K&L Exclusive: A One-of-a-Kind, MGP-Distilled Single Barrel
Barrell Craft 8 Years 9 Months Old K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #Z5L5 Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) ($99.99)
“While it sometimes feels like the Barrell parade never ends, it’s only because we rarely say no. They are always so damn good, and each one is different…”
— Andrew Whiteley, K&L Spirits Buyer

K&L’s whiskey fans are well acquainted with Barrell’s expertly selected blends, but their highly elusive single barrels are every bit as compelling thanks to their wildly distinctive styles from one cask to the next. This singular, nearly 9-year-old expression from the famed MGP distillery offers a bourbon profile unlike anything we’ve seen on the current market.

Barrell Craft 8 Years 9 Months Old K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #Z5L5 Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) ($99.99)

K&L Notes: Barrell is known for their exceptional blending skills and creative barrel finishings, and rightfully so, as it’s their wheelhouse. But in the midst of all the high-quality sourcing they do for their blends, they run into singular, exceptional casks that just have to be bottled on their own. They’re tightly limited in the number of single barrels they release, but we often get the cream of the crop due to our long-standing relationship with the team. Barrel Z5L5 is just such a barrel. Aged for 8 years and 9 months, this MGP-produced bourbon barrel yielded just 185 bottles at 53.66% ABV.

David Othenin-Girard | K&L Spirits Buyer | Review Date: February 09, 2023

This oddball cask is one of the most unusual and out-of-character MGP whiskies we’ve ever offered. Distilled from 99% corn and 1% malted barley, this is not corn whiskey or light whiskey, but proper bourbon, aged almost nine years. The nose is bourbon-ish in a completely different way than most MGP juice. It reminds me much more of some of the wheated mashbills coming from Kentucky than any of the high-rye bourbons that typically come from the famous Indiana plant. The nose is very confectionary, with rich marshmallow, sweet quince jam, pungent oak, and Tahitian vanilla bean. Caramel candies, peach candies, powdered sugar, and hints of dark oak in the background. On the palate, there’s more sweetness up front with a lovely stone fruit character, candied walnuts, roasted vanilla, burnt sugar, and bits of milk chocolate. A soft, appealing Seville orange peel dries up the finish nicely, but the candy and sugary fruit flavors linger for a long time. This really is a sweet one that kind of has my number when I’m feeling like something really easy to love, which is often. Super-supple, soft, and rich, there’s no bourbon lover who will be able to look down their nose at this unusual mashbill once they’ve tasted this lovely candy barrel.

Andrew Whiteley | K&L Spirits Buyer | Review Date: February 08, 2023

Dense caramels and sweet, dried apricots jump out on the nose. The proof, just hovering over 107, feels perfect for neat pours. Sweet corn abounds. This is fine old Indiana distillate, reminiscent of the long-gone 10-year Faultline bottles we used to procure from Smooth Ambler. The beauty of Barrell’s single-barrel program is that they are tasting such a wide variety of stellar whiskies, you never quite know what you’re going to get. When they find a barrel that stands out from the crowd, they sequester it into the SB program rather than blend it into one of their top-notch, small-batch blends. As you sit with this one, you’ll move from vanilla and candy corn into more cool herbs like mint and sassafras. It’s well rounded on the palate, with a long, mellow finish. While it sometimes feels like the Barrell parade never ends, it’s only because we rarely say no. They are always so damn good, and each one is different, so it’s worth having a ton of barrels around. Plus, word on the street is they’re moving away from the single-barrel game to focus on the micro-blends, so we have to stock up before they’re gone forever.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA