If you can't select your own barrel, look for these single barrel expressions on liquor store shelves. PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF HARRIS
The single barrel universe is far-flung, with many distilleries taking part in offering single barrels these days. Perhaps you’re not ready or able to spend time in distillery warehouses tasting through barrel samples, or not fast enough on the draw to find the best private barrel selections from retailers. You might simply be looking to taste some branded single barrel expressions to compare them with the other whiskeys in a distiller’s arsenal, either for your whisky club or on your own. Here we’ve assembled a roll call of players who offer single barrel selections you can find on the retail shelf. They often sell quickly, but they can be found at liquor stores.
Four Roses
Few single barrel expressions are as accessible or offer as much value as Four Roses Single Barrel. The distiller is famous for its 10 mashbill recipes that are usually batched together for its various expressions, but the single barrel uses only one—the OBSV recipe. “The criteria is picking [barrels] that best represent that recipe,” says master distiller Brent Elliot. “It’s the perfect playground for the modern bourbon drinker who’s looking to taste something different, to push the envelope and explore more flavors to understand bourbons better.”
In the years since beginning its program in 2004, Four Roses has fine-tuned the single barrel process so that it can find potential barrels as young as 3 years old. “There’ve been minor changes, to try to thread the needle between inventory and demand,” Elliot adds, noting that he samples potential single barrel selections as often as every other day. The Four Roses single barrel releases have become collector’s items for some fans.
Michter’s
Michter’s launched its single barrel program over 20 years ago with a 10 year old bourbon and a 10 year old rye. Today, it bottles five single barrel whiskeys: US*1 Rye ($50), which is the only ongoing single barrel offering; 10 year old bourbon ($160), which is typically an annual release; 10 year old rye ($185), with availability varying from year to year; its annual Barrel Strength rye ($100); and Barrel Strength bourbon ($100), a Kentucky exclusive. Occasionally, Michter’s releases ultra-aged single barrels; to date, a 25 year old rye and 20 and 25 year old bourbons. While the single barrels stoke enthusiasm among fans, master distiller Dan McKee and master of maturation Andrea Wilson will postpone releasing them if they feel the whiskeys aren’t ready to be bottled.
Many distillers barrel their new make at 125 proof (62.5% ABV), the maximum allowable limit, especially for single barrel expressions. Michter’s new make, however, is entered into the barrel at 103 proof (51.5% ABV). According to Wilson, this lends a certain identifiable flavor to all of its whiskeys. “Because we barrel our distillate at a lower than industry-allowable entry proof, it means we have more water in the barrel during aging, which leads to richer barrel chemistry,” says Wilson.
Jack Daniel’s
The Jack Daniel’s single barrel program started in 1997 with Single Barrel Select ($47), made from the distillery’s classic recipe. Single Barrel Select is sourced from the top floors of their warehouses—master distiller Chris Fletcher says the heat and humidity on the top floor impact the barrel in amazing ways—and is generally aged 5 to 7 years. There’s also a barrel-proof version of Single Barrel Select ranging between 129 and 136 proof, compared to the core expression’s 94 proof. Jack Daniel’s single barrel rye, with a mashbill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley, has been offered since 2016.
Jack Daniel also does one-off single barrel releases, though not annually. The distillery’s Single Barrel Heritage Barrel ($65) came out in 2018 and was named Whisky Advocate’s No.-3 whisky of the year. The single barrels give Fletcher an outlet for creativity. “There’s flavor variation, but you’ll never taste a barrel and think it came from a different distillery,” he says.
Wild Turkey and Russell’s Reserve
Wild Turkey is a long-time player in single barrel bourbon, launching Kentucky Spirit single barrel ($67) in 1994. Since then, two Russell’s Reserve single barrel offerings have joined the lineup—a bourbon ($60) matured in No.-4 char barrels and bottled at 110 proof, and a 104 proof rye ($65). “We produce single barrels as a way for people to experience the essence of Wild Turkey,” says Bruce Russell, master distiller Eddie Russell’s son and manager of the private barrel program. “It’s the closest one could get to experiencing what our master distillers and tasting team sample from barrels.”
While the mashbills for Wild Turkey’s single barrel releases remain the same year to year, the age of the barrel and its location in the warehouse will vary greatly; because of this, Wild Turkey includes the barrel number, bottling date, and warehouse name on each single barrel release. And even as Wild Turkey’s single barrel approach seeks some consistency, it has led to many one-off products. “The team is consistently tasting and monitoring the barrels throughout the warehouses, anticipating there could be a spark of inspiration from tasting something unexpected,” says Russell. “There’s no shortage of Wild Turkey limited edition offerings that come from these sparks, like Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Unforgotten, or Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse, or Camp Nelson C.”
Old Forester
While Blanton’s is often heralded as the longest-running single barrel whiskey in the U.S., Old Forester dates back even further. The distillery launched its single barrel program around 1964, but it was discontinued in 1970 following the death of its champion, George Garvin Brown. Old Forester revived the program in 2013, as single barrels began to gain traction around the country. Today the distillery offers three permanent single barrel releases: a rye ($80), a barrel proof bourbon ($80), and a 100 proof bourbon ($50). A 90 proof single barrel bourbon was dropped some time ago, amid the soaring demand for higher-proof expressions among whiskey lovers. A limited release (sold at the distillery and in Kentucky only) is Old Forester President’s Choice, a single barrel expression chosen by the company’s president, currently fifth-generation family member Campbell Brown.
When it comes to bottling permanent single barrels and not saving them for limited or more experimental releases, master distiller emeritus Chris Morris notes that it’s all about planning. “With a distillery the size of Old Forester, you need good planning in place,” he says. “We need to know how much glass we’re going to need and where we’re going to get it and the like, and that’s why these are permanent releases on allocation.”
