2025 Single Barrel Program Barrels

Week 5 – Elijah Craig Barrel Proof r/Bourbon Single Barrel Selection

  • Distilled: Bardstown, Kentucky (Heaven Hill)
  • Aged: Kentucky (Heaven Hill)
  • Bottled: Bardstown, Kentucky (Heaven Hill)
  • Age:8 Years
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • ABV: 65.40% ABV 
  • Labeling: r/Bourbon Custom Labeling
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: Sweet vanilla rocks the nose first, followed by cola, caramelized sugar, toffee and butter cream. The proof sneaks by despite registering north of 65%. Rich palate, heavy on caramel, baking spice, vanilla bean, classic waffle cone. The finish is moderate – favors sweetness for density / complexity with a cola and creme brulee twist that heads for the exit gracefully. 

Week 5 – Hirsch 10 Year Double Oaked Bourbon r/Bourbon Private Selection

  • Distilled: Kentucky, USA (Undisclosed)
  • Aged: Kentucky (Hirsch)
  • Bottled: Bardstown, Kentucky (Hirsch)
  • Age: 10 Years
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • Mashbill: 72% Corn, 13% Rye, 15% Malted Barley
  • ABV: 56.8% ABV 
  • Labeling: Custom r/Bourbon Sticker
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: Imposing oak, honey, toffee and tobacco strikes first – it’s a big bourbon no matter how you slice it. Rich maple, heavy toffee, bold oak and plenty of pepper and spice to balance. Delicious cola, pound cake, big cocoa and vanilla. Palate is rich and layered, complex and chewy – layers of oak, sweet dessert, rich pepper, a pop of black cherry. I like how rich and oaky it is, without becoming dry or overly tannic, bitter, bark like. Long finish, decadent combo of brown sugar, cola, sweet oak, vanilla bean and toffee. 

Week 4 – Pinhook True Small Batch T8KE x The Chloe r/Bourbon Exclusive Blend

This blend came together out of a pair of delicate, racy, expressive and aromatic bourbon barrels that shone best together and stayed that way. Blended at The Chloe in person by Jay West & Sean Josephs. The Chloe is a mainstay of New Orleans, a boutique hotel with 14 rooms in a restored 1800’s Uptown mansion. Their bar and restaurant are among the best in the neighborhood. 

  • Distilled: Frankfort, KY (Castle & Key)
  • Aged: Frankfort, KY (Castle & Key EH Taylor Stone Warehouse)
  • Bottled: Frankfort, KY (Pinhook) 
  • Age: 5 Years
  • More Info: Two Barrel Blend, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • ABV: 59.7% ABV 
  • Yield: 378 Bottles
  • Labeling: T8KE x THE CHLOE 
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: Beautiful, bright and fruit driven there’s honey, apples and pears, peaches, vanilla cream and rich, caramel, toffee and butterscotch on the nose. Bright palate with pleasant oak, honey and butter cream, pepper and freshly baked pastries. Long finish that brings peach cobbler, brown sugar, a hint of tobacco, cream and toffee together once more. 

Week 4 – Pinhook True Small Batch T8KE x The Sylvain r/Bourbon Exclusive Blend

This blend came together out of a pair of brash, bold, confident and decadent barrels that punched and bruised their way through our tasting. Blended in person by Jay West & Sean Josephs. Sylvain (in their own words) is an unruly Southern bistro for locals in the French Quarter. In my words: you gotta go there. Grab a Pinhook Sazerac and try everything on the menu you have room for. 

  • Distilled: Frankfort, KY (Castle & Key)
  • Aged: Frankfort, KY (Castle & Key EH Taylor Stone Warehouse)
  • Bottled: Frankfort, KY (Pinhook) 
  • Age: 5 Years
  • More Info: Two Barrel Blend, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • ABV: 60.1% ABV 
  • Yield: 414 Bottles
  • Labeling: T8KE x THE SYLVAIN 
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: A contrast if I’ve ever seen one – rich brown sugar, maple, heavy oak, baking spice and fig rocks the nose of this brooding pair of barrels. The palate is rich and heavy, black pepper and tobacco with orange peel, brown sugar, rich cocoa and pleasant oak. Long finish, dark and delicious, blackberry, toffee, cola and black pepper mingle. 
     


