Bourbon County Brand Barleywine - 2-Year Reserve
Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Rotating Out of Production|
Score
8.08
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Barleywine ale aged in Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels for two years.
After 5 years away, we couldn’t think of a better way to welcome our Barleywine back into the Bourbon County Brand family than with a 2-year reserve. We were fortunate to be able to age this year’s expression in three exceptional sets of barrels from varying releases of the Old Fitzgerald’s Bottled In -Bond Decanter Series: 14, 16 and 17-year-old barrels. These exclusive barrels and the subtle nature within them further showcase the complexities found in our barleywine—a tapestry woven of rich malt, entwined with notes of toffee, vanilla and warming spices.
John E. Fitzgerald was a bonded US Treasury agent who had access to the rickhouses where bourbon barrels were aged. Using his keys, Fitzgerald let himself into the rickhouses, thieve bourbon from the best barrels, and take jugs home for himself—thus committing larceny. When it came time to dump the barrels, some were found to be unusually light and exceptionally smooth. These barrels became known as “Fitzgerald barrels.” Registered in 1884, and later sold to “Pappy” Van Winkle, the historic Old Fitzgerald brand carried on the legacy.
Today, john E. Fitzgerald lives on in award-winning bourbons: Larceny Small
Batch, Larceny Barrel Proof, and the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series. Unlike other bourbons, these are made with wheat, resulting in a smooth profile that showcases extraordinary distilling pedigree at work.
For this Reserve, we worked with our friends at Old Fitzgerald to obtain three exceptional sets of barrels of varying ages from the distillery's Old Fitzgerald’s Bottled-In-Bond Decanter Series. This Reserve offers us a rare opportunity to highlight the distinct characteristics of our rich Barleywine aged in 14-year, 16-year, and 17-year-old barrels of an amazing bourbon pedigree. Bringing back our classic English-style Barleywine for the first time since 2018, we knew this was going to be something special. Our Two-Year Barleywine Reserve evokes the rich intricacies from that of Old Fitzgerald’s Bottled-In-Bond Series for a velvety taste of rich malt, entwined with notes of toffee, cherry, vanilla, fig, and almond.
After 5 years away, we couldn’t think of a better way to welcome our Barleywine back into the Bourbon County Brand family than with a 2-year reserve. We were fortunate to be able to age this year’s expression in three exceptional sets of barrels from varying releases of the Old Fitzgerald’s Bottled In -Bond Decanter Series: 14, 16 and 17-year-old barrels. These exclusive barrels and the subtle nature within them further showcase the complexities found in our barleywine—a tapestry woven of rich malt, entwined with notes of toffee, vanilla and warming spices.
John E. Fitzgerald was a bonded US Treasury agent who had access to the rickhouses where bourbon barrels were aged. Using his keys, Fitzgerald let himself into the rickhouses, thieve bourbon from the best barrels, and take jugs home for himself—thus committing larceny. When it came time to dump the barrels, some were found to be unusually light and exceptionally smooth. These barrels became known as “Fitzgerald barrels.” Registered in 1884, and later sold to “Pappy” Van Winkle, the historic Old Fitzgerald brand carried on the legacy.
Today, john E. Fitzgerald lives on in award-winning bourbons: Larceny Small
Batch, Larceny Barrel Proof, and the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series. Unlike other bourbons, these are made with wheat, resulting in a smooth profile that showcases extraordinary distilling pedigree at work.
For this Reserve, we worked with our friends at Old Fitzgerald to obtain three exceptional sets of barrels of varying ages from the distillery's Old Fitzgerald’s Bottled-In-Bond Decanter Series. This Reserve offers us a rare opportunity to highlight the distinct characteristics of our rich Barleywine aged in 14-year, 16-year, and 17-year-old barrels of an amazing bourbon pedigree. Bringing back our classic English-style Barleywine for the first time since 2018, we knew this was going to be something special. Our Two-Year Barleywine Reserve evokes the rich intricacies from that of Old Fitzgerald’s Bottled-In-Bond Series for a velvety taste of rich malt, entwined with notes of toffee, cherry, vanilla, fig, and almond.
