The Woodford series is still going and we’re at the penultimate entry with a side by side of Woodford Double Oaked and a Spec’s pick. Woodford Double Oaked batches regular Woodford Reserve and ages it a bit longer in a second, toasted new oak barrel. The store picks are single barrels of the second barreling but are still batched after the first maturation. I originally tasted both of these blind and side by side but took the notes later on and not blind.
Woodford Double Oaked
Age: NAS years
Abv: 90.4 proof
Price: $47.99
Regular Double Oak
Nose: Very wood forward with predominantly rich oak and sweet caramel with fainter nutty and malty notes in the background.
Taste: The strong oak and caramel notes from the nose carry forward to the taste alongside some warm baking spice, vanilla, malt and a bit of fresh herbs. Decent mouthfeel overall but good for the proof.
Finish: Medium length, mostly sweet finish with less oak than I expected with floral honey and minty herbal notes.
7 - a great whiskey I’d order at a bar
Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase
Spec’s Pick
Nose: More complex with rich oak, sweet caramel, fresh herbal, malted grain and slightly spicy notes.
Taste: Spice forward with warm baking spice, more oak and caramel and a bit of the malt. Slightly thinner mouthfeel.
Finish: Medium length finish with spice and mint notes.
7 - a great whiskey I’d order at a bar
Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase
Conclusion
I enjoyed both these though I won’t be in a hurry to grab another bottle of either.
I did a blind side by side of these a while back at Woodford tasting and I preferred the the Spec’s pick then but not by much. I think I still do but it’s pretty close. It was spicier and had a more complex nose but a thinner mouthfeel.
Looking outside the Woodford range my ‘gold standard’ for double oaked bourbon is Blood Oath Pact 4 and neither one of these compared favorably.
And lastly here’s the obligatory ‘why don’t they release a 100-110 proof version of this??” from all my Woodford reviews.
TL;DR: Both were a step up from the standard Woodford, store pick was different but not better
Scale
Scale
You can also read this and my other reviews at atxbourbon.com or follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.
You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.
The full review and tasting notes are up on r/bourbon and atxbourbon!