Pursuit Spirits has announced a new line extension to their portfolio of award-winning bourbon and rye whiskeys. The Oak Collection starts with a curated blend of whiskeys that has been developed to precisely pair with certain styles of secondary oak finishes. The result is a union of flavors where the original blend shines through while the secondary finish provides perfect balance. The Oak Collection will be an ongoing series that provides an exploration of whiskey tastes and constant innovation. This initial release will feature two limited expressions, Pursuit United Bourbon Finished with Toasted American and French Oak and Pursuit United Rye Finished with Sherry French Revere Oak. Both will be available in limited quantities with a SRP of $74.99.
“I guess you’re not a real whiskey company until you have a toasted release,” says Co-Founder Kenny Coleman. “In all seriousness, the Oak Collection creates a better whiskey than traditional rebarreling because it allows us to develop a custom blend to match a particular wood finish.” This line extension marries the concept of Pursuit United by blending different distillates, states, barrel types and aging environments with various oak types to develop unexplored taste profiles.
For the initial debut of the Oak Collection, a new bourbon blend was introduced that marries two types of oak. “Finding the right blend and wood finish proved to be a challenge because there are many variables at play,” says Co-Founder and blender, Ryan Cecil. “My goal was to complement the whiskeys being used. I did not want to hide them behind the flavors of the wood.” The Pursuit United brand provides the flexibility to use any barrel and achieve a blend that works with different wood finishes. After testing multiple blends, oak types, and finishing times from a few days to a couple of weeks, a perfect union was found.
Pursuit United Bourbon Finished with Toasted American and French Oak uses a proprietary combination of three different straight bourbon whiskeys. After the barrels were blended together, it was split into two different containers where one was finished with Toasted American oak while the other was finished with French oak. After each achieved a desired flavor, the two containers were blended together again for the final product. The nose is met with a flamed orange peel followed by dusted dark chocolate roasted nuts. The chocolate notes continue with a hazelnut spread along with cherry cola on the palate. Familiar notes of toasted oak, cloves, and black pepper are prominent on the finish.
The bourbon whiskeys included in the proprietary blend are from three different distilleries:
TN – Undisclosed but NOT in Tullahoma (80% Corn, 10% Rye, 10% Malted Barley)
IN – MGP (60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Malted Barley)
NY – Finger Lakes Distilling (70% Corn, 20% Rye, 10% Cherry Smoked Barley)
Pursuit United Rye Finished with Sherry French Revere Oak uses the same award-winning and proprietary blend as the flagship using three distillates from two different distilleries. The barrels were blended together at final proof before finishing with Sherry French Revere Oak. This release provides aromas of tropical fruits, coconut, and herbal tea. The initial taste has a creamy texture, like warm fruit cobbler, followed by brown sugar. The finish leaves soft spices and hints of cocoa.
The three rye whiskeys are from two different distilleries:
MD – Sagamore Spirit (A: 52% Rye, 43% Corn, 5% Malted Barley / B: 95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley)
KY – Bardstown Bourbon Co. (95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley)
Pursuit United Bourbon Finished with Toasted American and French Oak and Pursuit United Rye Finished with Sherry French Revere Oak is limited to 300 6-pack cases and are bottled at 108 proof. They will be available in very limited quantities in IL (Binny’s only), KY, MO, NM, TN (Knoxville market only), TX and online at Seelbachs.com with a SRP of $74.99.
ABOUT PURSUIT SPIRITS:
Founded in 2018 by the creators of the popular podcast Bourbon Pursuit, Pursuit Spirits is rooted in providing consumers an uncommon whiskey experience, focused on transparency and access to unique whiskeys. Today, Pursuit Spirits offers award-winning small-batch products with Pursuit United Bourbon and Pursuit United Rye as well as their single barrel product, Pursuit Series. For more information, please visit www.pursuitspirits.com.
