Distillery Story
Speaking of full circle, to truly tell the story of Middle West Spirits and Blind Barrels you have to go all the way back to March 2022, in which their Dark Pumpernickel Rye was featured in our FIRST EVER release! This was a paradigm-shifting whiskey for many of our earliest members, who came to us proudly claiming to love Bourbon over Rye, until they fell in love with the rich sugar and spice notes on that sample. We've used up a lot of those bottles in these past 4 years, both neat and in some amazing cocktails, and it remains a mainstay on every one of our team's backbars.
Ohio might not be the first place you think of when you contemplate American whiskey, but the team at Middle West Spirits is doing their best to change that. Founded in 2008 as one of the earliest craft distillers in the country, CEO and Master Distiller Ryan Lang knew that he wanted to do things the right way, representing Ohio as much as he could, farm to bottle with local grains and even local oak for their casks! Their ethos is featuring the flavors of the region, being built on the three pillars of Authenticity, Heritage, and Innovation.
This Cask Strength Wheat Whiskey absolutely blew our tasting panel away when we tried it blind initially, checking off pretty much every box you want in a whiskey. Rich sugars and candied nuts? Check. A variety of fruit notes? Mmhmm. Baked goods and fresh spices? You bet! It wasn't until we were packing up the kits to ship them out that we found out that it had just received the honor of being selected as the #14 ranked whiskey of the year for the 2025 Whisky Advocate Top 20, which might just be the most prestigious list out there! Factor in price, crop-to-cask Ohio grain, and excellent availability, and this bottle has the potential to be a mainstay on our members' shelves for years to come.
