What is walking the shelves.

Spotted in the Wild Common 45% ABV

Limestone Branch Distillery Co.

Minor Case Straight Rye, Sherry Cask Finished

Poured at The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House in Ballwin — in a perfect Manhattan, and it made the case. A 100 percent American-grain straight rye, distilled and aged in Indiana per the back label, finished in sherry casks, and bottled at 45 percent by Limestone Branch Distillery Co. in Lebanon, Kentucky. The sherry finish is the working part: it rounds the rye's edge before the vermouth ever arrives. No neat-pour notes yet — the Manhattan spoke first.

Regions

Missouri

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO (poured at the bar)

Spotted Aug 20, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Single Barrel

Nobleton's Distilling House

Presidential Reserve, Volume II

The second volume of the SEMO collaboration line — a cask-strength wheated single barrel, per the Hound's pour at The Brothers on June 22. Steve had it open the afternoon Messi tied the international scoring record; the Hound had it in the glass when the goal went in. That story is in the journal. Proof and age for this volume are not in the Hound's notes yet, so they are not printed here — the spec block fills in when the bottle sits still long enough to read.

Regions

Southeast Missouri · St. Louis metro

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO (bar pour)

Spotted Jun 22, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Limited Reach 6 years · 50% ABV

Penelope Bourbon

Toasted Rye — Toasted Series, Batch 24-504

Straight rye finished in a new charred American oak barrel. Batch 24-504. 100 proof. Six years old. Char 2, heavy toast — both printed on the front label like a spec sheet, which is the part the Hound respects. Per Penelope's own back label, the Toasted Series explores the depth and complexity different char and toast levels have on our flavor profile. Toast first, not char — brown sugar and warm oak, then the rye spine lifts: black pepper, clove, cinnamon turning into baking spice. The 100 proof carries it without burning. The Architect series gets the louder press, but the toast-finished rye is what the Hound pours for a guest who wants to taste what a second barrel actually does to a straight rye. Full writeup in the journal: Tonight's Pour — Penelope Toasted Rye, After the Goal.

Toasted oak and brown sugarCinnamon stickBlack pepper rye spineVanilla and caramel from the finish barrelLong heat — earned, not aggressive

Regions

Missouri

Spotted At

General retail — spotty; grab when seen

MSRP

$60–$70 street

Spotted Jun 22, 2026

Gift · see disclosures

Spotted in the Wild Allocated Reach NAS · 54.5% ABV

Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co.

Toasted Rye, Batch 2

Kentucky Straight Rye finished in lightly toasted barrels. 109 proof, 54.50 percent ABV, non-chill filtered, sweet-mash. Corky Taylor's signature embossed across the shoulder — the Taylor family signs every release. The Peerless operation is the Louisville revival of the distillery Henry Kraver ran in Henderson, Kentucky from 1889 until Prohibition; Corky and Carson Taylor reopened it in 2015 and made rye the first release. Everything sweet-mash, non-chill filtered. Both choices show up in the glass. The toasted-barrel finish reads as a marketing exercise on the label and a real choice in the glass — caramelized brown sugar, baking spice, soft cherry, a long warm finish that does not go hot. The Hound met this bottle twice at The Brothers in Ballwin: first in a Perfect Manhattan over a large rock, then neat from the last pour in the decanter. Steve set the empty on the stainless like a receipt. Buy when seen.

Toasted oakCaramelized brown sugarBaking spiceSoft cherryLong warm finish

Regions

Missouri · Kentucky

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO (last pour gone June 2026)
Allocated at Kentucky retail — disappears within hours of arrival

MSRP

$100–$130

Secondary

Tracks to MSRP when in stock; rarely seen on secondary

Spotted Jun 7, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Single Barrel Reach NAS · 57.66% ABV

Nobleton's Distilling House (Planters Whiskey)