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8.9/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Just now noticed I hadn't entered my impressions from last year's BCS Media preview: They have done a stronger BCS, but not a barleywine this big. The barleywine is always one of my two favorite variants, and we tasters are always happy to see it. Brewmaster Siebel notes that they took 60% of the beer and switched them between barrels after the first year. Yeah, like I could have told the difference. Also, he said this version was tweaked from their King Henry barleywine of a few years back. There’s a big nose of the familiar barleywine smell. Maybe some more malt upfront, but then the smooth bourbon character comes through. Despite the higher alcohol, it’s much smoother; there’s some fruit in the background, and then a bit of wood.
Tried
on 04 Sep 2023
at 19:11
8.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Flaska från 2022, Fitzgerald. Kastanjebrun, relativt klar men försvinnande nätt beige krona. Verkligen fatdriven och träig. Rejäla fattoner, bra med hetta, blött trä, alkoholvärmande. Maltigt i botten, även om främst blir bärare åt fatet. Bröstkaramell, en lätt nötig ton, höstlöv, kolaremmar längre bak om man verkligen letar. Finns en viss ton av härsken nöt som stör i doften.
Tried
on 19 May 2023
at 08:18
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle shared at a recent tasting by Dave and Kelly, thanks for the opportunity! Dark pour for a barleywine with a minimal head. Rich sweet caramel and toffee with bits of bourbon and light vanillin Solid warming alcohol especially as this warms, nice sipper!
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 May 2023
at 21:45
7.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle at share. Mahogany pour, tiny ring of beige head. Aroma is malty, molasses, caramel, pit fruit. Taste is sweet and strong, brown sugar, toffee, bourbon. A bit on the boozy side.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 May 2023
at 17:54
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle big thanks to Billy. It pours darkest / deepest brown with a small khaki head. The aroma is sweet, sticky, sappy, oily, fresh, bourbon, toffee crisp, coffee cake, dried fruit, sticky, nutty, green, booze-soaked oak and earthy. The taste is dry, bitter - sweet, slick, earthy roasted malt, toasted wood, chewy, toothy, toffee, nutty, loads of warming (but pleasing) booze, caramel, vanilla, bourbon soaked oak, fruit cake and nip of spice with a toasty finish. Fulsome body and moderate carbonation, slick rich mouth feel. Tasty stuff. Satisfying.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Apr 2023
at 06:13
9/10
Upfront its barleywine perfection but as it warms up it's deficiencies come out, the light body, the barrel dependency, still delicious but it's a old Fitz barrel dominated fig juice boi vs db VSOJ which held up beyond room temp as revolution perfection.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Mar 2023
at 21:46
8.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bottle thanks to Guillermo. Pours a cloudy amber with small beige head that lasts. The aroma is dark fruit, wood, bourbon. Slick body, raisin, fig, bourbon, wood, nice sweetness, enjoyed this.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Feb 2023
at 01:32
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle best before July 26, 2027, drunk 1/2/23. Clear medium amber, small, beige head to ring. Rich malt and lovely bourbon. Unlike Barreled Souls, some alcohol does show through. Sticky toffee, caramel, raisin, date and spicy bourbon. Wow very strong bourbon, cuts the rich texture aggressively. Very spicy, rich, caramel and raisin forward with date and vanilla lingering alongside spicy bourbon and light to moderate alcohol. Some cherry and pepper but mostly warming bourbon. Maybe more appealing if you love Old Forester and/or bourbon, neither of which I do. Just want more thickness of texture, though I appreciate it's not a sugar-syrup bomb.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jan 2023
at 19:14
8.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
500 ml bottle. Thanks to TJ. The aroma and flavor go hand-in-hand. Flavors of toffee, warm caramel, vanilla and soft oak. For 17% is highly drinkable and no huge alcohol burn after the sip. Extremely flavorful. Worth $40.00 a bottle? Not easy for me to say.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jan 2023
at 19:11
8/10
Bottle split 4 ways aroma follows taste, toffee, dark fruit, nice old Fitz flavor. Abv is well hidden at 17%. Is it worth $40 a bottle. The jury is out.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jan 2023
at 13:56