Release XV - "Inception" – Blind Barrels

Release XV - "Inception"

September 2025 Release

Sample A

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Thresh & Winnow Bottled-in-Bond Millet Whiskey (KOVAL Distillery)

$79.99 Member Price

$99.99 Regular Price

Distillery: KOVAL Distillery - Chicago, IL
Proof: 100 (50% ABV)
Age: 5 years old
Mashbill: 100% Organic Millet
Color/Appearance: New Penny

Fun Fact: Millet is one of the most popular grains worldwide and is beloved by farmers for its ability to replenish the nutrients in the soil in which it’s grown (plus it’s drought resistant)!

Aroma

Vibrant tropical fruits (mango and pineapple), honey drizzled over warm porridge, Red Hots™, chocolate covered cherries
Taste

The palate starts soft with sweet grain and vintage cola, thyme, and continues with raisin bread, nuts, vanilla, marshmallow, and chamomile tea with honey
Finish

The finish is clean and bright, with notes of orange, cherry cola, and creamy porridge with agave nectar

Distillery Story

Cheers to Paula and Alex for this recommendation! KOVAL holds a special place in the lore of American Craft Whiskey, founded in 2008 by husband and wife team Dr. Robert Birnecker and Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart as the first distillery to open in Chicago since the mid-1800s. They quickly established themselves as a difference-maker in the category, bringing over traditions from Robert’s family in Austria who were both distillers and organic farmers. With a focus on unique grains, their signature “heart cut” techniques, as well as both kosher AND organic certifications, their authenticity is second to none. As Robert says, “That is what we want to stand for, the highest quality whiskey out there.” Their success speaks for itself, as would-be distillers flock to the Windy City to learn from them, and they have set up hundreds of distilleries all across the world, from Japan to Uganda to Belize.

We fell in love with this 100% Millet whiskey from the first sip, and the romance kept going when we learned more about the grain (plus the dope packaging of the Thresh & Winnow line). Millet is not only delicious, but also can help you feel good about your consumption, as it is incredibly regenerative, replenishing the nutrients in the soil in which it is grown, as well as being drought resistant. And even though KOVAL has been around for a while (their Four Grain was actually Seabass’ first bottle of craft whiskey way back in 2013!), they are still innovating, this being part of their Thresh & Winnow special release line, coming with a bottle so beautiful you won’t want to throw it away. At the end of the day, as Sonat says, “Going forward we are leaning into sharing joy and celebration with everyone, and whiskey is always a part of that experience. It’s something to help mark a moment that then becomes a memory, to which you can add layers, making it something truly special.” That sounds like the perfect “Inception” to us!

Sample B

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Kansas City Whiskey (J. Rieger & Co.)

$44.99 Member Price

$60.00 Regular Price

Distillery: J. Rieger & Co. - Kansas City, MO
Whiskey: Kansas City Whiskey
Proof: 92 (46% ABV)
Age: Whiskeys aged greater than 4 years + 15 year old Sherry Blend
Components: 75% Straight Bourbon, 18% Light Corn Whiskey, 5% Straight Rye, less than 2% 15 year old Williams & Humbert Sherry (Blend varies batch to batch)
Color/Appearance: Copper Gold

Fun Fact: With this delicious Kansas City Whiskey, which J. Rieger & Co. worked hard to designate as a new style particular to their region, the brand is revitalizing a historical practice of blending Sherry and Whiskey!

Aroma

Unsurprisingly, a rich sherry-forward nose, backed by honey, fresh gingerbread, mild licorice, chocolate-covered caramels, and butterscotch
Taste

Very balanced on the palate, with good spice and notes of walnuts soaked in sherry, figs, dates, raisins, toasted almonds, and dark chocolate
Finish

Nice sweet spice on the finish as well, with lingering notes of mixed nuts, clove, espresso, and that trademark Oloroso

Distillery Story:

We have our good friend Matt to thank for tipping us onto J. Rieger & Co.! Their brand story has just about everything: an actually-true family story from the 1800s, a revitalized historical blending practice of adding sherry to whiskey, a newly-defined regional category of whiskey, and (most importantly) damn good juice in the bottle. The Rieger family legacy is strong in Kansas City, with Austro-Hungarian Jacob Rieger coming to the region in the early 1880s and establishing a family legacy of founding businesses, ranging from a grocery store to a hotel to, you guessed it, a distillery. As Jacob’s great-great-great-grandson, Andy Rieger, says of his forefather, “He was a doer, like most immigrants.” Andy is the Co-Founder and President of J. Rieger, and was drawn (somewhat begrudgingly) into the planning processes to bring his family history back to life through a realization that he might be the perfect person for the job. His background in finance gives him an eye for the little things that allow companies to thrive, and his personal connection to the original brand attracted an all-star lineup of luminaries from the beverage industry who recognized that there was something special here.

