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: De Wine Spot

Name: Wathen’s Barrel Proof

Company: Medley Family

Distillery: Sourced

Age: NAS

Proof: 126

Mashbill: Undisclosed

Yield: 168 Bottles

Release Date: December 2018

‍For this pick, we partnered with our friends at De Wine Spot out of Brooklyn, New York. They sell a wide range of spirits and wine, but make whiskey a front and center focus of their endeavors. The also ship to over 40 states, which means a wide variety of our supporters will have an opportunity to have this sent straight to their homes.

Wathen’s Barrel Proof single barrels are highly allocated picks that don’t hit the market too often. These releases comprise a set number of barrels that display a unique quality to the Medley family, allowing them to stand out from their standard offerings.

While we typically include a Patreon supporter to make each selection with, this particular selection required a very quick turnaround and our Patreon supporter, Bradley, was unable to join us for the selection. He did receive barrel samples and followed up with notes after the selection was made. An interesting observation - he noted added complexity for all of them with a drop of water. The samples were small so we did not try this, but look forward to the comparison when the bottles arrive.

On to making the selection! Tasting the samples revealed something immediately - each had very unique qualities. One in particular stood out as the most unique, delivering an intensely sweet nose, warm spice on the palate, and finally transitioned to an interesting funky finish. While we debated the merits of such a unique pour versus some of the other not-so-unique options in front of us, we did end up in agreement that unique is good in this case. In the end, it really delivered the goods compared to the others.

Because it’s such a unique barrel that stands out from the standard Medley offerings as well as the other barrels we compared it to, (and its wow flavor profile), we lovingly nicknamed it “Sweet & Funky.”

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Tasting Notes:

‍Rich aromas of deliciously sweet brown sugar and caramel on the nose give way to a palate comprised of dark fruits, lightly toasted oak, caramel, and vanilla. A touch of spice comes into play on the finish, followed by a transition to lingering funky notes. It’s a unique set of flavors all wrapped up into one package, with a transition from rich, sweet aromas on the nose to an interestingly funky finish. Even though it’s barrel proof, clocking in at 126 proof, it doesn’t come across hot.

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!