Do you have that special someone on your Christmas list that’s always hard to shop for? That special person that you can just never figure out what to get until the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog comes out and then you rummage through it day after day until it’s dog eared because you can’t decide which fantasy gift to get? Well, this year, Neiman Marcus has made it easy for whiskey lovers. For the first time, Neiman Marcus has partnered with the good people at Diageo and the Orphan Barrel Project to put together this once in a lifetime package. For only $125,000 you can do your part to save these orphaned barrels of whiskey from their dry, dark and dreary days stacked in the lonely rickhouse. You can save them from any more years of torment with the air pulling the whiskey in and out of the barrels. You can save them from the rickhouse and take them to your house where they will no longer be orphans.
Stitzel-Weller Distillery
The 2015 Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog was just released. As with every year there are a few fantasy gifts that fill the pages to generate buzz about the release. This year’s class of fantasy gifts includes an Iris Apfel for Bajalia Trunk of Accessories, A Dream Trip to India, a Surprise Fantasy Gift Only Accessible via the Neiman Marcus App and a special package centered around the Orphan Barrel Project.
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Pick Your Own Barrel
As we have reported before, Diageo didn’t necessarily “discover” the small batch of whiskey at Stitzel-Weller that became Old Blowhard, Barterhouse and Rhetoric. At any one time, Diageo has around 13 million barrels of aging whiskey in storage. It is has enough experience managing inventory that it doesn’t exactly “forget” what it owns, but sometimes, the whiskey aging in rickhouses it acquires doesn’t immediately fit into its products. This is often the case with the whiskey that makes it way to the Orphan Barrel brand.
Jason Cohen – Furniture Maker, Artist
Instead of hiding the knots, I want to show them ~ Jason Cohen
The Orphan Barrel Project Fantasy Gift is Only $125,000
The Orphan Barrel® project was started to share long-forgotten barrels of rare whiskey discovered in old rickhouses and distilleries. Each release is hand-bottled – and once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. You and five bourbon-curious friends will visit the legendary Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, to go barrel hunting, tasting recently discovered bourbons and creating two completely unique Orphan Barrel variants to be hand-bottled with labels designed exclusively for you. You’ll receive 24 bottles each of the remaining stocks of eight different Orphan Barrel bourbons – including the variants created with you – along with a bespoke whiskey cabinet crafted in Kentucky to house the collection, barware, and a leather-bound book about your whiskey.
With purchase of The Orphan Barrel Project, Neiman Marcus will donate $5,000 to The Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation.
Here’s what’s included in your Whiskey Fantasy Gift
- Three-night trip for six to Louisville, Kentucky, includes luxury accommodations, private ground transport, VIP distillery tour and tasting, meals, and activities
- Bespoke whiskey cabinet is built by Kentucky craftsmen Jason Cohen of Bourbon Barrel Artisan using reclaimed wood pulled from Stitzel-Weller rickhouses. And just to be clear, as you will hear in the video, the wood is not from whiskey barrels, it’s from wood that was strewn around the distillery. That alone should drop the price to say $124K?
- Cabinet includes a leather-bound book, eight St. Louis crystal tumblers, and a copper bar set with leather coasters
- Gift includes
- 24 bottles of 26 Year Old Old Blowhard
- 24 bottles of 22 Year Old Lost Prophet
- 24 bottles of 21 and 20 Year Old Rhetoric
- 24 Bottles of 20 Year Old
- 24 Bottles of 20 Year Old Barterhouse
- 24 Bottles of 15 Year Old Forged
- and the two variants created by you and your five friends
Now, if you are ready to order, you can call toll free at 1-877-9NM-GIFT. This call is on Neiman Marcus. Please send photos of your distillery tour visit!