And their Kansas City Whiskey is the perfect example of that special something. Not only is it incredibly delicious, but also is both a new classification of whiskey (they lobbied for the TTB to recognize it as a style) and a revived process that fell out of regular use after the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. They found records in their family’s heirloom collection showing that blending sherry was in regular use for the original iteration of J. Rieger & Co., so it was fitting to re-establish this as the regional hallmark for Kansas City! Andy says that they are “borrowing a historical style, but creating it today for the modern consumer.” This is a blend artfully crafted, with every whiskey component distilled and aged separately, before being brought together with the imported 15 year Oloroso sherry from Williams & Humbert in Jerez. As Andy says, “I like to describe this as a whiskey salad. We are the chef, the salad preparers, and the bottle is our bowl, what we want to present to you.” The “secret sauce” of the blend is their light corn whiskey, which provides a lightness to the final product that allows for the sherry to shine through, even though it can’t legally go above 2.5% of the batch. This is a whiskey so consistent that you can set your clock by it, and we know that it will be a staple on our members’ shelves for years to come!

Sample C

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This One Got Away

This bottle from our archive has sold out—proof that good whiskey doesn't last forever. But hey, that's what makes the hunt fun.

Browse Similar Bottles →

Who knows? Your next favorite might be waiting.

Sample D

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Reunion Rye Whiskey — Barrel Strength (Union Horse Distilling Co.)

$55.55 Member Price

$69.99 Regular Price

Distillery: Union Horse Distilling Co. - Lenexa, KS
Proof: 121 (60.5% ABV)
Age: 6 years old
Mashbill: 100% Midwest-Grown Rye
Color/Appearance: Garnet Red

Fun Fact: Founded by the Garcia siblings and named for their former horse farm, Union Horse was established with the help of Dave Pickerell, the “Johnny Appleseed” of American Whiskey!

Aroma

The nose is vibrant from the start, nice wood elements lead to rich wintergreen, snickerdoodle, dark licorice, vanilla, and boysenberries
Taste

An intriguing palate, with layers of sweet spice, cinnamon, mace, dark brown sugar, fermented blackberries, canned blueberries, and good tannins
Finish

A rounded and long finish leaves you with notes of toffee, plum juice, buttered cinnamon toast, and raisins

Distillery Story

There were so many people who recommended Union Horse to us that we can’t list them all, so we decided to group them under the pseudonym “Sam from Idaho”. So thanks so much to “Sam” for making sure this incredible whiskey and story got in front of our community! Union Horse really is what the Blind Barrel experience is all about: family, local ingredients, and darn good whiskey. The distillery is an endeavor from the Garcia siblings, started in 2008 and named for their former horse farm and the unity brought about in their family because of the project! One of the earliest members of the current craft whiskey renaissance, they got on the right track with their set-up with the help of Dave Pickerell, former master-distiller for Maker’s Mark and known as the “Johnny Appleseed” of American Whiskey! As head distiller Travis Vander Vegte recalls, “I knew this was for real when Dave came on board.” They stress that “time matters”, and with patience and a focus on only using full-size 53 gallon casks, they grew to where they are today.

Although they say that Pickerell was especially instrumental in their Rye whiskey, eventually they had to learn through trial by fire, and this 100% Midwest-Grown Rye mashbill is the result of those trials! Union Horse sources local grains to make whiskeys that properly represent the meeting between the Midwest and the Great Plains. This Reunion Rye is playfully sweet for having a 100% rye mash bill, and drinks incredibly well at over 120 proof. Cask strength whiskey is very important to them, being the full expression of the spirit and presenting amazingly concentrated flavors. As Damian Garcia, their Co-Founder, says, “It’s whiskey in its purest form.” They’re just a quick jaunt over the border from Kansas City, so next time you’re trying that famous KC BBQ, pay a visit to our friends at Union Horse and wash it down with some delicious drams!

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