Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

I’m not going to tell you about how many cask-finished American whiskeys there are out there to choose from right now. If you’ve been reading this column, and if you are at all tuned into the world of bourbon and rye, you already know this. Some are not great—they seems almost like an attempt to give new life to a whiskey that was left for dead. Others, however, are fantastic, adding new layers of flavor to an already well-crafted and well-aged whiskey. If you’re familiar with Bardstown Bourbon Company, it should come as no surprise that its latest cask-finished bourbon falls comfortably into this latter category.

The new bourbon is called Normandie Calvados Brandy Barrel Finish, and like most cask-finished whiskeys a lot of info is given to you right there in the name. It’s part of BBC’s Distillery Reserve series, which has included past releases like Cathedral French Oak, a bourbon aged in French oak barrels made from the same wood used to restore Notre Dame, and Hokkaido Mizunara Oak, which I reviewed last summer and thought was spectacular. This new release is a blend of sourced whiskey—76 percent Indiana bourbon (most likely from MGP) aged for 13 years, and 24 percent Indiana bourbon aged for 12 years. Both were made from a mashbill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and four percent malted barley.

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The bourbon in the blend was initially aged in new charred oak barrels, as is required by law, but then was given two very different cask finishes. Master blender Dan Callaway sourced five barrels from the Christian Drouin House, a French Calvados producer (Calvados is a type of French brandy made from apples). The blend was put into five ex-Calvados barrels for a total of 28 months, and then transferred to toasted oak casks for an additional four months. I’ve written about toasted oak many times before, most recently in regards to the new Dovetail Toasted from Barrell Craft Spirits. Not everyone is a fan of this type of finish because the flavors it imparts can quickly take over the palate (not quite like amburana, thankfully), but that is not the case here.

Of course, I was not able to try the core blend before the finish, but I think it’s safe to assume—based on its age and source—that it was probably already pretty good. That being said, the secondary maturation has done wonders here. The Calvados finish has imbued the whiskey with deep notes of spice, vanilla, maple, and, of course, subtle apple (don’t expect ripe Granny Smith or sweet Jolly Rancher here); and the toasted oak has left its own imprint, as it always does, with soft notes of toasted nuts, fresh grass, and baked bread. This bourbon is unified and has a point of view, and at 104.2 proof there is a pleasant warming heat that lingers for a few seconds after you sip.

Like other Distillery Reserve releases, Normandie Calvados Brandy Barrel Finish is only available in smaller 375-ml bottles, each with a price tag of $100—although it’s already showing up on secondary websites for more than $500. Head to the distillery if you want to try to snag a bottle at cost, or go ahead and splurge. The bottom line is that this whiskey does not disappoint, and is another example of how Bardstown Bourbon Company is a leader in the cask-finished whiskey world.

Score: 95