Neeley Barrel Pick

There's always something truly special about first time visits. I just love meeting new people in this industry and something that's not talked about enough is how welcoming and friendly everyone is in a distillery or whiskey space. Who knows if it's the self medicating that helps or that whiskey people are some of the best folk around.

The Neeley family has a deep rooted history into distillation and one of if not the coolest backstories I've heard, from mafia ties to moonshiners. Very easy to nerd-out and get lost in conversation with Rebekah Sue Neeley and Royce Neeley. It was a pleasure to be there this summer selecting barrels alongside Jeremy Klingler. I was truly impressed with everything and one of my favorite distillery visits to date. Before the sampling of any barrels I gave Rebekah my preferred profile on a handful of different mashbills and she nailed every single one. I was blown away by this, my first time getting exactly what I ask for. A few barrels later and I finally land on a beautifully complex pour with a side of charred barrel fragments.

I've found Kelvin barrels to be much more enjoyable than any other double oaking process. There's a sort of "smoking" of the barrel and not just a heavy char, it imparts a ton of those vanilla and caramel notes and pushes them to the front of the palate. This barrel starts off as a semi sweet vanilla wafer and turns into a fruit bomb in the mid palate but finishes with a coffee grounds aftertaste. Truly an exceptional barrel and right in my wheelhouse of flavors. I wish I was receiving a strong yield from this single barrel but it is quite the opposite. Right around 90 bottles will be available and feel free to comment to reserve yours.

This bourbon was everything I wanted in a craft whiskey and every little detail just made it irresistible especially the price. From a very small yield, to an experimental barrel finish, I thought it was going to be up there for sure. But again to my amazement it was the complete opposite. I am very excited to have this opportunity of releasing a phenomenal single barrel pick at lower than 10/Y.

Special mention to Thumper, the rickhouse cat.

— JacksonB (Co-Owner)