Barrel #: BRT3177        

Proof: 113.2

Source: MGPi

Mash Bill: 95/5 Wheat/Malted Barley

Bottle Count: 205 bottles

Age: 6-Years & 6-Months

Tasting Notes: Brown sugar and apple streusel. Rounded, dark and easy to sip. A little bit of dried cherries and charred peaches. It quickly moves back to the toasted oak and vanilla from the palate. The finish is medium with a bit of sweet oak and spice.

Story: In January, the Bourbon Community Roundtable (Breaking Bourbon, Bourbon Pursuit and myself) "BCR" made out way out to Colorado to visit Old Elk. This was only the third time we selected barrels as a group. What we found didn't disappoint! The heart of the Old Elk story starts with Master Distiller Greg Metze. Greg is the former Master Distiller of Midwest Grain Products Ingredients (MGPi). Calling him a "master" of the craft is an understatement. After spending a couple of days tasting and chatting with Greg you quickly realize that he's probably forgotten more about whiskey making then I will ever know or understand. All praise aside, Old Elk started at MGPi. They started by recruiting Metze to create a custom mash bill for their bourbon. With instructions to create a flavorful, smooth bourbon without sparing any expense Metze got creative.

Wheat mash bills have all the same challenges of a rye and are never an easy path to take when distilling, but Metze decided to craft Old Elk’s Straight Wheat Whiskey in the spirit of the acclaimed 95 percent rye whiskey. He applied all of his expertise and knowledge into producing another one of a kind product: a mash bill of 95 percent soft red winter wheat and five percent malted barley, aged for five years, this whiskey is a vivacious and refreshing spirit that is reinventing what it means to be a sipping whiskey.

After creating the first Old Elk mash bill, the OE team worked on the bigger task. That was to pull Metze away from the company and distillery he'd been at for 38-years! Thankfully he saw the vision of the Old Elk team and joined them full time in 2017.