Ohio’s state liquor agency quietly put two Old Elk single barrels on Ohio shelves this month as OHLQ exclusives, and almost nobody has written them up.
The pair arrived at OHLQ stores starting October 19. One is a bourbon, one is a rye, and both are single barrels, which means every barrel is its own bottling and the proof varies from barrel to barrel.
Old Elk 10 Year Wheated Bourbon Single Barrel. This is the bold one. The mash bill is 51% corn, 46% wheat and 3% malted barley, so nearly half the grain is wheat, and it sat in the barrel for a full 10 years. Old Elk’s notes on the wheated bourbon run to brown sugar, French vanilla ice cream, toasted hay and caramel cream, with chocolate pastries and vanilla custard on the palate. Ohio’s two barrels are #50008, at 127.3 proof, and #50016, at 127.4 proof. OHLQ’s barrel notes for the first run to dark caramel, brown sugar and vanilla custard over ripe cherry and dried fig; the second leans to blackberry preserves, candied orange and baked apple, with maple sugar and buttery pastry.
Old Elk 7 Year Toasted Barrel Rye Single Barrel. The rye is the rarity of the two. It is Old Elk’s first-ever toasted barrel rye single barrel, and only 30 barrels of it exist, two of which came to Ohio. The rye spent seven years in new oak and another 28 months in toasted barrels. Ohio’s barrels are #48752, at 108.1 proof, with notes of honey, buttery pancakes and syrup, and #48753, at 108.3 proof, all rye spice, baking spice, a hint of mint and orange peel over toasted oak and caramel. Toasting a barrel before charring coaxes out sweeter, rounder spice than a straight char does.
Across the two picks, OHLQ’s own flavor rundown lists dark caramel, blackberry preserves, buttery pancakes and black pepper.
There is an Ohio tie under the label, too. Old Elk started in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2013, but the brand is now owned by Middle West Spirits of Columbus, which bought it in 2025. So these are Ohio exclusives from a brand an Ohio distillery now runs.
OHLQ has posted prices for both: $74.99 plus tax for the 10 Year Wheated Bourbon Single Barrel and $69.99 plus tax for the 7 Year Toasted Barrel Rye Single Barrel. Purchases are limited to one bottle per customer per transaction, and both stay on sale until they sell out. OHLQ’s availability map shows which stores have received theirs as deliveries land.
If you go hunting, ask for the bottles by their full names, and know that when a store’s barrel is gone, it is gone. There is no second barrel exactly like it.
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