The new, charred oak barrels used to age bourbon are one of its most iconic and essential elements, transforming raw whiskey into the rich and beloved caramel-colored spirit. But before those barrels are blasted with unbridled flame to create their signature blackened interiors, many undergo a gentler process called toasting. This slower, lower-temperature treatment allows radiant heat to penetrate deep into the wood, breaking down and caramelizing natural sugars to release flavors like vanilla, caramel, and spice.
“Toasting is where you see so much of your flavor development,” explains Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall. “You’re getting into the lignin layer of the wood and pulling those flavors to the surface.”
While toasting has long been part of bourbon barrel preparation—whether intentionally or as a byproduct of intense heat—it’s now taking top-billing in the continuing trend of toasted-barrel-finished bourbons. After traditional aging, these bourbons are then transferred to secondary barrels that have been toasted for an extended period, resulting in more pronounced, often dessert-like aromas and flavors. Woodford Reserve was one of the first distilleries to popularize the approach with the 2012 release of its Double Oaked—mature bourbon aged an additional year in a second barrel toasted for about forty minutes and then lightly charred.
This month, the distillery doubled down on the properties of toasted wood with the first nationwide release of its Double Double Oaked bourbon, which soaks for twice as long in toasted barrels. The bourbon was a surprise hit when Woodford introduced it as an only-in-Kentucky release in 2015, with fans clearing shelves within hours. It’s now packaged at 90.4 proof in a bespoke 700ml bottle (suggested retail price $199), and McCall is excited that more people will be able to try it.
“The color is gorgeous—it’s a deep mahogany, like roasted coffee—but the flavor impact is even more significant,” she says. “While Double Oaked has more sweet, soft, velvety flavors—caramels and butterscotch—with Double Double Oaked, you get more rich, roasted notes, with sweet dark chocolate and a little bit of leather.”
Once a novelty on store shelves, toasted-barrel-finished bourbons have become more pervasive as distillers look to enhance flavors in their whiskey. Here are five more bottles that employ the process—with delicious results.
Michter’s Toasted Barrel Finish Bourbon
Louisville’s Michter’s introduced its Toasted Barrel Finish Bourbon in 2014, further aging its US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon in a secondary barrel that’s been slowly toasted but not charred. “The goal was to showcase the influence of toasting and the barrel’s many extractive characters,” says Andrea Wilson, Michter’s master of maturation. With notes of “campfire, marshmallow, cinnamon, pecans, and fruit, it became the perfect fall release.”
Wilson says that while growing demand for Michter’s flagship bourbon necessitated a three-year pause in the toasted variety’s production, ongoing interest from its fans prompted additional releases in 2018, 2021, and 2024, with more almost certainly on the way. Michter’s has also expanded the concept to include a toasted-barrel-finished rye and a sour mash whiskey.
Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel
That Heaven Hill would choose its Elijah Craig bourbon for the toasted-barrel treatment makes historic sense: The bourbon takes its name from the eighteenth-century Baptist preacher and distiller credited with popularizing charred barrels in bourbon production. Introduced in 2020 as an allocated, year-round release, Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel is finished in new oak barrels that are incrementally toasted at prescribed temperatures and then flash charred. When tasted side by side with regular Elijah Craig, it also demonstrates toasted oak’s dramatic influence on whiskey.
“It’s the same proof point and about the same age as Elijah Craig, but it’s a completely different whiskey,” says Heaven Hill Master Distiller Conor O’Driscoll. “On the nose, it’s more wood forward with a nice, toasty note like toasted pecans. When you taste it, the first thing that strikes me is a rounder, creamier mouthfeel that tells you something different has been done.”
Penelope Toasted Series
Relative newcomer Penelope Bourbon includes a toasted-barrel-finished bourbon among its core lineup and further explores the nuances of the technique through releases in its Toasted Series, which detail the toast level (e.g. medium, heavy) on the label. Penelope released a rye whiskey as part of the series in 2023, and again in 2024 using a different mash bill and barrel treatment. “The #2 char profile of the finishing barrels brought out rich butterscotch notes, adding additional layers and depth,” says Daniel Polise, Penelope’s co-founder and master blender, with flavors of “vanilla and toasted marshmallow balanced with notes of light tobacco and fruit.”
Nulu Toasted Small Batch Bourbon
Louisville-based Prohibition Craft Spirits Distilling Co. employs a different toasted-barrel approach: Rather than beginning with a batch of mature bourbon and finishing it in toasted barrels, the distillery takes individual barrels of bourbon finished at varying toast levels and blends them to create its Nulu Toasted Small Batch Bourbon. This method allows blenders to accentuate desired flavors and helps improve consistency in the final product.
Peerless Toasted Bourbon
For its toasted-barrel bourbon, initially released last spring and produced in small batches, Kentucky’s Peerless Distilling Co. finishes its core bourbon in barrels made by the Louisville-based Kelvin Cooperage. Craftsman there use traditional, nonmechanized methods to slowly toast each barrel by hand over a natural wood fire. “We chose to use a medium toast because it contains less tannins, which results in a more aromatic whiskey,” says Peerless Head Taster John Wadell. “The toasted barrel adds more complexity, with [notes of] honey, vanilla, toasted spices, and chocolate.”
