We raided the treasury of the recently reopened historic James E. Pepper Distillery and got our hands on the finest cask.

Larger than life doesn't even begin to describe James E. Pepper, the man who was instrumental for the passing of the Bottled-in-Bond Act and popularizing the Old Fashioned cocktail. When he wasn't tending to what was at one point in history the largest distillery in the US, he traveled around in a private rail car, ran one of the finest stables of thoroughbreds to compete in the Kentucky Derby, and rubbed shoulders with giants such as John D. Rockefeller and Theodore Roosevelt. After shutting down in the late 1950s the distillery lay dormant for 50 years, waiting for capable hands to resurrect it.

Enter Amir Peay, entrepreneur, history buff, and Whiskey aficionado, who spent a decade researching and rebuilding the historic brand and distillery. On his quest to restore the magical place to its former glory, he scoured the globe to get his hands on original bottles, going so far as obtaining documents by the legendary James E. Pepper himself, which contained the exact recipes, production methods, and drawings of the still system. The brand relaunched in 2008 and the gloriously restored distillery became operational in 2017.

What a pleasure it is when you get to pick out a cask with such a rich history. This one was filled by the Lawrenceburg Distillery and is a part of the Pepper brand's most prized lineup of barrels. Uncle Flaviar has a nose for sniffing out the best in the bunch, so you can be sure this Rye is a doozy. It has spent 4 years in new white oak and was bottled by hand in that historic Lexington, KY distillery. What a way to be a part of Whiskey history!