Charbay Release III vs. Bourbon Crusaders Charbay Single Barrel Reviews

Over the years I've been fortunate enough to make internet friends with some really nice people in the whiskey hobby. Some of those friends happen to be members of a whiskey group known as the Bourbon Crusaders who do some private single barrel selections. Their most recent selection was a ridiculously high proofed Charbay and one of my connections there was generous enough to send me a sample. I also happened to have another high proof Charbay sample on hand so I thought it would be fun to do a little side by side. 

Charbay Release III

Distilled from a barley beer that had hops added before it was distilled. It was aged for 6 years in charred oak and then left to mingle for an additional 8 years in "netural vessels" before being bottled. The release was very limited at 224 cases, bottled at 132.4 proof, and currently retails for $425 (ouch).

On the nose it smells like high proof, high IBU, stout beer. Imagine a 130 proof Goose Island Bourbon County IPA / APA / stout as it has characteristics of all those types of beers with the syrupy richness I usually only find in the Goose Island limited editions. On the palate it tastes a lot like the nose but the hoppy funk is more amped up than the stout notes. Intense would be an understatement to describe the flavors here. For all intents and purposes this tastes like barrel proof weed. It's so dank and funky but underneath all that is the deep, sweet, rich backbone of freshly charred oak notes that come from a cask strength American whiskey. It's incredibly wild and bizarre. 

I wouldn't want to drink this very often and the retail cost is many times beyond my comfort zone but it gets an A for uniqueness and A- for taste.

Bourbon Crusaders Charbay Single Barrel

Distilled from rye beer, IPA beer, and stout beer that was aged 2 years in glass, then combined with more stout beer distillate and malt distillate and aged 5 years in charred oak. It was bottled at 147 (!!!) proof. No word on cost but who cares because you can't buy it anyway.

On the nose there is a lot of fruity citrus and American Pale Ale beer notes. The ethanol content is undeniably strong but it's 147 million proof so no surprises there. The taste is absolutely fucking mental. It's really hot but I've had lower proof whiskeys that were harder to drink. Once you get past the heat, there's a crazy density of fresh charred oak sweet notes followed by skunky hops and intense citrus. It's still pretty dank but this one is less of a skunk weed bomb and more like a barrel proof Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin beer.

Again, not something you would want to drink very often and I still can't justify retail Charbay pricing here but this is one of the craziest things I have ever drank in my life. I'll give it an A+ for uniqueness and A for taste.

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.