At Designer Dram, our goal is to help find the best whiskey barrel types to satisfy our customers, whether you’re looking for the perfect experience for yourself or as a gift for someone special. We offer a world of possibilities when it comes to whiskey creation with our Whiskey Builder and Experience Kit, providing you with the opportunity of creating 21,000 possible whiskeys. The following guide was created to be used as suggestions or as a starting point for determining your unique whiskey taste. Feel free to reach out with any questions about which barrel selection is right for you.

For the Sweets Lover

If you like your whiskey sweet and run away from peppery rye spice, this selection is for you. Our Pure Bourbon is paired with some of our Wheated to create the perfect whiskey taste. In the world of whiskey, more wheat equals more sweet. This blend provides beautifully rich dessert whiskey flavor notes that envelop your palate with flavors of caramel, cream, apples, and berries.

• Pure Bourbon: 70%
• Wheated: 30%

For the Classic Bourbon Lover

These barrel types are the perfect choices for those that love to taste a little bit of spice in their whiskey. One gives you a hint of spice for just the right amount of kick while the other provides a more pronounced spice to cover the whole spectrum.

Light Spice:

This barrel type produces whiskey flavor notes of caramel, vanilla, and stone fruit with a hint of cinnamon, pepper, and nutmeg at the back.

• Pure Bourbon: 75%
• Rye Bourbon: 5%
• Barley Rye: 10%
• Pure Rye: 10%

Higher Spice:

This whiskey barrel type produces notes of vanilla, caramel, and cocoa at the front, with a slightly smoky finish of cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and flowers.

• Rye Bourbon: 85%
• Pure Rye: 15%

The Rye Lover

If you love the signature spiciness of rye and a more assertive whiskey taste, this selection is for you. It will produce whiskey with flavors of black, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg balanced with the sweetness of caramel, vanilla, and fruit. This is all rounded out with hints of smoke and floral notes.

• Barley Rye: 20%
• Pure Rye: 80%

For those that want slightly more sweetness balanced with your spicy, replace the Barley Rye with Wheated or Pure Bourbon.

The Scotch Lover

This barrel recommendation is for those that enjoy the flavors in scotch. The selection produces a whiskey with notes of sweet fruit and spices, along with some pepper and smoke.

• Rye Bourbon: 20%
• Wheated: 20%
• Barley Rye: 60%

The Irish Grain

If Irish Grain whiskeys make your heart skip a beat, this is the selection for you. It produces wonderful, balanced notes of sweetness with brown sugar and vanilla, along with stewed fruit and spice.

• Pure Bourbon: 15%
• Rye Bourbon: 40%
• Barley Rye: 45%

Remember that ABV plays a significant role in the taste of your whiskey. For a whiskey with more diverse flavor, we recommend 43% ABV. For a more concentrated, robust whiskey, we recommend 47% ABV.

We hope this guide helps you with your whiskey barrel selection. You can also discover the flavor notes for you with our palate test or our mash bill finder. If you want to find out more about creating the perfect whiskey blend or have any questions, feel free to contact us anytime!