Barrell Bourbon
Straight Rye Whiskey
Barrel #M734
MGP, Indiana
95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley

Distilled: 2/25/13
7 Years Old
113.9 Proof

We finally got one! Basically, since we started this whole beastly endeavor, we've been looking for well-aged MGP rye. You see, the first barrel that Baron Schmoky Von Beast IV ever bought was an MGP rye from Smooth Ambler. There's something about these 95% ryes that is so spicy, so diesel, so BEASTLY, that nothing really compares. That original Smoky Beast Rye only produced 66 bottles, and now goes on the black market for over two grand per bottle! And ever since then it's been devilishly hard to find another. But buckle up 'cause here we go!

Every year we releae our "Bee's Knees" series for our favorite barrels of the year. It's no big surprise that this year's run again comes from Barrell Bourbon. Last year their incredible "Dr. Pepper Bomb" 14 year Tennessee bourbons won the prize. And this year they've managed to do it again with an off-the-charts series of three MGP rye barrels!

Given the face-melting shit show that is 2020, nothing felt more appropriate that naming this year's Bee's Knees the "Murder Hornet" series. So we're proud to introduce the first of our Murder Hornets "Fred-Bee Kruger!" Ever since that first MGP rye barrel back in 2015, this monster has haunted our dreams. It's unclear why a killer wasp with a giant poisonous stinger would strap razor blades to his fingers and wear a tattered sweater, but at the end of the day it just makes him all the more terrifying.

Fred-Bee comes out of the glass with a slash of mega-spice: raw ginger, black pepper, dill, oregano, spearmint, and crushed red pepper. Then on the tongue it's candy-sweet: red lollypops, jelly lemon slices, maybe some Jolly Rancher? And then on the finish the sweet and spice come together in a magical way and get all wrapped together with the richness of the wood. At 114 proof, that lovely rye spice stays with you well into the afternoon! An awesome start to our fiendish trio of Murder Hornets, Fred-Bee is a killer! 178 bottles total yield on this one, so get it 'for it's gone.

Sweet Dreams / The Beasts!