Background
It feels like ages since I first encountered Frank August and Single Barrel 005… but really it was a mere six months ago. This hobby moves too damn fast. Since then, Frank August has released Case Study: 02 and a fresh set of fifteen single barrels, which makes it a perfect time to revisit the brand.
First up we have Case Study: 02, where the Pedro Ximenez (PX) casks involved in crafting this whiskey had quite the journey before being utilized by Frank August. First filled in 1992, they were filled with brandy for 17 years. This brandy was dumped, and then the barrels were refilled with brandy from 1948 and for an additional 13 years, making these barrels 30 years old by the time Frank August filled them with bourbon. Worth noting, they also filled them wet, meaning immediately after dumping the brandy. The bourbon was then finished for an undisclosed amount of time in the PX cask until it met a taste profile the folks at Frank August enjoyed.
As for the latest batch of single barrels, it’s a much simpler story. This is the second wave released by Frank August, fifteen new ones to join the original set of five. All of them are 6.1 years old and with proofs varying from 114.6 to 125.4, and the particular barrel for review here is 0019. Without further ado, let’s see how these two stack up!
Frank August Case Study: 02 1948 XO PX Brandy Cask Finished (NAS, 101 Proof)
Nose: Raspberry jam, very jammy, but to be honest I don't find it to be super PX forward. The nose is more like a standard red fruit forward bourbon.
Palate: Strawberry shortcake, the fruit is cut nicely by a vanilla pound cake note. Notes of sweet wood and caramel.
Finish: There's the PX! Notes of juicy juice, strawberries. Then some anise brings a nice dash of spice to an otherwise sweet dram.
Very Good to Great (6.5/10)
Overall: It’s an incredibly tasty but unchallenging pour. It’s a straight forward, red fruit driven and sweet dram. I wish I had a ton more to say about it, but I honestly don’t. I guess I’d have been curious to taste it at barrel strength, because PX can provide this wonderful syrupy viscosity that is missing here, I assume because of the proofing down to 101. That said, the people at Frank August have proven to consistently have wonderful palates so I trust/hope they had a good reason to proof this down instead of just wanting a bigger batch release and therefore max profits.
Frank August Single Barrel 0019 (6 Years, 123.0 Proof)
Nose: Inviting as all hell, powdered sugar and cranberry sauce. Maple candies. My sweet tooth is aching in anticipation.
Palate: Big berry compote, sometimes strawberry, sometimes a darker berry. Slightly overbaked, caramelized waffle. It's rich, robust, and wonderfully playful on the palate. It's not syrupy, but it is full of flavor.
Finish: Cranberry ocean spray, orange slices, delicate oak notes and cloves. The finish is long and lovingly spice forward.
Excellent (8/10)
Overall: You know it’s funny, as we sipped this I turned to my whiskey partner in crime and go “this reminds me a bit of the Stagg 22A we had the other week.” It’s not quite as rich and syrupy texture wise, nor does it check quite as many flavor boxes, but the pops of red fruit and all around rich flavors draw some parallels. A resolution I made to myself this year, that I’m having a terrible time sticking to, is that I’d buy less from NDPs. It’s just too expensive, especially compared to some big producer’s standard offerings (hi Russell’s Reserve Single Barrels, you wonderful pour you). But it’s just hard to deny that these Frank August single barrels are flat out, excellent sippers.
