For the penultimate entry in the finished whiskey series I’m drinking two pretty unusual options with the newish Barrell Armida and a distillery release of High West Campfire. Both of these are blends of 3 different whiskies, 3 bourbons for the Armida and bourbon, rye and peated scotch for the Campfire, that are finished in amaro casks. I honestly didn’t know amaro was barrel aged before writing this! So let’s see how these hold up.
Barrell Armida
Age: NAS
Abv: 112.1
Finish: Pear Brandy, Jamaican Rum and Sicilian Amaro
Neat
Nose: Honey, pear, holiday spices, rich herbs and vanilla.
Taste: Very sweet, almost cloying at first then spiced pear cider, oak and anise notes
Finish: Slightly harsh with lots of herbs and spices
6 - a good whiskey I’m still happy to drink
I wasn’t really how to rate this. It doesn’t really taste like bourbon or even whiskey all that much anymore. It’s certainly interesting and enjoyable in its own way but it’s not something I’m ever reaching for.
High West Campfire Barrel Select
Age: NAS
Abv: 100.6 proof
Finish: 1 year and 2 months in Amaro
Barrel Number 16874
Neat
Nose: Rich herbs and savory smoke with some subtler sweet notes. What I assume a vegetarian BBQ would smell like.
Taste: Sweet and smokey with an initial caramel that gives way to BBQ smoke.
Finish: The amaro influence is more prevalent on the long finish with rich herbs, warm spices and subtler but lingering smoke.
6 - a good whiskey I’m still happy to drink
This was another unusual one. I prefer it to the Barrell but not by much. The peated scotch component overpowers the amaro influence for the most part.
Conclusion
Overall these were enjoyable but a little too out there to be something I would want to have regularly. I definitely think that the wine and rum finishes are more to my taste!
TL;DR: Great whiskey at an unfortunately low proof and too high a price.
Scale
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