There has been much praise for the virtues of honey barrel-finished whiskey, but comparatively little is said about whiskey barrel-aged honey. When done right, barrel-aged honey can be a real treat for whiskey lovers, with its notes of oak and char lending a complexity that goes far beyond honey’s typical flavors.
Jeff Otto is the apiarist at TruBee in Eagleville, Tennessee, about 40 miles south of Nashville, which he owns with his wife Laura Kimball. He conducts the aging process by taste, not time. “There are so many variables,” he says. “Honey itself, there’s no recipe for it, the bees give me what they give me. The barrels are the same way; if the barrels have more char, we’re getting more char flavor…if they’re a little wetter, we’ll get more whiskey flavor. We’re kind of at [everything’s] mercy for this process, but we have to try to stay as consistent as possible.”
Otto tastes his barrel-aged honey every few months to evaluate its flavor. Other honey makers, like Kevin and Chelsea Bohman of Hanover, Indiana’s Bohman Bee Company, work on a set timeline. “I guess you could say [we age by] both time and taste,” says Kevin. “We’ve done a variety of tests to see what seems to be the ‘sweet spot’ for aging. Some we’ve done upward to a year, but the 3-month mark seemed to give us the best color and flavor results.”
Barrel-aged honey is every bit as versatile as its unaged cousin. It can be used as a sweetener, adding some complexity to your favorite tea or coffee. It’s a perfect topping for ice cream—especially over vanilla bean or caramel swirl. It also makes for a wickedly good glaze on meat, with Chelsea Bohman adding that it goes particularly well on ham. Barrel-aged honey is also a fantastic addition to many whisky cocktails. “I’m a pretty big fan of liquifying a bit of honey to make a simple syrup, then adding a bit of bourbon and some mint, on the rocks,” says Ted Dennard, head beekeeper at Savannah Bee Company in Georgia. “That’s the way I like it, and I bet you will too.” And if all else fails, there’s no shame in eating it straight from the jar.
Barrel-Aged Honey To Try
AR’s Hot Southern Bourbon Barrel Aged $20/10.5 oz.
Virginia honey aged in bourbon barrels from Ironclad Distillery
hotsouthernhoney.com
Beekeeper’s Daughter Aged Bourbon Barrel $25/18.9 oz.
Pennsylvania honey aged in bourbon barrels from Revivalist Spirits
beekeepersdaughter.com
Bohman Bee Company $14/10 oz.
Indiana honey aged for 3 months in Evan Williams bourbon barrels
bohmanbeecompany.com
Bjorn’s Colorado Honey: Stranahan’s Barrel Aged $29/10.5 oz.
Colorado honey aged in single malt barrels from Stranahan’s
bjornscoloradohoney.com
Castle & Key Distillery Barrel Aged $22/1 lb.
Aged in Castle & Key’s rye barrels
castleandkey.com
Double Barrel Honey $13/10.4 oz.
Kentucky honey aged for 3 to 12 months in Woodford Reserve, Blanton’s, Jim Beam, or Maker’s Mark barrels
doublebarrelhoney.com
Hive Bee Farm Rye Barrel Aged $30/19.3 oz.
Texas honey aged for 90 days in rye barrels from Houston’s William Price Distilling Co.
hivebeefarm.com
Rocky Mountain Whisky Barrel Aged $25/19 oz.
Idaho honey aged in Grand Teton Distillery or Bozeman Spirits barrels
rockymountainhoneyco.com
Savannah Bee Company Orange Blossom Port Bourbon Aged $27/12 oz.
U.S. and Mexico honey aged in port barrels that were then used to finish Angel’s Envy bourbon
savannahbee.com
TruBee Barrel Aged $21/10 oz.
Tennessee honey aged in Belle Meade bourbon barrels from Nelson’s Greenbrier Distillery
trubeehoney.com
Woodlife Ranch Bourbon Barrel Aged $17/12 oz.
Massachusetts honey aged in Kings County Distillery bourbon barrels for at least 6 months
woodliferanch.com