Ozark Highlands Single Barrel Reserve

Real Dirty Natural Whiskey. 57.66 percent ABV, single-barrel reserve, produced by Nobleton's Distilling House in Union, Missouri — Demetrius Cain's estate operation. The Cain family has been planting grain on Missouri soil since 1824, the same year they first paid federal whiskey tax in the state. Nobleton's is the rare American distillery where grain, mash, still, barrel, and bottle all live on the same property. The Ozark Highlands designation on the label is not decoration — Cain spent four years getting Ozark Highlands written into Missouri statute as a recognized whiskey-producing region, modeled on Kentucky Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey. The label is the receipt for that legislative work. The Hound poured this on Steve's back bar at The Brothers, next to a Yellowstone Hand-Picked Collection the bar itself selected. Earthy first — wet stone, a thin line of damp tobacco leaf. Then honey rolls through, less floral than Kentucky honey, more the dark honey of buckwheat or wildflower. Soft fruit comes late, more stone fruit than orchard. The finish goes long and warm without going hot — the work of a clean distillate letting the barrel finish the sentence. Whoever wrote the label tasted the bottle: "earthy, tobacco, sweat, honey, fruit." Honest copy.

EarthyDamp tobaccoDark honeyStone fruitLong warm finish

Regions

Missouri

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO
Nobleton's Distilling House — Union, MO (Saturday tour)
Select Missouri retailers carrying Planters

MSRP

Specialty Missouri retail pricing — confirm at the shelf

Secondary

Limited single-barrel pricing varies

Spotted Jun 7, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Single Barrel Reach 8 years 2 months · 57.72% ABV

Rare Character Whiskey Co.

Single Barrel Series Rye — Barrel R95-200

Kentucky Straight Rye, Cask Strength, Single Barrel Series. Barrel R95-200. 115.44 proof, 57.72 percent ABV. Distilled January 15, 2018. Bottled March 2026. 95/5 mash bill — ninety-five percent rye, five percent malted barley. Hand-selected jointly by St. Louis Juice Box and The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House. Rare Character was founded by Pablo Moix — a Los Angeles bartender turned barrel hunter who spent two decades buying single barrels for his own bars before putting his name on a bottle. The Lexington outfit does not distill; they source and they taste warehouses for a living. The back label lists distill date, bottle date, and mash bill in plain print. The Hound respects a back label that tells the truth without footnotes. The pour did not need water at 115 proof — the rye carries more than it punishes. Toasted rye bread on the nose, a rounded baked-pepper note rather than the dry sneeze-pepper of younger rye, stone fruit pit on the palate, mint at the back, finish that goes long without going hot. When two St. Louis operators — one retail, one pour-by-the-glass — agree on a single barrel, the read is the barrel pulled harder than the rest of the lineup at the warehouse tasting. Otherwise they would have split. The price is the price. The juice is the juice.

Toasted rye breadBlack pepperStone fruit pitMint at the backLong heat, no harshness

Regions

Missouri · Kentucky

Spotted At

St. Louis Juice Box — Brentwood, MO (joint pick)
The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO (bar pour, joint pick)

MSRP

$130–$160

Secondary

Gone the day the pick lands

Spotted Jun 7, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Allocated 7 years · 50% ABV

Nobleton's Distilling House

Presidential Reserve, Volume I

Missouri whiskey from the alumni-owned distillery in Union, MO. Wheated mash bill — 70% corn, 25% wheat, 5% malted barley, all Missouri-grown. Seven years old, 100 proof. Hand-selected by Dr. Carlos Vargas, then president of SEMO, and a portion of sales funds SEMO scholarships. The bottle wears the copper Academic Hall dome. Allocated and regional — distribution is southeast Missouri and the St. Louis metro. The Hound met the Nobleton's founders across the bar at The Brothers; the field report is in the journal, and the tasting writeup waits in the Open Verdict queue for a quieter pour.

Regions

Southeast Missouri · St. Louis metro

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO (bar pour)
Southeast Missouri retail — allocated and regional

Spotted May 28, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Allocated Unicorn 15 to 22 years · 58.1% ABV

Found North Whisky

Goldfinch First Flight — 15 Year Cask Strength

This one landed as a gift — and it lived up to every word of the hype. Goldfinch First Flight is the fourth bird in Found North's High Altitude Collection, released in late 2025. The blend is older than the label lets on. Five components — 15-year corn in new American oak, 22-year corn in new and used American oak, 20-year corn in used American oak, and 20-year rye in used American oak — re-racked into Sauternes, Cognac, and Kelvin Cooperage air-dried heavy-toast char-one new American oak for a three-month finish, then selectively reblended. The Sauternes does two-thirds of the finishing work. The math: 91% corn, 8% rye, 1% malted barley, 58.1% ABV, 116.2 proof, cask strength, non-chill filtered, no added color. Eight thousand five hundred forty-six bottles came out of thirty-six barrels. The Sauternes lays down honey and orchard fruit. The Cognac pulls in dried apricot and golden raisin. The Kelvin new oak holds the spine — butterscotch, vanilla, dry oak tannin, a long warm finish. An excellent gift.

