Old Carter American OC-7 20 Year Single Barrel 139 Proof 375ml

Twenty years old and 139 proof in a 375ml bottle — Old Carter barrel OC-7, a single-barrel straight American whiskey bottled uncut in Louisville, numbered 264 of 360.

Old Carter Whiskey Co. is the project of Mark and Sherri Carter, who built Kentucky Owl into a cult brand before selling it in 2017 and starting again under their own name. They don't distil — they source and select mature American whiskey, then bottle it at barrel strength with no chill filtration. The OC-series barrels are the oldest stock they put out.

Twenty years is extraordinary for American whiskey. Most barrels are spent well before then; the few that hold up spend two decades concentrating in wood, and this one still came out at 69.5% ABV, which tells you it sat somewhere hot and dry enough to lose water faster than alcohol. The 375ml format is how Old Carter releases its most limited long-aged barrels — more bottles from a cask that has very little left in it.

Bottled as straight American whiskey rather than bourbon, so the mashbill and origin sit outside the bourbon category.

Tasting Notes

• Nose: Deep caramel, dark vanilla, seasoned oak, leather, tobacco and concentrated dark fruit.
• Palate: Rich and powerful — burnt brown sugar, vanilla bean, dark cherry, baking spice, charred oak and layers of mature barrel character.
• Finish: Exceptionally long and warming, with lingering caramelized sugar, oak spice, leather and dark fruit.

Specs

• Brand: Old Carter Whiskey Co.
• Type: Straight American Whiskey
• Release: Single barrel, barrel strength
• Barrel: OC-7
• Age: 20 years
• Proof: 139 (69.5% ABV)
• Bottle: 264 of 360
• Bottled in: Louisville, Kentucky
• Size: 375ml

Explore the full Old Carter collection or browse all rare spirits at Wooden Cork.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why is this American whiskey rather than bourbon? Bourbon has to meet a specific set of rules — mashbill, new charred oak, proof limits at every stage. Straight American whiskey is the category for mature stock that sits outside those rules, and it's where Old Carter puts its oldest barrels. It says nothing about quality; it's a legal classification.
• Why is it a 375ml bottle? A twenty-year barrel has lost most of its contents to evaporation. Bottling at 375ml gets more bottles out of what's left and keeps a very rare whiskey within reach of more people — Old Carter uses the format for its oldest single barrels.
• How limited is OC-7? 360 bottles from the barrel. This is number 264, hand-written on the front label alongside the barrel designation, ABV and proof.