Blind Barrels – a blind tasting kit for craft whiskey fans

BLIND BARRELS
blind tasting subscription service

WHISKEYS – various American craft whiskeys

PRICE – subscriptions vary from $60 to $200

WORTH SUBSCRIBING? – Yes or no, depending…

The kind people at Blind Barrels sent me this sample kit. The concept is very fun: a blind tasting subscription by which craft whiskey fans are sent four samples quarterly (you can also order one-off kits) without knowing what they’re getting. You taste through them, make your guesses, then use a QR code to find out what you’ve had. And if you like any in particular, you can order a full bottle at a discount.

In addition to the four samples, the kit includes a Glencairn, and a handy chart of tasting notes to help you articulate what you’re experiencing in each sample.

I’m a big craft whiskey fan. I will admit up front, however, that I’m not big into subscriptions. Early in my whiskey journey I did join a local shop’s whiskey club. But after a few months I dropped out, realizing I’d rather choose myself what to spend my money on. But as a way to get introduced to craft whiskey brands I might not encounter otherwise, the Blind Barrel subscription concept is a very interesting prospect.

Let’s give it a whirl. As this blind flight is not a ranking comparison but a journey of discovery, I won’t do a side-by-side. (Although one could certainly approach it that way.) I’ll taste through each sample in alphabetical order, make my guesses, then check the QR code to see what I’m tasting. I’ll use the Blind Barrel Glencairn for each, but without consulting their tasting chart until after taking my own notes. Here we go…!

SAMPLE A

COLOR – hazy amber orange, with thick dripping legs in the glass

NOSE – both fruity and dry, grassy, with baked apricot, a hint of raspberry, freshly bailed straw, fresh baked bread, a dollop of vanilla and caramel

TASTE – true to the nose, but now also with coffee, thick caramel taffy, cream, all with a nice creamy texture

FINISH – a mild and fine prickly heat, with lingering notes of lemon zest, straw, and creamy caramel

OVERALL – rustic, creamy, thick

Very interesting. My senses lead me to guess this might be some four-grain mash bill involving oats, or mmmaybe a single malt…? The proof is easygoing, reading as something in the very low 90s. I really love the overall creaminess of it. The aromas and flavors lean toward herbal spices more than fruit or baking spice, so there is a dryness to it as well. But the candy and cream notes help create a nice balance. Off to a good start!

SAMPLE B

COLOR – an oh so slightly darker hazy amber orange than Sample A

NOSE – Woah. Dry! New electric copper wires, parched straw and wicker, the faintest cherry note if I really search for it and I very well may be imagining it…

TASTE – Much more appealing here, with a sweet fruity note like fresh apricot, light cream like in a porridge, a creamy texture

FINISH – drier than the taste but not as dry as the nose, with straw and wicker, a bit of cloying vanilla caramel, that faint sense of porridge

OVERALL – wobbles between pleasant and off-putting

Okay. Quite different. The proof seems similar, something in the 90s or maybe an unusually easygoing low-100s. Hard to guess the mash bill—maybe a young wheated bourbon? Or some “experimental” grain like millet or a particularly harsh heirloom rye? The copper electrical wire thing is pretty much a dealbreaker for me. I’ve experienced that in whiskeys just a few times before and I never enjoy it. And despite being a fan of dry whiskeys, I do need enough sweetness to create balance. The fruit notes here are fleeting and weak, and the sweet candy notes verge on cloying. The creamy aspects save the whiskey from being a complete bust for me. But ultimately that strong copper wire note on the nose stops me from wanting to go back in for another taste.

SAMPLE C

COLOR – dusty orange

NOSE – creosote, creamy grain porridge, a sweet rubber (?!), dried cherry and strawberry, some very milky milk chocolate

TASTE – the sweet rubber takes the lead, followed by drying grain and tar notes

FINISH – the rubber is less sweet here, the fruit notes return in faint whiffs

OVERALL – a sugary, rubbery ick of a whiskey

I don’t like this, to put it plainly. Worse than copper wiring for me is creosote, with its variations on rubber and tar. I’m guessing this is a rye or high-rye bourbon of some kind. Again the proof reads 90s. It would make sense to me that most whiskeys in these kits would be in the 90s, to help keep them approachable given the unusual and sometimes challenging flavor profiles. The nose here is less jarring than Sample B’s, rubbery qualities being softer than wiry qualities. This helps me to keep going back in to sort through the experience on the taste and finish. But there the combo of rubber and cloying sweetness just makes me wince.

SAMPLE D

COLOR – dark russet cherry-orange

NOSE – cherry, dry red wine, rye spices, thick dry caramel fudge, a chunk of dark chocolate

TASTE – drier than the nose but still sweet and dark, with fruity barley notes, rye spice, malty chocolate sauce, and a stiff kick from the proof

FINISH – dry, but leaning toward the sweetness of the nose again, with the cherry and red wine notes most prominent, followed by dark chocolate shavings

OVERALL – rustic, desserty, and decadent

If this turns out to be a Tom’s Foolery bourbon or rye I wouldn’t be surprised. The proof comes across quite north of 100, maybe even 110+. The mash bill seems to have a high malted barley percentage and/or some malted rye. The dark cherry and malted chocolate notes take me immediately to other craft experiences like Tom’s Foolery, Old Potrero, and some Dry Diggings high-proof releases. There may even be some wine cask finishing at work here. Of the four samples in this kit, this is easily the most pleasing to me. The combination of dryness and seemingly higher proof demand I slow down with it. But that’s also what I appreciate about the other whiskeys this reminds me of—that sense of dark decadence one must wade deeper into with care. The intrigue and sensuality of it compels each next sip.

