PRIVATE RELEASE
The Barrell Private Release Series is a showcase for some of the most detailed and precise blending we do at Barrell Craft Spirits. By shrinking the scale to a single barrel and using everything we’ve learned about precision blending and finishing over the past decade, we’re able to create some of the most distinctive, one-of-a-kind whiskeys, bourbons, and rums in the world.
Each Private Release bottling is a custom creation at a true single-barrel scale. To maximize the best qualities of each component, we create intricate recipes designed all the way down to the ounce. So many variables mean each Private Release expression is truly exclusive. Even when we do replicate a specific recipe, the particular character of each individual cask means the final product is never exactly the same — which means each one is an exciting new experience.
PRIVATE RELEASE RYE
Private Release rye whiskeys are painstakingly assembled from Barrell’s deep stocks of rye whiskeys. After creating precise custom blends, we finish each assemblage in single casks, many previously used for other spirits or wines. Each single barrel release explores the huge range of spicy, herbaceous, and earthy flavors within rye itself, as well as its interactions with a kaleidoscope of different finishing casks.
PRIVATE RELEASE WHISKEY
Each Barrell Private Release Whiskey is a unique combination of whiskeys that are blended first, then married together in single casks, including favorites like Port and sherry to those almost never used in the whiskey industry, like amaro or Ratafia de Champagne. Each one features slightly different combinations of base whiskeys and finishing specifications. Think of them as deep-dive explorations of the full range of whiskey’s flavor potential.
AWARDS
WHISKY ADVOCATE RATINGS
AH08 (94)
AH10 (94)
DSX3 (93)
AH05 (92)
AH14 (92)
CIGAR & SPIRITS
QJC1 - DOUBLE GOLD
ULTIMATE SPIRITS COMPETITION
DJA1 - CHAIRMAN'S TROPHY
DJA1 - TOP 100 SPIRITS
DJA1 - 95 POINTS
DSX3 - CHAIRMAN'S TROPHY
DSX3 - TOP 100 SPIRITS
DSX3 - 95 POINTS
DJX1 - FINALIST
DJX1 - 93 POINTS
DSX2 - 91 POINTS
SAN FRANCISCO WORLD SPIRITS COMPETITION
DHA6 - GOLD MEDAL
DH19 - GOLD MEDAL
DJA2 - GOLD MEDAL
QJCI - GOLD MEDAL
ASCOT AWARDS
DHA3 - DOUBLE PLATINUM
DJX2 - PLATINUM
DJA2 - PLATINUM
DSX3 - GOLD
DH34 - GOLD
JOHN BARLEYCORN AWARDS
DHA6 - DOUBLE GOLD
DH19 - DOUBLE GOLD
DJA1 - GOLD
DJX1 - GOLD
DSX2 - GOLD
DH34 - GOLD
NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS COMPETITION
DJX1 - DOUBLE GOLD
DSX2 - DOUBLE GOLD
DH32 - GOLD
PRIVATE RELEASE BOURBON
There’s so much natural flavor concentration in bourbon that we don’t need finishes to create bottlings of distinction. Each Private Release Bourbon is a blend of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana bourbons of four different ages combined in different ratios. After the initial blending, each expression is left to marry in a bourbon cask until the integration is perfect. Every blend is slightly different, ensuring that no two barrels are ever the same.
AWARDS
WHISKY ADVOCATE RATINGS
A01A (96)
CSX8 (93)
ULTIMATE SPIRITS CHALLENGE
BX2i - 94 POINTS
CSX8 - 91 POINTS
SAN FRANCISCO WORLD SPIRITS COMPETITION
BA1C - BEST SMALL BATCH BOURBON (UP TO 5 YEARS)
BA1C - DOUBLE GOLD
BX2K - GOLD MEDAL
BX1A - GOLD MEDAL
BX2i - GOLD MEDAL
GXAI - GOLD MEDAL
ASCOT AWARDS
CSX8 - DOUBLE PLATINUM
GXA1 - DOUBLE PLATINUM
BX1A - PLATINUM
BA2K - PLATINUM
BX2i - GOLD
BA1C - GOLD
JOHN BARLEYCORN AWARDS
BX2i - DOUBLE GOLD
BX1A - GOLD
BA2K - GOLD
BA1C - GOLD
NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS COMPETITION
BX1A - GOLD
PRIVATE RELEASE RUM
We start by creating bespoke blends of rum from across the Caribbean, including rhum Agricole from Martinique and rums from Barbados, Jamaica, and Guyana. Then we marry them in a broad range of different single casks, many previously used to mature other spirits or wines. With so many regional styles and flavor components to draw from, the possibilities for distinctive expressions of rum are truly endless.
AWARDS
ULTIMATE SPIRITS CHALLENGE
B716 - TOP 100 SPIRITS
B716 - 94 POINTS
SAN FRANCISCO WORLD SPIRITS COMPETITION
B617 - BEST OVER-PROOF RUM
B617 - DOUBLE GOLD
ASCOT AWARDS
B547 - GOLD
JOHN BARLEYCORN AWARDS
B646 - DOUBLE GOLD
NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS COMPETITION
B547 - DOUBLE GOLD