Elijah Craig, Henry McKenna, Evan Williams
“With a single barrel, there’s nowhere to hide,” says Conor O’Driscoll, master distiller at Heaven Hill, which makes Elijah Craig 18 year old, Henry McKenna 10 year old, and Evan Williams single barrel brands. “It’s got to stand on its own, and so they’re rare—and a lot of work goes into [selecting] them.” The Elijah Craig 18 year old ($150) and Henry McKenna 10 year old ($60) single barrels have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. Last summer, Heaven Hill announced that its Evan Williams single barrel expression, first introduced in 1995, would shift to a Kentucky-only release.
“Private barrels give people the chance to have something that no one else on the planet can have, as every barrel has slight flavor variations,” notes O’Driscoll, adding that the whiskey should still contain the flavor DNA of the core expression. “It should be no further than a first cousin, but clearly identifiable.” With 1.9 million barrels resting in its warehouses, Heaven Hill has plenty of stock to continue offering both single barrel and private barrel releases, including some limited expressions like the 85th Anniversary bottling released in 2020. “We can do special releases, we can do unique releases, we can do all the single barrels and still innovate,” O’Driscoll says.
Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Maker’s Mark, Baker‘s
Jim Beam and the other whiskeys in Beam’s extended brand family—Knob Creek, Baker’s, and wheated cousin Maker’s Mark—have kept single barrels in their DNA, offering them in a range of budgets, ages, and flavor profiles.
Jim Beam has a single barrel bottling that’s bumped up in proof (95 vs. Jim Beam White Label’s 80) and selected from what Beam calls its “top barrels” ($40). While Knob Creek has an extensive single barrel selection program for liquor stores and bars, it also releases a consistent supply of 9 year old single barrels ($60), bottled at 120 proof.
Maker’s Mark takes a different approach to single barrel whiskeys, offering them only as part of its Private Selection program, which allows stores and bars to customize their own single barrels.
Finally, within the Beam family is Baker’s, a brand entirely dedicated to single barrel whiskeys. Bottled at 107 proof and at least 7 years old, Baker’s only releases single barrels ($60) with the labels showing when the bourbon was bottled and its precise age.
Blanton’s, E.H. Taylor
Sazerac, owner of Buffalo Trace and many other brands, takes an expansive approach to single barrel bourbon. Blanton’s, which is referred to as the original single barrel bourbon, dates back to 1984. While it is bottled and shipped daily, it is allocated and typically sells for far more than its $60 suggested retail price. Currently, the whiskey comes in three variations in the U.S. The standard single barrel Blanton’s is bottled at 96 proof and is pulled from the distillery’s warehouse H; Blanton’s Gold, a 103 proof variant; and Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel, a cask strength single barrel bottling. All of the Blanton’s labels indicate when the barrel was dumped, the barrel number, and the warehouse letter.
Buffalo Trace’s collection of whiskeys also includes a single barrel bottling of E.H. Taylor Jr. ($60). It’s bottled in bond, like all E.H. Taylor releases (aside from the cask strength bottling), and is typically released twice a year. The majority of E.H. Taylor single barrels are pulled from warehouse C, which was built by the whiskey’s namesake in 1881.
Sazerac’s historic Barton Distillery also offers a single barrel release in its 1792 family of whiskeys. Bottled at 98.6 proof, 1792’s single barrel ($40) is generally released twice annually.
Bulleit
While Bulleit is a little quieter than other brands about single barrel offerings, it does sell individual barrels, bottled at 104 proof, to retailers across the U.S. The whiskey is made from Bulleit’s high-rye mashbill and offers fans of the original whiskey a more individualized expression of what the big brand has to offer. As is common for single barrel releases, Bulleit’s single barrels feature neck tags with the barrel number, as well as information about who selected the whiskey.
George Dickel
At Bulleit’s sister distillery Cascade Hollow in Tennessee, George Dickel is active in the single barrel game. In 2020 it introduced a 15 year old single barrel expression ($60) and a 9 year old in 2021 ($50), and both labels are an ongoing part of the Dickel portfolio. Like Bulleit, Dickel also has an extensive private barrel program for retailers.
Heaven’s Door
A newer name that released its first whiskey in 2018 is Heaven’s Door, famously backed by Bob Dylan, which is now in the fourth year of its single barrel program. The distillery, which is sourcing and distilling its own whiskey, has a number of regularly released single barrels, among them two bourbons—one that varies its mashbill from year to year, and a sweeter expression that stays right around 77% corn, 15% rye, and 8% malted barley—as well as finished single barrel expressions. One such whiskey was a Bootleg Series expression finished in vino de naranja (white wine macerated with orange peels) casks. Less than 4,000 bottles were released with a suggested retail price of $545. While these are all technically one-off releases, COO Alex Moore notes that some versions of them will be available every year.
Heaven’s Door has constantly changing single barrel expressions, so there are notable flavor differences year to year. “The purpose is to give customers a more immersive look at the operations and say, ‘Wow, this is a dramatic difference between single barrel A and B,’” he says. We try to provide as much information as we can on the side label, such as cooperage, mashbill, age, and char level.”
All of these single barrel selections provide pleasurable routes to a different sort of appreciation and enjoyment of whiskey. Take some time to compare the single barrel expressions to the distilleries’ standard counterparts, and you’ll gain a greater understanding of what each whiskey is all about. A single barrel bottling can deviate in some interesting (and tasty) ways from the core brand, and create some fun points of discussion for any gathering. You can also compare single barrel expressions of the same whiskey but from different years, to see if you can spot any differences. In all, it’s a comparison between the best balancing efforts of blenders and the purest, highest forms of a distiller’s art.
