Our Latest Rye Single Barrel from Bardstown

One of our favorite distillers out there, and a team we’ve worked with since the launch of Discovery and Fusion Batch 1 all the way back in 2019. It’s hard to believe we’ve been working with them for over six years now, but we’re back today with another great rye single barrel that showcases Bardstown Bourbon Company’s consistency and innovation working in tandem.

Our last trip to Bardstown Bourbon Company in July of last year was extra special. It marked the first time our larger Seelbach’s team was able to pick barrels together. Between far too many tasting glasses, and me being outvoted on nearly every barrel, we walked away confident the selections were something worth waiting for. Coming off a year filled with releases like Ferrand, Discovery 13, and a number of unique Distillery Reserves, we’re back today with our first rye single barrel in well over a year.

A celebration of innovation, Bardstown’s rye whiskey is finished for over six months in hybrid American oak and cherry wood barrels. The second finishing barrel alternates cherry wood and oak staves, toasted to custom specifications, bringing unique bursts of flavor to this 95 percent rye. It represents the best of their collaborative and creative spirit.

Our first two selections of this rye explored opposite ends of the spectrum. Seelbach’s #1 finished for ten months with a light toast, delivering warm spice and wood-forward notes. Seelbach’s #2 spent eighteen months in a medium toast, leaning into richer, deeper flavors. This Seelbach’s #3 lands in between with a shorter medium toast finish and comes in several proof points higher than the previous two barrels. The result is a more balanced rye drinking experience with a nuanced, integrated finish that pulls everything together, but still highlighting those rich, viscous, toasted maple notes we love.

The nose leans into salted maple icing, warm butterscotch, and fruit candy before moving into a boozy banana split complete with chocolate, cherry, and butterscotch syrups topped with whipped cream. It’s both deep and inviting, with sweet toasted wood sugars becoming more pronounced as it opens.

The palate follows closely behind the nose, with huge wood sugars meeting rich, sticky maple notes. There’s something comforting in its seemingly simple flavors, delivering more on enjoyment and intensity than outright complexity.

The finish is long and weighty. While spiced, it’s wrapped in so much chocolate and caramel that it never feels jagged or difficult to return to. A long, creamy, well-aged rye that delivers on all fronts.