Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 92 |
| Style |
Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee United States |
| ABV | 55.69% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $85.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Reviewed | 2025-07-29 |
Barrell Bourbon Batch 037 Review
Louisville’s Barrell Craft Spirits has been breaking its own mold in recent releases, pivoting away from an “always cask strength” mantra for a 100-proof Foundation series. (That also included a very good double-barreled version.) Today, we’re looking at a new expression core to what the brand has been doing well for most of the past decade: blended bourbon from across a variety of sources, bottled at cask strength.
Barrell Bourbon Batch 037 is a marriage of whiskey from three different states across a variety of ages:
- Indiana Bourbon: 8, 11, and 12 Years Old
- Kentucky Bourbon: 10 Years Old
- Tennessee Bourbon: 13, 14, and 15 Years Old
The final blend is bottled at 111.38 proof, or 55.69 percent ABV.
As with the majority of Barrell releases, the exact sources of whiskey and percentages used in the blend are undisclosed. We do know the derived mash bill for this release, which comes out to 78 percent corn, 18 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley.
Let’s see how it tastes!
Barrell Bourbon Batch 037: Stats and Availability
Barrell Bourbon Batch 037 is limited to just 1,500 cases of six bottles each, for a total of 9,000 bottles distributed worldwide. (Barrell is sold in 49 states, along with the U.K., South Korea, Ukraine, and Australia.) This batch carries an MSRP of $84.99, and because it’s available through the brand’s website in addition to a number of retailers, expect prices to stick close to that.
Barrell Bourbon Batch 037 Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
Fruity, tart, and sweet to start, the nose opens with sliced green apples, drizzled with melted caramel sauce. Small threads of ripe guava and papaya linger below the surface, adding a touch of tropical fruit that never quite rises to a dominant characteristic. Overripe (nearly fermented) apricot is up next. Aromas then quickly shift to a medley of spice: white pepper, pink peppercorns, and a tiny pop of chili powder, which lends some capsaicin-adjacent heat. Mild floral/herbal accents like lavender and sagebrush follow, along with some semi-savory stewed tomatoes.
The sweet scents get a little funkier with time, like decomposing wood intermingled with charred barrel staves. Batch 037 clearly gets some influence from the older bourbon components, and while we don’t know exactly how much of the 13, 14, and 15 year old whiskey this contains, it’s enough to highlight the blend’s overall maturity — but nothing here screams overly oaked.
Taste
A first sip is altogether more sweet than spiced, though there’s a backbone to the robust, creamy caramel. It’s worth calling attention to Batch 037’s buttery mouthfeel, which seems dialed in for this particular release; even a tiny first sip seems to touch on every quadrant of the palate, giving ample time for flavors to develop and inviting a “Kentucky chew” or two. It’s not terribly oak-forward, but there’s still a detectable amount of wood sugar and vanilla.
That caramel gets darker with time, incorporating hits of butterscotch, praline, fresh maple syrup, rock candy, and even marzipan for a nutty element. Cream soda and a little fermented malt beverage both accent those early sips.
Flavors gradually transition to fruit compote, still sweet but with tastes of cooked apple, tart cherry, orange marmalade, and canned pears. (The latter flavor especially builds with time, and along the midpalate, this almost tastes like sipping syrup from the can.) The back palate rounds out with small components of menthol and peppermint alongside wet tobacco.
Finish
Milk chocolate, French press coffee, and Heath Bar toffee are the most prominent notes on the finish, which bring a touch of astringency that cuts through a fundamentally sweet sipping experience. Lightly smoked maple syrup continues for almost a minute after the final sip, contributing to a long — if not overly complex — final act.
Barrell Bourbon Batch 037 Rating
92/100
Recap
The newest batch of Barrell Bourbon doesn’t quite take the title as most memorable in the lineup. But that’s certainly nitpicking. The brand’s blending team — led by Nic Christiansen — has crafted an undeniably tasty release that finds harmony across multiple liquid streams. The resulting bourbon is both accessible and deep, pleasant to casual sippers and seasoned whiskey nerds alike. It’s refreshing to see that even as the brand expands its non-cask strength, value-oriented lines, Barrell Craft Spirits can still put together an uncut release at the quality it’s long been celebrated for.
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