TTB as a “whiskey specialty,” and not a blended malt whiskey.
“This showcases our ability to take complex barrels of whiskies, blend them together, and create a new flavorful product,” said master distiller Elizabeth McCall in a statement. That applies to other entries in the Distillery Series, which have included experiments like the Toasted Oak Oat Grain, Double Double Oaked, and the Honey Barrel Finish. Woodford has been on a roll as of late, with a bunch of new expressions joining the lineup. Last spring, the distillery released its most expensive whiskey to date, a bourbon in a $15,000 Baccarat decanter that was finished in a barrel made using oak staves seasoned at the Derby Day Winner’s Circle at Churchill Downs (Woodford has a longstanding relationship with the Derby). And McCall collaborated with her dad for Father’s Day this year, picking seven different two-barrel blends to commemorate the holiday.
We did not get a chance to sample Blended Malt for ourselves, but official tasting notes describe raspberry, nutty malt, and pumpkin spice and orange peel on the nose (pumpkin spice in July???), followed by candied malt, oak, and citrus on the palate. The whiskey will be available for $65 in 375-ml bottles at the distillery, and it can be shipped to Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Washington, D.C. Of course, there’s always the secondary market if you’re willing to drop some cash—and you can find the rest of the lineup available to purchase from ReserveBar.
