Dense honey | Graham cracker | Toasted marshmallow | Cinnamon | Seasoned oak

Honey | Candied cherry | Pineapple | Marmalade | Caramized sugar | Seasoned oak

Apricot | Peach | Mango | Chocolate wafer | Cinnamon slurry | Lingering rich oak

Dragon’s Milk Origin Honey Barrel was first released in April 2023 and is an annual release. To construct this small batch release, New Holland Spirits partnered with Great Lakes Bee Company to source their Hasselman’s Honey. Bourbon barrels were dumped and refilled with honey, which was left to age. The honey was then dumped out of the barrels, and they were refilled with Dragon’s Milk Origin Bourbon, which was finished for an undisclosed amount of time before being batched and bottled.

There is no shortage of honey-finished bourbons (and ryes) on the market nowadays, but like all of New Holland’s Dragon Milk bourbons, they have an ace up their sleeve: their base bourbon’s flavor profile. Dragon’s Milk bourbons have a unique suite of flavors. Flushed with a mix of tropical and stone fruits against cinnamon, toasted/seasoned oak, and a high malt content, the result is as mesmerizing as it is addicting. There’s a reason New Holland’s bourbons have some of the highest ratings on Breaking Bourbon. Though to be fair, not all of their finished bourbons play nice with their base bourbon, as we saw with their Amburana and Madeira finished releases.

But honey is one flavor that over a few releases has proven a symbiotic pairing. Over the course of multiple Honey Barrel releases and a few other Toasted Barrel/Honey Barrel finishes, things have now come together in such a spectacular fashion.

Honey dominates the bourbon’s aroma, and though that gives some pause and concern, the honey in the rest of the sip isn’t nearly as overpowering. The rest of the aroma helps offset the honey with scents of graham cracker, toasted marshmallow, cinnamon, and seasoned oak. The palate starts with honey, but moves to candied cherry, pineapple, marmalade, caramelized sugar, and more seasoned oak. The finish is where the sip truly shows its colors. The core Dragon’s Milk flavors are on full display, with honey mixing with apricot, peach, and mango against a gentle contrast of chocolate wafer, cinnamon slurry, and lingering rich oak.

To state it again, this finished bourbon works so well because of how well the honey interacts with the base bourbon’s core flavors. It turns out, tropical and stone fruit flavors work incredibly well with honey. This must be similar to what Penelope experienced with their Rio release that Amburana and honey also worked surprisingly well together. Like with any whiskey, Dragon’s Milk Origin Honey Barrel might not work for everyone due to its honey and sweet flavor profile, but after multiple iterations, New Holland truly found a wonderful sweet spot with this year’s Dragon’s Milk Origin Honey Barrel release.