I bought a bottle of Barrell Armida within ten seconds of learning that stuff is finished in pear brandy, rum, AND Sicilian amaro casks. That just sounds delicious. But is it actually delicious? Read on to find out!

Thank you for reading on. The answer is yes.

Nose

As Douglas Adams would say, this stuff smells almost, but not quite, entirely unlike bourbon. That is to say, it smells less like any whiskey I’ve had and more like a cocktail (in a good way).

I can actually make out the pear from the pear brandy casks. If you really twist my arm for an association, I’d say this stuff smells similar to birthday cake flavored ice cream.

Palate

Burn. This stuff is barrel proof and that comes through: The first thing I taste is the burn. But the flavor smacks you right after. This stuff is a drink of its own. If I hadn’t read the label, I wouldn’t be able to guess that this was a bourbon.

It’s on the sweeter side, but not in an overly sweet artificial kind of way. I can definitely taste the pears, and I love that because it’s not often I can taste specific fruits in my whiskey.

Finish

Medium finish taste-wise, long finish burn-wise.

Old Fashioned

Have I bastardized an $80 bottle by mixing it into a cocktail? Maybe. But I would argue that this bottle is already toeing the line between whiskey and cocktail.

I would also argue that this is a perfect bottle for an old fashioned. Why? Because the flavor is bold and unique enough that the whiskey itself stays the star of the show. Too often when I make an old fashioned the cocktail tastes pretty much the same regardless of the actual bourbon I use. Something about the sugar, bitters, and ice just sands down the nuance of most bourbons and what come out is a regular old fashioned.

Not with this bottle. The Armida has a flavor of its own that holds up and is enhanced by the cocktail. It’s actually my favorite way to drink this bottle.

Recipe: one part Armida; half a dollop of simple syrup; a couple hyphens of orange bitters; tablespoon of siracha.

If you don’t have siracha you can just leave it out. If you do have siracha, you should still leave it out. Don’t put siracha in there you lunatic.

Bottom Line

8/10. The best way to describe this bottle is that it’s basically a cocktail in and of itself. It’s not overly sweet, but the flavors are so different you can’t really go into it thinking “this is bourbon.” If I were to compare this to Barrel Seagrass, I would say Seagrass stays much closer to rye than this does to bourbon.

Overall, this is a genuinely unique bottle that’s amazing on its own, or in an old fashioned. I think it’s worth the price tag and is a bottle I’ll always have in stock.