The Bottle
| Distillery | Castle & Key, Frankfort, Kentucky |
| Series | Pinhook True Small Batch |
| Selection | Triple Double Single Barrel Pick — 2025 Release |
| Type | Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey |
| Age | 6 Years |
| Proof | 117.2 (Cask Strength) |
| ABV | 58.6% |
| Filtration | Non-Chill Filtered (Labelled unfiltered) |
| Retail Price | $80 |
Background
Regular readers may know I have a complicated relationship with Pinhook. I was decidedly unimpressed with their early releases — in fact, I wrote about what I called wasted potential back in 2020, when the whiskey seemed rushed to market before it was ready. However, my tune changed when I tasted their Collaboration Series wheated bourbon, which was excellent. The True Small Batch line came to my attention on a recent visit to Hokus Pokus while looking for something new to review, and this 2025 Triple Double pick — a single Castle & Key barrel bottled at full cask strength — gave me a good reason to revisit the brand.
The “True Small Batch” designation is Pinhook’s way of signaling a genuine small-scale blend: typically only three to six barrels, hand-selected by a retailer or group, bottled unfiltered and at cask strength. Six years in Kentucky warehouses at Castle & Key — a distillery operating out of the restored Old Taylor Distillery grounds — means these barrels endured serious seasonal temperature swings. As you’ll see below, those summers left their mark. This one is labelled as as single barrel. So there is only one barrel of this particular bourbon. That, and there is something new on this label – it says unfiltered. As opposed to non-chill filtered. Did they use a screen as the bourbon came out of the barrel? Is a screen to catch wood pieces really a filtration system? Did they really not use even a screen and effectively dumped from barrel to bottle? Who is Triple Double who picked this one barrel? The original UPC symbol has a sticker over it with a different UPC symbol. So what is the real provenance of this bottle? Like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.
Appearance
The color is a stunning, very deep rich amber with reddish hues— darker than I would typically expect from a six-year-old bourbon. This tells a story. The barrels used in this blend were clearly exposed to significant summer warehouse heat during aging, driving the spirit in and out of the charred wood repeatedly and extracting an extraordinary amount of color and flavor compounds in the process. On the swirl, you first get a thin, almost gravity-defying film — it clings to the glass in a way that makes you think the legs will never form. But patience is rewarded: when the legs finally develop, they are impressively thick and slow-moving, signaling a rich, oily, full-bodied spirit.
Nose
The nose is classically bourbon and unapologetically so. Caramel and vanilla lead the way, followed closely by a solid oak presence. The 117.2 proof is detectable but not aggressive on the nose — the sweetness does a good job keeping it in check. Lurking in the background are soft hints of stone fruit, which add just enough complexity to keep things interesting without straying far from the traditional bourbon lane. Let it breathe for a few minutes and those fruit notes open up a bit more.
Palate
Vanilla is the unambiguous star here, arriving immediately and staking its claim throughout the mid-palate. Behind it, caramel and baking spice round out what is a very familiar and satisfying bourbon core. What elevates this pour, though, are the cardamom and candied cherry notes — they bring a layered sweetness and subtle spice that feel genuinely distinctive rather than generic. Oak rides in the background as a structural element rather than a dominant force, providing just enough grip to keep the sweetness honest. The mouthfeel is rich and almost creamy at full proof — well-integrated and luxurious, with no harsh edges despite the considerable heat. If you enjoy the profile neat, excellent. A few drops of water will bloom the vanilla and fruit further if you prefer a slightly softer experience. Sampling it again the day after opening the bottle, the caramel and vanilla become more balanced, with the caramel becoming more of a co-star with the vanilla.
Finish
The finish is where this bourbon truly distinguishes itself. The candied cherries and cardamom that played a supporting role on the palate step to the front, joined by a wave of oak that lingers beautifully. As those notes fade, the baking spices take over and carry the finish home — think cinnamon, clove, and a touch of allspice warming the back of the throat. This is a very long finish. The kind that makes you keep reflecting on the glass even after you’ve set it down. There is no rough alcohol bite at the end, which is impressive at cask strength and speaks to the quality of the distillate and the six years of maturation doing exactly what they were supposed to do.
Value
At $80 for a non-chill filtered, cask strength, six-year-old, single-retailer-pick Kentucky straight bourbon distilled at Castle & Key, this is an excellent value proposition. The flavor profile punches well above its price point, and the bottle drinks more like an older expression than a six-year-old. In today’s market, where mediocre allocated bottles routinely command $100+, finding something of this quality at $80 feels like a genuine discovery.
Final Verdict
The Pinhook True Small Batch Triple Double Pick 2025 is playing at the same level as Penelope’s limited releases. Like Penelope, I was initially unimpressed with their whiskies. It appears that Pinhook’s early problems to my palate stemmed from releasing whiskey that was simply too young — and this six-year-old confirms that the distillate coming out of Castle & Key is genuinely good when given adequate time in the barrel. The color, the rich mouthfeel, the long finish, and the well-integrated cask strength profile all point to barrels that worked hard in Kentucky’s heat and delivered. If you see this on a shelf, do not hesitate.
Highly Recommended. I will be trying the two other bottles of Pinhook True Small Batch Hokus Pokus has. This one has sold me. You can look forward to future reviews. I have no idea how this bottle ended up at Hokus Pokus in Alexandria. But I am damn glad it did.