The Story

Wine Enthusiast, VinePair, Drink Hacker, Uproxx. That’s just a sample of the outlets that showered praise upon Barrell Bourbon’s Seagrass expression. Despite these Goliath names in distilled spirits media giving Seagrass its due, we didn’t hear too much about it in our corner of the universe until Fred Minnick, best-selling author and bottle taster extraordinaire, put it on his list of ‘Top 100 American Whiskeys of 2021’.

And he ranked it all the way to #2. That’s one heck of a statement.

We can safely say that this bottle’s reputation precedes it, so when we were able to grab one we were pretty excited to see what all the fuss was about.

Coming in at 118.58 proof, Seagrass is a blend of American and Canadian rye whiskeys, with each ingredient meticulously sourced and finished separately in Martinique Rhum, Madeira & apricot brandy barrels. On the surface, this might look like your regular finished rye whiskey; but evidently there’s much more to this bottle than meets the eye. Will it stand up to the accolades?

Let’s pop this bottle open and see what it has in store.

Nose

 On the nose we get some very light oak notes, some citrus zest, apricot, green apple and pear.

Palate

The palate is very unique; there’s a bouquet of bright fruit notes – mostly tropical fruit with some green apple candy and key lime pie filling.

Finish

On the finish, we get some of that rye pepper spice lingering on for a bit, but ultimately leaves you with those original pear and apricot notes with a touch of cinnamon and Granny Smith apple.

Verdict

There’s been a lot of excitement around this bottle after it won a handful of awards and honestly, we can see why. It’s one of the more unique bottles we’ve ever had.

In our area, Seagrass sells for about $85 and we think it’s worth every penny. If you want to experience a bottle that features some truly unique notes but keeps you guessing, Seagrass is a definite ‘buy’. For our reasonable price range, we would say anywhere from $85-$100 is worth it.

Overall, we really like what Barrell produced in Seagrass – it’s refreshingly unique, a totally different take on your typical whiskey notes and we love every bit of it. Barrell stated that “Seagrass highlights the grassy oceanside notes we love in rye and the opulence and spice of finishing barrels. ” and we think they absolutely nailed it. For those reasons, we’re giving Seagrass an 8.7.

Cheers, friends!

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