Breaking Bourbon Award Winning Single Barrel Club picks are selected by Breaking Bourbon, and whenever possible with the help of Patreon supporters. The bottles are made available to Patreon supporters first by pledge tier. If any bottles remain after all supporters have had an opportunity to purchase, they are made available to the public on a first come, first served basis. Each barrel is sponsored by a retailer partner, who sells the bottles directly to end purchasers.

Retailer Partner: Seelbach’s

Classification: Blend of Straight Bourbons Finished in a Toasted Oak Barrel

Company: Steel Blending Spirits 

Distillery: Sourced from undisclosed distilleries in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana

Age: 50% 16 Year (TN), 25% 5 Year (KY), 25% 5 Year (IN) 

Proof: 108.5

Mashbill: 76% Corn, 18% Rye, 6% Malted Barley

Yield: 240 Bottles

Release Date: July 2022

For this pick, we partnered with Seelbach’s, which was founded by Blake Riber, also the creator of Bourbonr and the Bourbonr Facebook group. An online-only retailer with a twist, we interviewed Riber to discuss how he’s running his shop differently than everyone else. “Unlocking Craft Spirits” he calls it - seeking out up-and-coming craft distilleries and learning about their process and tasting through their products to find hidden gems.

Three Chord was founded in 2017 by Neil Giraldo, American musician, record producer, arranger, and songwriter. Since the company’s launch we have reviewed a number of their products including Twelve Bar Reserve Barrel Proof, Amplify Rye, and Whiskey Drummer. The company focuses on blending, describing the “tones” of whiskey coming together to create a “harmony” of flavor, with what they describe as “Perfectly Tuned Taste,” applying the concept of musical harmony to blending whiskey.   

Taking the concept of harmonizing whiskeys, we began working with Three Chord Master Blender Ari Sussman over a year ago to create our own bespoke blend. We started with three very different bourbons ranging from 5 to 16 years old and originating from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. We joined Sussman via video chat on August 17, 2021, and then from there finished the blend in a toasted barrel, drawing samples and tasting periodically until it was finally ready. 

As we can attest, what started as a blend we enjoyed from the onset, grew better and better over time as it was finishing in the toasted barrel. Interestingly, the toasted barrel smoothed out rough edges we did not even realize the whiskey had as time progressed, tasting and realizing by backwards comparison how much richer and more cohesive it was becoming as it continued to age in the toasted barrel. We’re excited at how well this came out, and hope you enjoy it too.

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For the sticker, we went with a play on music that speaks for itself. We think this custom blend is “out of this world,” so Rippin Space Blend came to be!

Tasting Notes:

Honey roasted peanuts and stone fruit open up a complex nose. There is a lot of bright cherry and toffee. The blend is well balanced. The toast is understated. It adds a nice caramelized vanilla note toward the back of the palate. Aged oak and black pepper round out the palate and remind you that the 16-year makes up half of the blend. This all leads to a long nutty finish. - Courtesy Blake Riber, Bourbonr/Seelbach's

Distillers, Producers, and Retailers: If you would like to be a part of this program and get your name in front of millions of bourbon enthusiasts, contact us.

‍Please note these bottles will not be sold by Breaking Bourbon, but will be sold by retailers we partner with in order to fulfill the orders and ship the bottles directly to Patreon supporters. Breaking Bourbon will receive no compensation from our partner retailers under these agreements (with the exception of a bottle from each barrel for editorial purposes). If you represent a retailer and ship to consumers and you’re interested in partnering just let us know!