Well there we are. An interesting flight, for sure, if not an entirely pleasing one. It opened with the invitingly rustic and creamy Sample A. Then we got tangled in copper wires before skidding against rubber. And finally we arrived at a smoldering bonfire in the dark where daunting desserts are served.

What are these whiskeys? Let’s consult the QR code.

Sample A – Axe Hole Single Malt Whiskey. Calwise Spirits Co., Paso Robles, CA. Ferments for two years! 84 proof. Aged 3 years. Mash bill 100% malted barley. Member price $75

Sample B – UNbendt Straight Rye Whiskey Bottled in Bond. Bendt Distilling Co., Lewisville, TX. 100 proof. Aged 5.5 to 6 years. Mash bill 51% Elbon rye, 27% Triticale (a wheat-rye hybrid), 20% Marris Otter malted barley, and 2% Golden Naked oats. Member price $55.

Sample C – Old Monongahela Full Proof Rye. Liberty Pole Spirits, Washington, PA. 108 proof. Aged 3.5 to 4.5 years. Mash bill 61% Pennsylvania-grown rye, 13% malted rye, 13% wheat, 13% malted barley. Member price $65.

Sample D – Doc Holliday 10 Year Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Distilled by Ivy Mountain Distillery (now closed), Mount Airy, GA, and produced by World Whiskey Society, Pendergrass, GA. 122 proof. Aged 10 years. 80% corn, 10% malted corn, 5% rye, 5% malted barley. Member price $130.

I’ve heard of none of these distilleries. I love that!

In addition to the basic information transcribed above, the Blind Barrels website offers its own tasting notes, a video of a tasting you can follow along with, plus additional information about each distillery, with insights into their process, history, and intentions. I won’t detail all that here. But for anyone with an invested interest in craft whiskey, the info provided more than satisfies the itch of curiosity.

I was fascinated by both what I got right and what I got wrong in my guessing. I’ve never believed blind tastings to be an arbiter of what whiskey one likes “best.” I do think that knowing the brand, price paid, and the circumstance by which one came into a bottle make a legitimate impact on the tasting experience, if not the literal taste of the whiskey. But I do very much enjoy the provocative nature of tasting whiskeys blind, what it reveals about where my conscious mind goes in order to articulate what my senses experience. My brain searches the memory banks for familiar aromas, tastes, and sensations, in order to locate the unknown.

In terms of pros and cons, the main pro of a Blind Barrels subscription, I would say, is first and foremost the craft whiskey angle. This is not a subscription service for strict mainstream whiskey fans. You must be into craft whiskeys and all the idiosyncratic adventure they offer in order to appreciate these flights.

The price is pretty good too. At $50 to $60 a kit, you’re paying $12.50 to $15 per 50ml (1.7oz) pour of whiskey. That’s not bad by contemporary whiskey prices. You’d likely pay that or more for a shot of these uncommon whiskeys in a good tasting bar. Then again you’d be very unlikely to find these uncommon whiskeys in any bar.

The con of a Blind Barrels subscription is the flip side of the main pro’s coin. An adventure into the unknown is great when it works out. Not so great when you crash and burn. For me, purely as a tasting experience, the success of this particular flight was fifty/fifty—two whiskeys I enjoyed and two I really didn’t. And of the two I enjoyed, neither would I be likely to buy a full bottle of, even at the member’s price. That said, I think the Doc Holliday 10 Year Bourbon is something I might have been tempted to buy, if I hadn’t already enjoyed several similar experiences (e.g. Tom’s Foolery, Old Potrero, Dry Diggings).

But liking or not liking the taste of all, some, or none of the whiskeys in these flights might also be entirely beside the point. Buying a full bottle at a discount is a membership perk, and a great one if you ever taste something you really enjoy. But what subscribers are buying into is the leap offered by the blind tasting flights. You’re buying a journey, not a destination, so there’s going to be something to be gained in the way of experience, knowledge, and new insights. Triticale? A wheat-rye hybrid? Thanks to Bendt Distilling, now I know!

Ultimately Blind Barrels is not for me, purely because as I said I’m by nature not a subscriber. Magazines, cable networks, podcasts, theater season tickets, YouTube channels, I didn’t even subscribe to a home internet service until the pandemic forced my hand! I just don’t like to tie myself to much of anything. Especially financially. I prefer my curiosity to be free-roaming, curated by the accidents I stumble upon in the course of the work I do to search and research.

But I can absolutely see Blind Barrels appealing to anyone who doesn’t want to undertake that research, trial, and error. Someone who has an adventurous curiosity for whiskey, the money to spend on it, but wants someone else to curate the adventure for them, would really enjoy Blind Barrels. It’s like a group travel service, organizing all the flights, trains, hotels, restaurants, and sight-seeing for you. I would never go for that, preferring the risk and fun of getting lost down the side streets on my own. But for others it’s exactly what they want and need. Great.

So check out Blind Barrels and decide for yourself. At the very least it would make a great gift for anyone you know who’s into whiskey. A no-brainer, in that regard. Serious whiskey fans can be hard to shop for, since they’re always on the hunt! But if this Blind Barrels flight I went on is a typical example, then I can’t imagine any whiskey fan, no matter how early or deep into their journey, not getting surprised by at least a couple pours. And that’s totally worth it.

Cheers!