Whiskey Review: Bardstown Bourbon Company Normandie Calvados Brandy Barrel Finish

We’re checking out another limited-release expression from Bardstown Bourbon Company. This time, Bob is flying solo for the whiskey portion as we dig into the third bottle in Bardstown’s Distillery Collection series: the Normandie Calvados Brandy Barrel Finish. We’ve already reviewed the Cathedral French Oak and Hokkaido Mizunara Oak releases from this line. Cathedral, in particular, blew us away, becoming one of our favorite whiskeys we’ve ever had on the show. So this new Calvados-finished expression has a lot to live up to.

This bottle features a blend of 12- and 13-year-old bourbons from Indiana (likely MGP), both using a 75/21/4 mash bill (corn/rye/malted barley). It's been finished for a whopping 28 months in Calvados barrels, a type of apple (or sometimes pear) brandy barrel from Normandy, France. This particular finish came from a collaboration with Christian Drouin House, a renowned Calvados producer.

At 104.2 proof, this limited release comes in a 375 ml bottle with a retail price of $100, though it’s already hitting the secondary market for five times that amount. Here's Bob's full breakdown of the pour.

Nose

It’s really, really dark stone fruit. There’s a ton of prune. I get a little bit of date. But it has more of a wine character, almost a Pinot Noir. Super dark, syrupy wine character going on, with a really nice layer of vanilla and oak.

If you’re a fan of red wines, you’re going to love this. It has that sort of oak-influenced vanilla wine tone to it. I like this a lot.

Score: 8/10

Taste

Lots of really good dark stone fruit, like a pitted dark cherry note. It doesn’t quite tip into the cherry Robitussin, which is where it loses Brad and me sometimes.

This stays in that vanilla range, but it’s more like a pure vanilla extract, not sweetened vanilla. There’s almost a layer of almond to this as well. On the back of the palate, it starts to tip into being not bitter, but it has the same effect of black licorice: anise, that coats your palate in a waxy way. It’s really, really nice. But it’s on the drier side.

This is not your super-sweet whiskey. I like this a ton.

Score: 8/10

Finish

It’s really long-lasting. This clocks in at 104.2 proof, but it drinks way lower than that without losing the viscosity. It’s got a really nice, thick, long-lasting mouthfeel and finish to it. You don’t get a ton of chest burn.

It reminds me of drinking a really high-quality wine, like a Bordeaux you shelled out some money for to sip on a summer evening. Really great, long-lasting, mouthwatering finish. It doesn’t really pick up any new notes: still lots of oak influence.

The black licorice note is kind of the predominant thing for me here. It tips a bit more herbal at the end, but you get those waves of cherry, vanilla, and the dark wine grape character.

Score: 8/10

Balance

When you look across the board at 8, 8, 8 from nose to taste to finish, typically I like to bump up the balance score as a result, because there weren’t any weird peaks or valleys here.

Score: 9/10

Value

This one is hard to score. If you can get it for $100 MSRP, it’s right in line with where Cathedral and Hokkaido were. I like this better than the Hokkaido, but not quite at the level of Cathedral French Oak, which is just in another stratosphere.

Would I pay $100 for this? I think I would. It feels like drinking something intended for special occasions. If you’re in need of a good holiday gift or a new special occasion bottle, this could be it at $100. Anything more than that and I’d come down considerably.

Score: 7/10

Final Scores

At 40/50, this pour earns a confident recommendation from us. For reference, we typically start recommending pours at 35/50: try it at a bar, buy if you like it. A 40/50 is where we tell you it’s worth seeking out a bottle, and 45/50 enters all-time great territory. The Normandie Calvados Brandy Barrel Finish might not be a new Mount Rushmore pour, but it’s one of the best we’ve tried this year and a standout for fans of wine-forward or fruit-driven finishes.

Stay tuned for Brad’s thoughts once he gets a pour; we’ll update the blog when we have both scores.