After launching its inaugural flagship release, Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Frank August is excited to announce that it will be introducing two very limited expressions, to expand the brand’s portfolio offering: the brand’s first single barrel releases, as well as its introduction to the much anticipated ‘Case Study’ series.
Single Barrel
Frank August reconsiders how America’s native spirit is defined and perceived by continuing to challenge some of the established status quo of the industry. This philosophy is further reflected in how the brand identified its picks for its inaugural “Single Barrel” cask strength release. Identified their top 10 favorite barrels, the selection process was taken a step further by enlisting the collective expertise of some of the industry’s most respected master distillers and master blenders. An untraditional and unprecedented approach where some of the world’s most discerning palettes selected the final 5 barrels of Frank August’s first-ever Single Barrel release. A concept that also reinforces the brand’s effort to evolve and reconsider the identity of bourbon by uniting heritage with modernity.
This limited release is the first of many more single-barrel releases to come with the brand. Each of the 5 barrels was bottled at cask strength, sitting between 123.0 – 125.0 proof and are 5.1 years old; SRP is $119.99.
Case Study
The third release launching is Frank August’s first “Case Study” offering: “Case Study: 01 | Mizunara | Japanese Oak”. The program is named after an American mid-century architectural project, designed as an opportunity for the brand to showcase experimental expressions of bourbon whiskey through various finishing techniques, blending of whiskies and any other potential opportunities that might eventually present themselves.
For this foundational release, Frank August finished five hand-selected Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey barrels with Mizunara that was medium toasted. As Mizunara is a very porous wood, its ability to impact whiskey’s flavor profile can happen much quicker than other denser white oaks, like American and European oaks. As a result, samples were pulled every 30 days to monitor the development of the flavor profile that the Mizunara was impacting.
After an undisclosed time, the flavor profile evolved into a beautiful blend of butterscotch and baking spices. At this time, the bourbon whiskey was immediately dumped and batched to preserve those wonderful notes that were created. The final step was to find the perfect proof highlighting all the remarkable notes that the Mizunara had imparted on the bourbon whiskey, which ended up being 114.4 proof / 62.2 ABV%.
Less than 1,000 bottles were bottled for this limited release and the SRP is $149.99.
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