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.

SBC #61: NULU Barrel Proof Columbian OakBourbon finished in Toasted Oak “Juicy Fruity”

Retailer Partner: Seelbach’s

Classification: Straight Bourbon Finished in a Columbian Oak Cask

Company: Prohibition Craft Spirits Distilling Company

Distillery: MGP

Age: 6.5 Years (Originally filled December 2015, barrel B490T)

Proof: 113.2

Mashbill: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malted Barley

Yield: 171 Bottles

Release Date: July 2022

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SBC #62: NULU Barrel Proof Bourbon “Nu Spice”

Retailer Partner: Seelbach’s

Classification: Straight Bourbon

Company: Prohibition Craft Spirits Distilling Company

Distillery: MGP

Age: 6 Years (Filled March 2016, barrel C60)

Proof: 116.6

Mashbill: 60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Malted Barley

Yield: 189 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.

For this pick, we visited Prohibition Craft Spirits Distilling Company located in the Nulu neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. We can best describe the pick as a “no holds barred” format, as we were there to select a Breaking Bourbon barrel (or a few), Seelbach’s barrel (or a few), and create a custom blend. As a result, this meant tasting a lot of barrels, which is our favorite way to find good ones. And good ones we did find.

After tasting through a handful of fairly average barrels, we discovered a 6 year old (filled in March 2016) 36% rye mashbill bourbon that was exceptional. Spice forward, the bourbon was well rounded with complementary notes of caramel, oak, and butterscotch. It was unanimously the best bourbon we tasted before getting into some double barrel bourbons and ryes.

Then we got into double barrel bourbons, which were originally aged in Columbian oak, and then were being finished in toasted barrels. The whole lot was shockingly varied in flavor profile, from parmesan cheese notes (yes you read that right) to big summer fruit. We worked out a fantastic blend for Seelbach's, but there was one barrel that stood out so much on its own we had to revisit, and ended up claiming as a single barrel for the Club. It's also a 6.5 year old bourbon (filled December 2015), but has 21% rye in the mashbill. It's incredibly fruit-forward and creamy, with apricot, raspberry, and dark cherry complemented by brown sugar and caramel sweetness with a touch of spice.

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For the sticker concepts we put the task out to the Single Barrel Club, and they came back with some fantastic ideas. With so much fruit on the finished barrel, a Fruit Stripe, Juicy Fruit mashup idea took shape. And for the spicy barrel, a play on Old Spice only in this case it’s Nu spice (NULU…get it?). We’re excited for these two finds and can’t wait to share them with the club.

Tasting Notes:

SBC #61: NULU Barrel Proof Columbian OakBourbon finished in Toasted Oak “Juicy Fruity”

Nose: Summer fruits | Caramel | Light rye spice | Pleasing mix of fruit, sweetness, and spice

Palate: Fruit-forward | Apricot | Raspberry | Dark cherry | Brown sugar | Creamy mouthfeel

Finish: Light cinnamon spice | Tapering fruit notes | Brown sugar | Medium length

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SBC #62: NULU Barrel Proof Bourbon “Nu Spice”

Nose: Big rye spice | Caramel | Vanilla | Bold

Palate: Butterscotch | Charred oak | Caramel | Rye spice | Traditional with big, bold impact

Finish: Spice crescendos | Toffee | Barrel char | Light caramel sweetness | Long

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!