Week 4 – 5 Sentidos Marteno con Espadin Destilado de Agave T8KE x Aficionados Group Exclusive Batch

  • Distilled: Oaxaca, Mexico (Tio Pedro Pascual Hernandez & Eduardo “Lalo” Barriga)
  • Bottled: Oaxaca, Mexico (5 Sentidos)
  • Agaves: Marteno (a.Karwinskii) & Espadin (a. Angustifolia)
  • Cooking: Roasted in conical underground oven for 5 days with firewood and guamuche
  • Fermentation: 10 day rest after cooking, shredded via small mill, 3 day dry ferment, followed by 10 day wet ferment
  • Water Source: Well Water
  • Distillation: double distilled, clay pots, by Tio Pedro at his palenque “La Esparanza”
  • Distillation Location: Santa Catarina Minas
  • ABV: 46.8% ABV, adjusted with puntas y colas  
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: Fresh and bright on the nose: incredible complexity. Apple cider vinegar, honey, sweet cream, a pop of green bell pepper, minerality and warm honey. Bright minerality, tons of slate and a pinch of lemon and salt. It’s bright, it’s full, if you pour a glass and set it across your desk you’ll catch a whiff in no time. The palate is silky and rich, full mouthfeel with black pepper, orange peel, lemon and lime, limestone and minerality, a balancing hint of salinity. There’s a fruity sweetness on the back palate – melon and tropical fruits. The finish is long and savory, a bright combination of fruits and pepper. It reminds me of a melon salad I had once at a restaurant – watermelon, balsamic, a hint of flakey salt and some honey and black pepper. Wildly unique and wholly satisfying. 

Week 3 – Dancing Goat 8 Year Limousin Rye Port Finish r/Bourbon Single Barrel Selection

  • Distilled: Indiana, USA
  • Aged: Indiana & Wisconsin
  • Bottled: Wisconsin, USA (Dancing Goat)
  • Age: 8 Years + Port Wine Finish
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • ABV: 59% ABV 
  • Labeling: Custom r/Bourbon Branding 
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: Spicy up front: big rich rye spice, pepper, honey and blackberry reduction pops immediately. Big and rich on the palate, it’s jammy, sweet and spicy, there’s a kiss of oak and pleasant vanilla bean, orange peel, blackberry and blueberry reduction, figgy and packed with viscosity. Long finish, pleasant mouthfeel on the back palate, jammy and rich with pepper and oak balancing the jammy port influence. I’d give this the nod over MWND any day of the week and I know you will too. 


Week 3 – Rare Character Single Barrel Series 8yr1mo OLO r/Bourbon Single Barrel Selection

  • Distilled: Indiana (MGP)
  • Aged: Lexington, Kentucky (Rare Character)
  • Bottled: Lexington, Kentucky (Rare Character)
  • Age: 8 Years 1 Month + Finishing Time 
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • Mashbill: 51% Rye, 45% Corn, 4% Malted Barley
  • ABV: 59.14% ABV 
  • Labeling: Custom r/Bourbon Labeling
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: It’s decadence in a bottle. I love finished ryes because Rye maintains so much of its character and has this assertive spine and backbone of structure to hold together with heavy finishing. This wasn’t intended to be a heavy finish, but when something comes out as short as this, it’s just concentrated by nature. Red berries, rich tobacco, a hint of barrel char, big rye spice, sweet oak and rich, dry wine hangs and hangs on the palate. Rich mouthfeel, layered, opulent, heavy. Stewed fruits, dates, boysenberry, blackberry, a touch of ango, black pepper and heavy oak. Long finish, decadent and layered, heavy and spicy, sweet and indulgent. 

Week 2 – Blue Run T8KE x TBC CHOSEN Exclusive Blend

This is custom blend of bourbons but it’s also so much more. This spring, I had an opportunity to work the first truly custom blends with the Blue Run team they offered. Now, a lot of people talk about Blue Run the brand, or Blue Run the whiskey, but rarely, if ever, do I hear about the team. That’s where we’ll start today because I got to spend the day blending with Shaylyn Gammon.

Some of you may know that name but I’d wager many of you don’t. And that’s fine. But, it’s time to change that. 

If you’ve had Russell’s Reserve 13 Year, then you know Shaylyn’s work. She worked for Wild Turkey for quite some time before leaving to join Blue Run. Her career started in food science at the University of Louisville and she then moved to spirits R&D for Campari, the company who owns Wild Turkey, among many things. There she worked on whiskeys all across the catalogue but truly spearheaded Russell’s Reserve 13 Year, which speaks for itself

Not long after the launch of RR13, she took the plunge and joined a newly founded whiskey company called Blue Run. Our single barrel in 2024 with Blue Run was a real hit, and I knew I wanted to do more with Blue Run, so it came as an easy choice to explore doing a blend. I had a couple conditions though – I wanted us to work together to create something unique and new, and we were going to do it in person. 

Luckily, Blue Run agreed and last May I found myself at the table with all manner of whiskey strewn about as we got to work: 6-10yr bourbon, rye, you name it. This release is our first Blue Run custom blend and perhaps we had a little too much fun…so it won’t be our last either. 

Blends are important to me because they harness the unique and outstanding qualities of single barrels, and let you create something that’s greater than the sum of those parts. Single barrels are awesome at providing a snapshot into all of these different distilleries we have the privilege to work with and select from. But, blends let you create something even greater.

That single barrel with standout flavors, that single barrel with an incredible texture and mouthfeel, that single barrel that’s got just a touch more oak than is needed but is packed with dessert all become paints on an easel to create a whiskey that’s an indulgent and immersive experience, bringing together flavor, tannin, complexity, leveraging the heat and oak just right to create something bigger. 

