Whiskey Review: Bardstown Bourbon Company Maison Ferrand Finish II

We’re back with another Bardstown Bourbon Company release—this time, the Maison Ferrand Finish II, a collaboration with the renowned French cognac house. This double-finished blend clocks in at 111 proof and was aged up to 12 years, with the finishing process adding a unique touch: 15 months in Maison Ferrand cognac casks.

The blend includes Bardstown's own 95/5 rye whiskey (95% rye, 5% malted barley), among other components, making this a complex, layered pour. The bottle recently took home Double Gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition, so we were eager to see if it lived up to the hype. Here’s how it fared in our glass.

Nose

Brad: I like this nose a lot. It is raisin-forward, there’s some dark cherry. For me, it reminded me of when I take heavy whipping cream and smell it to make sure it’s not gone bad. I’m like, “Oh, this kind of reminds me of heavy whipping cream a little bit.” There’s a little bit of vanilla in there. Overall, it’s a nice, pleasant nose. 8/10

Bob: I think this is significantly more decadent than the last one and much more syrupy. You can almost tell when something’s going to have a more viscous mouthfeel from the nose—it just smells more like syrup in your glass, to say nothing of the legs on it. Raisin is super prominent, you’re right about the cherry, but I get a ton of brown sugar notes that I wasn’t getting on the last whiskey. I like this a lot, Brad. I think we’re off to a good start here. 8.5/10

Taste

Brad: I think on the palate it has this really light, citrusy, kind of kumquat-type of flavor going on. There’s some apple peel. It reminds me of table grapes—the big green table grapes. It’s a little bit perfumey and aromatic. I was searching so hard to figure out this flavor. It kind of reminds me of fresh sheets, like when they just come out of the dryer. There’s something about it that’s a weird funky… do you get what I’m saying?

Bob: No, I’m having a completely different experience, but I want to hear you struggle some more.

Brad: So please continue. Yeah, it’s a weird one, man. I don’t know how I feel about it.

Bob: I give it a 7/10. It definitely is not a super sweet whiskey—it tips bitter. And I’m kind of okay with that because in this particular instance, the mouthfeel is much better than the Discovery Series to me. It’s a lot more viscous. It’s definitely oak-forward, and I get a ton of brandy-cognac influence on here. So I’m okay with it. When something is finished in brandy barrels or cognac barrels especially, it takes on a Robitussin/cough syrup kind of vibe. I think that’s all over this. In an unfinished bourbon, we would note this as, “This tastes like cough syrup. I do not like that.” Again, not my preferred wheelhouse, but it’s like, “Oh, this tastes like cognac on top of whiskey,” and if that’s your thing, I’m okay with it. I actually do think I prefer this as an experience more than I preferred the Discovery #13. 8/10

Brad: Man, I don’t think this tastes like whiskey at all, Bob. It tastes so perfumed. It’s just completely off base of what I want from a whiskey. Even saying that, I recognize that it’s well-made. Not for me, man.

Finish

Brad: The finish was very effervescent. It kind of disappeared and left this really kind of mouthwash-y flavor. There’s still that flavor of table grapes. It was still perfumy. I’m not in on this, man. This is kind of a high score for how I feel, but I’m going to give it a 7/10 on the finish as well.

Bob: If you’ve ever bought organic fruit or been around a vineyard, you know that when they’re picking grapes off the vine, it often has this white powder called bloom. I feel like the finish on this has that sort of powderiness to it on my palate. I guess if you want to call that tannic, it is a little bit tannic. It has that kind of drying effect.

Again, this is a hard one for me today because I don’t think either one of these would be a Bob Book shelf staple. I think I respect the craft on this one a little bit more than I liked Discovery 13, so maybe I’m inflating my scores a little bit here. I’ll give it a 7.5/10.

Balance

Brad: This was a much more cohesive experience than the last one was. I think I’ll give it an 8/10 on this one as well.

Bob: I give it a 7.5/10, which is exactly what I gave the last one. The last one was all over the place—but in a complex, interesting way. This one was straightforward, had the same flavors all throughout. I didn’t like what they were going for, but I’ll still land at 7.5/10 on balance.

Value

Brad: This is sitting at $140, which for me… I recognize what went into making this. I just think that the decision to go 15 months in the cognac barrels was probably four to seven months too long. This does not taste much like a whiskey—it’s so far off from what I would want out of a whiskey. 4/10

Bob: I think this is a better value than the other one is. Maybe it’s just because I think they pulled off what they were going for a little bit better. Sometimes I have to remove myself and my own preferences and ask: does this accomplish what I think they were trying to do? And I think on that note, they kind of hit a home run here. I’ll give it a 7.5/10 on value, especially considering this is for a 750ml bottle—not a 375ml.

Final Scores

Bob: I’m coming out to a 39.5/50 on this one. I like this a lot more than you do.

Brad: I’m coming out to a 33.5/50.

That gives us a combined score of 73/100, or an average of 36.5/50, which lands it squarely in our "soft recommend" territory. For reference, 35+ usually means we’d recommend trying a pour at a bar, while anything above 40 means it’s bottle-worthy. Bardstown has such a high baseline of quality that even a polarizing pour like this still manages to clear that threshold.

If you’re a fan of cognac or other brandy-finished whiskeys, Maison Ferrand Finish II is definitely worth exploring. As always, Bardstown continues to push boundaries—and while this one may not be a universal crowd-pleaser, it’s a bold, well-crafted experiment that we respect.