Rabbit Hole Distillery has unveiled a single barrel release, while also launching its single barrel program, following a charity benefit on National Bourbon Day.
The program, created by Founder/Whiskey Maker Kaveh Zamanian, includes art presentation on the bottles. It’s fitting for a distillery known for artistic architecture.
“The celebration of creative voices and a deep commitment to innovation have always been core tenets of our brand,” says Zamanian. “Guided by these principles, we created Rabbit Hole’s single barrel private barrel selection platform to combine our commitment to originality and creativity in whiskey making with our passion for bringing to life original works of art.”
“My team and I could not be prouder of this program and we look forward to sharing these very special releases with the country’s most discerning bourbon aficionados,” he adds.
Four artists selected by Zamanian each year will create six original limited-edition artworks, representing each of the four Rabbit Hole whiskey expressions. Together this yields 24 unique label artworks per year.
The artists will come up with illustrations that offer a personal interpretation of a theme chosen by Zamanian for each release.
The first single barrel release included ten barrels of the Rabbit Hole Heigold high-rye bourbon.
Featuring the Heigold mash bill (70% corn, 25% malted rye, 5% malted barley), this release went through a proprietary cooking process, aging in #3 wood-fired, toasted and charred new American Oak barrels and was bottled at cask strength. Each bottle of Rabbit Hole Heigold Single Barrel sells for a suggested retail price of $105.99 per 750-ml. bottle.
A total of 144 bottles went up for sale in Kentucky. Each came from the first barrel selected by internationally renowned whiskey expert Fred Minnick. All proceeds from the first Rabbit Hole single barrel pick provided COVID recovery grants to four Louisville-region restaurants through Fund for The Arts, a regional nonprofit in Louisville.
Bottles from all 10 barrels of Rabbit Hole’s inaugural single barrel release feature the illustrations of Korean watercolorist and fashion illustrator Kasiq Jungwoo Lee. Zamanian commissioned him to take a modern interpretation of classic Lewis Carroll characters.
The result is six illustrations featuring Alice, The White Rabbit, The Hatter, The Queen, The King and The Headsman.
Every six-bottle case of this first release contains a bottle with each label design, and features special glass and cork sourced exclusively for the Single Barrel program.
Unique artworks will feature on single barrel releases on all four Rabbit Hole core expressions — Boxergrail, Heigold, Dareringer and Cavehill — launching in July 2021, for sale in additional markets in the U.S.
Retailers interested in receiving a single barrel can join the waiting list for Rabbit Hole picks. All Rabbit Hole single barrel picks come with that release’s theme’s art.