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.

Missouri grain, Missouri still, Missouri barrel — and the Ozark Highlands designation written into state statute by the people who made it. Ask Steve at The Brothers, or take the Saturday tour at Nobleton’s.