Last Tuesday, the anticipated January email hit my inbox like a ton of bricks. It’s time to take a trek to the Woodford Reserve Distillery for the annual release of Double Double Oaked, also known as heaven in a bottle!

So I did what any self-employed schlep working from home would do. I threw on clean pants, grabbed the dog and hit the road to Versailles. I was in line by 9:30 a.m. and out by 10, and I even got to sample this year’s 90.4-proof Double Double and can attest to its out-of-this-world taste.

I’ve always been a fan of Double Double Oaked, if you couldn’t tell. To me, it’s like bourbon dessert, and I nurse every drop in the 375-ml bottle, trying to make it last as long as I can.

This year, if you’re lucky enough to live in these four states plus Washington, D.C., you’ll be able to snag a bottle for yourself without making a pilgrimage to the distillery:

• Kentucky
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• North Dakota
• Washington, D.C.

For the first time ever, Woodford Reserve is offering up a bottle of Double Double Oaked as a Valentine’s Day promotion through its website. For $152.99, you’ll get a bottle of the new Double Double Oaked, a bottle of regular Woodford Double Oaked and a box of fancy Compartes chocolates, which they just debuted last month. All of this will be shipped to your door — if you live in one of the areas mentioned above, of course.

“This is the most indulgent gift for whiskey lovers who want to treat their partners and friends — or themselves — to the ultimate Valentine’s gift,” said Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall in a news release.

Those chocolates are meant to pair with the bourbon, so you’ll have a great time eating and drinking once you get the goodies — whether you’re single or hitched! At least if you’re single, you don’t have to share.

You’ll be able to snag your Valentine Double Double package on Feb. 1 starting at 9 a.m. Eastern. So set an alarm and get your credit card ready to go! Here’s the link you’ll need: CLICK HERE.

I’ve been holding my breath — and alcohol intake (damn Dry January!) — all month for the announcement of this annual release by Woodford Reserve. So when I saw the email this morning about Double Double Oaked finally coming out, I did what any dedicated whiskey journalist would do: I threw my egg sandwich and dog in the car, poured my coffee into a to-go container and hit the road to Versailles.

Sure, I probably should have at least tweeted something out about Double Double 2022, but there was no time, and I can’t tweet and drive very well.

So now I’m back home with two precious bottles of one of my favorite releases of the year, and I’m here to tell you a little more about it. Double Double Oaked is mostly available at the distillery in small 375ml bottles.

The highly-anticipated bourbon is made by letting fully mature Woodford Double Oak sit an extra year in a second heavily toasted new oak barrel. That extra 12 months of mingling with the wood really produces an extraordinary whiskey that is known far and wide.

“We are excited to once again offer one of our most-coveted annual bourbon releases,”
said Master Distiller Chris Morris in a news release. “This is the perfect winter bourbon with tasting notes of burnt marshmallows,
cranberry and bittersweet chocolate.”

I haven’t cracked open my bottle yet, but according to the press release, you can expect notes of dried cherry and cranberry, along with blackberry jam, chai tea and clove. I can’t wait to try this first thing on Feb. 1 (again, damn Dry January!).

If you head to the distillery in the next few days, you can purchase two bottles per person for $59.99 each. Because of the bottle limit, they will likely have these through the weekend I would guess. But you never know. People do clamor for this bourbon, so don’t delay if you can help it.

We’ve got two chances to score a bottle of the highly sought-after annual release of Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked, so let’s hope we’re extra lucky this year! So far I have one bottle from each year they’ve come out, so I am determined!

First up, you can head to the Woodford distillery on Tuesday, Feb. 1, where they will be for sale (limit 2 per person) starting at 10 a.m. Chances are, people will camp out/line up early, so depending on how many they have for sale, it might be a cluster-f#$k trying to score even one bottle.

The second chance is a sweepstakes lottery-style release, where you can sign up online for the chance to win a bottle (one sign-up per person). The bad news here is that anyone in the country can sign up for a chance, so winning might be just about impossible. The caveat is winners must pick their bottles up at the distillery in Versailles, Ky., so that might deter someone from, say, Oregon throwing their name in the hat. But who knows.

“Double Double Oaked has such a cult following, which makes it very difficult for consumers to get their hands,” says Woodford Master Distiller Chris Morris in a news release. “This sweepstakes will allow more of our fans to have the chance to try this special release.”

You can enter the sweepstakes anytime from now through Feb. 8. Winners will be notified by Feb. 10 and have until April 10 to purchase their bottles in person at the distillery.

So what makes Double Double so special special? Well, they take fully mature Double Oak and age it for an additional year in a second, heavily toasted, lightly charred, new oak barrel. The extra year creates a bourbon that is distinctly spicier and a little darker and richer than the original.

These bottles are also only 375ml and are sold for $49.99. The bourbon is 90.4 proof, following the standard Woodford Reserve proof of most of its products.

Good luck! And if you end up getting two, remember to reward the messenger!

On an unusually warm Monday afternoon in October, media gathered at the historic Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Ky., to hear more about the exciting things planned for the Brown-Forman brand’s 25th anniversary celebration.

