Rolo candy | Brown sugar | Toffee | Cream soda

Rye spice | Black peppercorn | Brown sugar | Cinnamon | Butterscotch | Seasoned oak

Rye spice | Cinnamon spice | Leather | Lingering charred dry oak & spice

Bushwood Spirits is a golf-centric spirits company created by Brad Carpenter. An injury 13 years ago prevented him from playing golf, and the idea for Bushwood Spirits sprang while he was recovering. The company was formed in 2016 and sold its first bottle in October 2021. Bushwood Spirits bottles are adorned with a heavy metal golf ball topper and other golf-related iconography on their labels.

There’s been much debate in the community about 78% corn, 13% rye, 9% malted barley mashbill that has popped up. Brands like World Whiskey Society, Louisiana Senator Bourbon, and Bardstown Bourbon Company have featured it, but it doesn't align with the mashbill of any known Kentucky distillery. Thanks to this release and the fact that the bottle lists the DSP number of the source distillery, we now know it's from Jim Beam. Among the aforementioned brands, this is the oldest bourbon release yet.

The bourbon features a narrow band of scents, but they are all extremely complementary. Rolo candy nicely blends with brown sugar, toffee, and cream soda. The palate and the finish feature a hefty amount of rye spice and oak. The palate offsets this with black peppercorn, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butterscotch, while the finish adds cinnamon spice and leather.

At 100 proof, Bushwood Back 9 Bottled in Bond 11 Year Bourbon packs in a lot of flavor, which has an immediate impact. Rye spice and oak dominate, resulting in a bourbon with good weight on the sip and lingering spiciness. I would have liked to see some of the other flavors push back a bit, as they tend to be sidelined. Its age and source distillery add a good degree of value, but overall, this is a traditional bourbon at heart that’s good but would benefit from more distinction.

This boubron in review is from Barrel no. 40, bottle no. 131 of 185.