HoneyOrchard fruitButterscotchGolden raisinDry oakLong warm finish

Regions

Missouri

Spotted At

Allocated via the Found North lottery — foundnorthwhisky.com
Specialty shops carrying the High Altitude Collection

MSRP

$159.99–$169

Secondary

$200+

Spotted May 28, 2026

Gift · see disclosures

Spotted in the Wild Single Barrel 9 years · 50.6% ABV

Penelope Bourbon (MGP-sourced)

Estate Collection 9yr Private Select

Label class as printed: Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskey. 101.2 proof, nine years old, an Estate Collection private select — the older, higher-proof corner of Penelope's lineup, and a nine-year private select is on the more interesting end of that program. The Hound poured it at The Brothers; the room was busy, so the tasting writeup waits in the Open Verdict queue for a second pour. Reader notes welcome — especially anyone tracking the Estate Collection picks.

Regions

St. Louis metro

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO (bar pour)

Spotted May 28, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Single Barrel Reach 12 years · 58.05% ABV

Found North Whisky

Single Barrel 12 Year — Cherry Liqueur Finish

Another one on Steve's shelf at The Brothers in Ballwin. Found North is the Seattle-based blender working with older Canadian whiskies — almost always cask strength, no additives, no chill filtration, every single barrel a finishing experiment. This pick is twelve years old at 58.05% ABV, finished in cherry liqueur casks. That finish is uncommon for the brand — Found North leans on PX Sherry, Armagnac, and Sauternes more often than dessert-leaning finishes. The cherry comes in plump and a little candied on the nose, then the older grain dries it out on the palate. At $109.95 it is fair shelf pricing for what Found North typically sells for. Drink it while it is there.

Black cherryVanillaDried oakToasted grainLong finish

Regions

Missouri

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO

MSRP

$109.95

Secondary

Limited single-barrel pricing varies

Spotted May 25, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Limited Reach NAS (at least 4 years) · 50% ABV

Frank August

Small Batch Straight Rye

Frank August is the Jonathan Crocker brand out of Bardstown — sourced from an undisclosed Kentucky distillery, bottled under their own roof. The Rye joined the lineup permanently in May 2025 as the natural counterpart to their Small Batch Bourbon. 100 proof, mashbill undisclosed, batches of ten to fifteen barrels with no batch number on the label because the intent is for one batch to taste like the next. NAS but at least four years by TTB rule. The pour leans sweet before it leans spicy — brown sugar and caramel under the rye pepper, with a baking-spice finish that drifts toward cinnamon and a touch of leather. Sits at $70 to $75 on the shelf, which is fair for what is in the bottle. The kind of pour you keep on the counter rather than the top shelf.

Brown sugarCaramelRye pepperCinnamonLight leather

Regions

Missouri · Kentucky

Spotted At

Independent shops carrying Frank August (sourced KY rye, released May 2025)
Total Wine, select Missouri retailers

MSRP

$70–75

Secondary

Shelf priced

Spotted May 25, 2026

Spotted in the Wild Allocated Lottery 8 years · 56% ABV

Starlight Distillery

Mizunara Reserve, Batch 002

Found on the back bar at Steve's place — The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House in Ballwin. This is the Huber family's Indiana straight bourbon, eight years old, finished in Japanese Mizunara oak. Batch 002 was released in December 2025 at 112 proof and is the bottle that earned Starlight the World's Best Whiskey nod at the World Whiskies Awards in March 2026. The Mizunara casks are the story — Japanese oak that does not give up its perfume cheaply. Sandalwood, coconut husk, a faint incense note layered over the corn-forward Huber base. If you are within driving distance of Ballwin and Steve still has it open, this is a pour worth the trip.

SandalwoodCoconutHoneyToasted oakFaint incense

Regions

Indiana · Missouri

Spotted At

The Brothers Beer & Bourbon House — Ballwin, MO (open pour)
Starlight Distillery — Borden, IN (limited bottle allocation)

MSRP

$150

Secondary

$300–450

Spotted May 20, 2026