Master Distiller Chris Morris and Assistant Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall were on hand to raise a toast to the milestone and fill us in on some upcoming events and news.

“We see no sign that the global demand for bourbon will diminish,” Morris said. “More and more consumers worldwide are discovering one of the greatest exports from Kentucky — bourbon. And they are especially enjoying Woodford Reserve.”

Morris added that Woodford Reserve is the top super premium whiskey in the world, and under his leadership and the rest of the Woodford team, the brand has grown exponentially from 1996 until now, adding four other expressions to the Woodford cannon: Double Oaked, Rye Whiskey, Wheat Whiskey and Malt Whiskey.

Morris and McCall also showed off the distillery’s newest expansion, which will double the capacity.

Not only are they adding three more iconic pot stills to the facility, but they also constructed a new building that’ll make more room for more fermenters in the current distillery.

During the event, the Woodford team topped off some newly filled barrels that’ll soon — well, in five or six years — be part of a commemorative 25th anniversary release.

To celebrate the big 2-5, the distillery will be offering special tastings, cocktails and releases all month long. And on Friday, Oct. 15, Morris and McCall will be at the distillery to sign bottles and answer questions from 2-4:30 p.m.

You know it, you love it, you look forward to it every year. No, it’s not the Super Bowl, it’s the annual Double Double Oaked release by Woodford Reserve.

It was announced just about 15 minutes ago that the 2021 edition (which actually has 2020 stamped on it) will be put out at the distillery in Versailles on Wednesday, Jan. 27, starting at 10 a.m. The limit this year is four bottles per person.

I definitely applaud the limit, because last year the Distillery Series release sold out in one day, as people were allowed to buy an entire case if they so desired — and many of them definitely desired.

It’s hard to say if the Double Double will last longer than a day this time, but it’ll be interesting to see. The 375mL bottles usually run about $50 each.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Double Double Oaked, we’re glad you crawled out from under that rock to join us. The product was first launched in 2015 and is basically bourbon that was meant to be Double Oaked but was left in the second flavoring barrel (heavily toasted, lightly charred) for an extra year. That first release may have been an accident, but it flew off the shelves, and now Woodford is aging it extra on purpose.

Just a warning: It’s going to be a madhouse Wednesday at the distillery. So dress warm and pack some patience.

Before you roll those eyes and cringe at the $2,000 price tag on the latest finished bourbon release by Woodford Reserve, just take a minute to hear me out about why it’s such a hefty chunk of change.

First of all, before we even get to the juice inside, this is the first American whiskey to be bottled in a pristine Baccarat crystal bottle.

For those of you who don’t travel on your own private jet or rub elbows with the housewives of Beverly Hills, Baccarat is a market-leading designer, manufacturer and retailer of luxury crystal products. Based in Paris, the company dates back to 1764.

The fancy decanter — which takes a crystal artist about five days to make — is engraved with both Woodford and Baccarat, and it comes with a fancy crystal stopper. So the idea is that you’d keep this bottle in your collection even after you’ve drank all the precious whiskey inside.

And speaking of whiskey, let’s dip our toes into the details.

The Woodford Reserve Baccarat Edition takes fully mature Woodford Reserve bourbon and finishes it for an additional three years in high-end XO cognac casks from France.

Cognac barrels are much larger than bourbon barrels, and they’re toasted, not charred, like our oak barrels. Woodford isn’t the first company to finish whiskey in cognac barrels, but, as Master Distiller Chris Morris pointed out Monday afternoon during a virtual press conference, there is a distinct cognac note found in Woodford Reserve bourbon that made it a natural partnership.

Morris added that Woodford has been experimenting with finished bourbons for quite some time now, dating back to 2007 with a chardonnay finish. The goal of finishing his bourbon, he said, is to both highlight and intensify the flavors already found in Woodford Reserve.

“If you can’t taste Woodford in the finish, it’s not something we’re going to release,” he noted.

Morris said Woodford, which is owned by Brown-Forman, secured several brands of cognac barrels for the project, which will continue to be released yearly in a limited amount.

Many of these $2,000 bottles can be found in the duty-free shops inside airports or at high-end bars, most likely sitting next to even more expensive bottles of scotch, brandy, cognac, etc.

The 2020 limited release has about 2,000 bottles for the U.S. market, which came from 16 casks.

Those of us in Monday’s press conference were given a sample of Woodford Baccarat and led through a tasting with Master Taster Elizabeth McCall. From first sniff to the long finish, you could tell this was interesting stuff.

It’s fruit and spice forward, with notes of red apples, vanilla and baking spices waltzing around your tastebuds. There is a hint of dark chocolate, and on the finish you get orange peel, spice and a drizzle of honey.

It’s creamy, and it’s quite dreamy.

But would I shell out $2,000 for it? Seeing that I don’t have a full-time job at the moment nor do I DM with Erika Jayne, that’s a definite no.

Maybe I’ll win the lottery someday. You gotta have goals.