So, without further ado, I present our first exclusive, a 600 bottle blend of bourbons all from Kentucky. It’s a Kentucky Straight Bourbon release from a handful of major distilleries and ages in KY, all 6+ years.

I learned so much from Shaylyn as we tasted and blended and discussed and her success is no surprise to me after our time together. 

I also appreciate that Blue Run went back to the drawing board on packaging since our last select – this release now features a solid metal cork, better labeling and a custom front plate that’s metal also and etched and customized. When you’re done with the bottle, the centerpiece actually pops off (it’s magnetic) and you can hold on to it. I’ve never seen something like that before.

It’s become a bottle on my bar but also my desk as its become a welcome fidget tool when I’m on the phone, hah. As I mentioned above, there is also another blend lurking in this chosen set with matching branding. Like I’ve done for some sequential releases in the past, going in on Chapter 1 will give you a guarantee to grab the next one as well. 

  • Distilled: Kentucky, USA (Undisclosed Producers)
  • Aged: Kentucky, USA
  • Bottled: Kentucky, USA (Blue Run)
  • Age: NAS
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • ABV: 57.1% ABV
  • Labeling: Custom T8KE x The Bourbon Concierge Metal Plate & Cork 
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes:
    • Nose: Maple and brown sugar, French vanilla, cinnamon, baking spice and rich oak. 
    • Taste: Rich on the palate, layered, big, buttery texture. Pleasant oak – not too dry, but plenty of influence and structure here. Vanilla bean, toffee, tobacco, some black pepper and baking spice, sweet cream and a hint of cocoa. 
    • Finish: Long, packed with dessert and baking spice, pleasant oak but not too drying, great blend of cocoa, cinnamon, pepper, brown sugar and sweet caramels. 
    • Overall: Blended to be big and complex, sweet with plenty of spice and tannin to balance nicely. 


Week 2 – Rare Character Single Barrel Series KOA Bourbon r/Bourbon Single Barrel Selection

  • Distilled: Kentucky, USA (Undisclosed Producer)
  • Aged: Lexington, Kentucky (Rare Character)
  • Bottled: Lexington, Kentucky (Rare Character)
  • Age: 9 Years
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • ABV: 69.72% ABV 
  • Labeling: Custom r/Bourbon Labeling
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: Huge, bright, rich – this barrel is full of heavy, syrupy sweetness, big fruits and cherry, a touch of cocoa, cola, barrel char. Palate is rich and there’s a prickle of proof, laced with honey, toffee, cola, cherry, char, graham cracker, tobacco and bright fruit. Fudgy, layered mouthfeel, Long finish – it’s rich and oaky here, proof fades a bit on the finish and more bright cherry, tobacco, toffee rises. 

Week 1 – Corbin Cash 9 Year Rye r/Bourbon Single Barrel Selection 

  • Distilled: Atwater, California (Corbin Cash)
  • Aged: Atwater, California (Corbin Cash)
  • Bottled: Atwater, California (Corbin Cash)
  • Age: 9 Years
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Cask Strength
  • Mashbill: 100% Merced Rye
  • ABV: 71% ABV 
  • Labeling: Custom r/Bourbon Labeling
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes:  Rich, sweet, syrupy and sticky, this is a hefty rye., It’s loaded with maple, caramels, toffee, creme brulee, char, cracked pepper, decadent tobacco, a touch of ango and heavy rye spice. Rich on the palate, tons of honey, and spice, rye character, bread, black tea, tobacco. Viscous and coating, sneaky for the proof but bold and grippy, hangs on the palate with a long, tobacco and maple finish that’s rye dominant and spicy spicy spicy. 


Week 1 – Rare Character Single Barrel Series TST Toasted Rye r/Bourbon Single Barrel Selection

  • Distilled: Lawrenceburg, Indiana (MGP)
  • Aged: Lexington, Kentucky (Rare Character)
  • Bottled: Lexington, Kentucky (Rare Character)
  • Age: 7 Years 6 Months + Finishing Time
  • More Info: Single Barrel, No Coloring, No Filtering, No Additives, Barrel Strength
  • Mashbill: 51% Rye, 45% Corn, 4% Malted Barley 
  • ABV: 58.39% ABV 
  • Labeling: Custom r/Bourbon Labeling
  • T8ke’s Tasting Notes: Big, fat and rich this rye rounds out huge spice notes, maple and toffee, a hint of herbal punch and big caramel notes. I liked how the toast integrated with the rye spice, adding nice brulee, oak and honey notes rather than off-sweet marshmallow-y notes. Lovely palate, drinks closer to 100pf and sits nicely with a pillowy, supple mouthfeel. Orange peel, rye spice, brown sugar and tobacco mingle. Long finish, driven by pepper, rye spice and sweet toffee. Toast brings a nice layer of natural sweetness, dessert forward, to a rich and spicy rye.