Mugen Spirit Yokai Kuko Bundle 2

This pairing puts two of Prime Barrel's most distinctive Picks side by side. One is a modern Kentucky bourbon built on an unusual grain recipe. The other is a 1980 Armagnac that spent more than four decades in a Gascon cellar. Both reward slow tasting, and each sharpens your sense of the other.

Pick #163 comes from Louisville-based Mugen Spirit, a whiskey house that pairs Kentucky bourbon tradition with Japanese folklore and artistry. The Prime Barrel selected this barrel in a basement speakeasy alongside Mugen co-founder Kojin Tashiro. It was one of only six Yokai Kuko barrels released from this mashbill, and the club was the first group to pick one. The 10% honey-roasted malt gives the wheated base a toasted, confectionery sweetness, and the bourbon was bottled at full cask strength after nearly ten years in a Char 3 barrel. The name comes from Japanese fox lore: a Kuko, or “sky fox,” is a celestial kitsune said to reach divinity after thousands of years.

Pick #170 takes the long view. Forty-four years in oak turned this Ténarèze Armagnac from Domaine du Carpoulat into a deep study in rancio: fig paste, date syrup, walnut, cocoa, antique leather and old books, all grounded by cellar stone. Bottled straight from the cask, nothing softens the spirit, yet the tannins feel polished and the texture stays viscous and silky. The club chose it for its rare balance of mature depth and lively structure.

Taste them in sequence, bourbon first, to see how American oak and four grains compare with French oak, grapes, and four decades of time. The bundle makes a strong gift for a collector who already has the usual allocated bottles.

Bottle 1: Mugen Spirit Yokai Kuko 9 Year Four Grain Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Prime Barrel Pick #163

• Barrel: 16-10725
• Distilled: June 23, 2016, Newport, Kentucky
• Age: 9 years, 10 months
• Mashbill: 70% corn, 15% wheat, 10% honey roasted malt, 5% distillers malt
• Cooperage: Kelvin Cooperage, Char 3
• Barrel Entry Proof: 110
• Bottling Proof: 127.3 (cask strength)

Bottle 2: OADE Domaine du Carpoulat “Yak To The Future” 1980 Armagnac, Prime Barrel Pick #170

• Vintage: 1980
• Age: 44 years in oak
• Region: Ténarèze, Gascony, France
• Producer: Domaine du Carpoulat
• Bottler: OADE
• Bottled straight from a single historic cask
• Proof: 105

Mugen Yokai Kuko 9 Year (Pick #163)

Nose: Caramelized sugar and toasted honey over dark fruit and warm sugar cookie
Palate: Toasted honey, graham cracker and buttery shortbread, opening into baked apple and a hint of mocha
Finish: Long, with toasted praline, confectionery richness and polished oak

OADE Domaine du Carpoulat 1980 (Pick #170)

Nose: Fig paste, date syrup and dark honey, with dried rose, mint tea and damp cellar stone
Palate: Glycerol-rich and silky, with walnut skin, cocoa, saddle leather, pipe tobacco and beeswaxed wood
Finish: Persistent deep rancio, old bookshop, forest floor and a last flicker of chamomile

Serve the Yokai Kuko with pecan tart, crème brûlée or aged Gouda, which pick up its honey and praline. The 1980 Armagnac suits seared foie gras, Roquefort, prune and walnut tart, or a square of 70% dark chocolate. It also goes well with a maduro cigar after dinner.