Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 22-Year-Old Bourbon Is A Top-Shelf Triumph

Take a sip of this Kentucky ambrosia.

Jared Paul Stern

May 18, 2016

The Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Company, dedicated to releasing limited edition spirits from rare casks discovered in some of the country’s finest whiskey cellars, has come out with its eighth release, Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 22-Year-Old, a 90.4 proof bourbon.

Priced at $100 per bottle and limited to an undisclosed amount of bottles, it’s the third in Orphan Barrel’s Rhetoric series of progressively aged whiskeys.

Bottled at 90.4 proof, the label is designed in homage to the oak barrels in which the whiskey aged, discovered at the old Stitzel-Weller Warehouses in Louisville, KY. The rare 22-year-old bourbon was originally distilled the historic Bernheim Distillery in Louisville, KY, and is hand-bottled in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

The mash bill for Rhetoric Whiskey is 86% corn, 8% barley and 6% rye. Beginning with hints of toasted grains, cherries and oak wood, Rhetoric 22-Year-Old tastes of toasted oak and dark chocolate with ripe banana and baking spices of clove and anise, while the finish is long and woody ending with dark chocolate notes.

In other words, you’ll want to sip this one slowly….