Distiller Notes
The distillery was lucky enough to procure barrels from Groth Winery in Napa Valley, California. Groth Winery produced the first wine from California to receive 100 points from Robert Parker and produce one of the most outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon’s from the region. They had the barrels sent to Kentucky, where they filled them with fully matured Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey.
They then put the barrels in a “hot box” (a steel container that reaches up to 120 degrees inside during the summer) to sweat the wine out of the wood. In the first 60 days, it was noted that it tasted like a glass of Cabernet followed by a shot of bourbon. Over the ensuing months, the bourbon took on unique characteristics from the Groth barrel which married together in a supremely balanced spirit.
Today, the Groth Cask Finish explodes with luscious dark berry flavors, such as black cherry and blackberry, evident from the red hue that the bourbon has adopted.
Proof: 90.2
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This experimental “very small batch” bottling is made with “very old” Kentucky Bourbon finished for nine months in barrels that previously held Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley winery Groth. The end result is a caramel and dried-fruit nose and a relatively dry, tannic whiskey with a port-like dark-fruit undercurrent. Debuted May 2015.
Although Bourbon may be produced anywhere in the United States, it is most commonly associated with Bourbon County, Kentucky, where it has been produced since the late 18th century. Made from a mash bill containing at least 51% corn, the Bourbon Whiskey distillate must be aged in new, charred white oak barrels. Bourbon Whiskeys are bottled at eighty proof (40% abv) or higher and cannot contain any added color or flavor. A versatile spirit that can be sipped neat, with water or on the rocks, it also performs nicely added to cocktails like the Old Fashioned.