Barrel Commissioning

[Schpanckie]

In Ireland, it is possible to reserve your own barrel at the distillery. I would like to surprise my best friend(who is a big Bourbon fan) with his private barrel for his 40th birthday. Does anyone know of a Bourbon Distiller that does private barrel commissioning? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[bourbonv]

Brown-Forman sells single Barrels of Jack Daniel's and a barrel's worth of their small batch Woodford Reserve (you taste multiple barrels and decide upon your flavor profile from these barrels and they marry them together and you get one barrel's worth). Buffalo Trace also sells single Barrels of their products. Julian Van Winkle does the same. I am not sure if the other distilleries offer this service. I would contact them via email to find out. What is your friend's favorite bourbon? That might be a place to start as to who to contact.

[Schpanckie]

Thanks for the info, sounds like I have my homework to do. He is a Woodford fan.

[bourbonv]

In that case I think, as a true friend, you may have to come to Kentucky and force yourself to taste a couple of dozen barrels and pick just the right bourbon profile for his barrel selection at Woodford. It is a tough job, but true friends are worth that extra effort! The gift is also about the self sacrifice you have to make to give the gift. I am sure he will appreciate all the more when he finds out about the hard work you had to do to provide the gift. If you need any help picking this whiskey, I am sure you might be able to draft a few people here in Louisville to help you make the tough decisions.

Good Luck and I hope your friend will enjoy his gift.

[brendaj]

I am sure you might be able to draft a few people here in Louisville to help you make the tough decisions.

Mr. Schpanckie Sir,
I'm not in Louisville, but Mike is exactly right. All you need do is ask. I'm always happy to sacrifice myself on the Bourbon altar...

As I've said 118 times...its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
Bj

[cowdery]

In addition to the ones already mentioned, Heaven Hill has a buy-a-barrel program with Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage. Buffalo Trace will do it with Blanton's and other brands.

What Julian Van Winkle has done in the past and may still do is unique, because he will let you do a full "custom" bottling, including your own labels. Don't blame him if I'm overstating, but I think he will do that.

The standard programs cost between $8,000 and $10,000 and yield about 225-240 barrels, so it comes out to about $35 a bottle.

Some will let you have the empty barrel.

[doubleblank]

Chuck......Julian will do a custom bottling and labeling if you are willing to pick up the additional costs to get the necessary gov't approvals. That part is time consuming and not inexpensive if you do a completely custom label. You'll save money by putting the whiskey from your selected barrel into a standard bottling and add a custom sticker identifying the purchaser, date of barreling/bottling, etc. But if you've got time and money, the custom thing is the way to go.

Randy

[Schpanckie]

Thanks for all the help, it looks like Nana is going to get the kids and the wife and I are coming to Kentucky and goto school. At least the homework should be fun. A custom blended barrel should do the trick. Again, thanks for all the help.

[bourbonv]

Good luck with your choice. If there is anything you need to know or any help help while you are in Kentucky, feel free to drop me a line.