Sips & Sites & Bites

Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? And in the whiskey world, gotta love it when two brands come together. 

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Woodford Reserve partnered with gourmet chocolate brand Compartés on a limited-edition, four-piece chocolate collection inspired by Woodford Reserve’s Double Oaked Bourbon. 

Compartés chocolatier Jonathan Grahm and Woodford Reserve’s Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall created the chocolate designed to pair with the Double Oaked whiskey. The chocolate itself was handmade by a small team of chocolatiers in Los Angeles.

“Jonathan Grahm is a true genius and artist,” McCall said. “The tasting notes of wood, spice, and florals found in the chocolates align perfectly with the flavors found in Woodford Reserve Double Oaked.” 

In the statement to the press, the makers noted that Compartés x Woodford Reserve chocolates feature a gold design and include four unique flavors that accentuate specific characteristics of Double Oaked:

• Butterscotch chocolate compliments the sweet aromatic flavors in Double Oaked, enhancing the butterscotch notes and bringing out the roasted coffee flavor. The combination of the bourbon and butterscotch chocolate tastes like chocolate-covered espresso beans. 
• Pear Nutmeg chocolate highlights Double Oaked’s fruit, floral, and spice flavors. It brings out the sharp cedar, pepper spice and the dark raisin character of the bourbon.
• Oak Smoked Salt Caramel chocolate pairs with the wood, spice, and sweet aromatic flavors of Double Oaked. The smoked salt is followed by herbal tea and tobacco notes and a dry cocoa finish.
• Maple Pecan chocolate complements Double Oaked’s grain, wood, and sweet aromatic notes. The chocolate highlights sweet brown sugar and maple notes, as well as the sweet oak and nutty pecan, almond, and walnut flavors of the bourbon.

“The flavors in bourbon are so complimentary to the flavors in chocolate, so partnering with Woodford Reserve was a perfect match,” Grahm said. “ I don’t think there’s another bourbon and chocolate pairing that is truly as perfect and in sync as Double Oaked and the chocolate truffles we’ve created.”

The Compartés x Woodford Reserve Double Oaked bundle includes a 750ml bottle of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked and the four-piece chocolate box. It’s available for $87.94 exclusively online at Reserve Bar HERE. They’re also available at large and small retailers nationwide, many of which offer them as a set, and at Woodford Reserve Distillery.

Those who travel to the Distillery have the opportunity to reserve the “Indulge the Senses” tour and tasting to experience a guided Double Oaked and Compartes pairing.  Tickets are available for a limited time through February at woodfordreserve.com.