Old Carter Bourbon Whiskey #55 13 Year Single Barrel 117.7 Proof

Single barrel #55 at 117.7 proof, thirteen years old, bottled uncut in Frankfort, Kentucky — bottle 5 of 145 from the cask.

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 source and select mature Kentucky whiskey rather than distilling it, and every release goes out at barrel strength, non-chill filtered, hand-labeled.

This is a single cask, not a batch. Once 145 bottles were filled the whiskey was finished — there is no way to make more of it, and nothing Old Carter releases afterwards will taste the same. That's the trade the format makes: no consistency across releases, and no possibility of repetition.

Barrels #54 and #55 finished at identical strength, both 58.85% ABV. Two separate casks landing on the same number is rare, and the two are still distinct whiskeys with different yields.

Tasting Notes

• Nose: Deep caramel, vanilla bean and seasoned oak layered with dark cherry, brown sugar and warm baking spice.
• Palate: Rich and full-bodied — toasted vanilla, caramelized sugar, dark fruit and mature oak, followed by cinnamon, leather and barrel spice.
• Finish: Long, warming and complex, leaving sweet oak, vanilla, dark fruit and spice.

Specs

• Brand: Old Carter Whiskey Co.
• Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Release: Single barrel, barrel strength
• Barrel: 55
• Age: 13 years
• Proof: 117.7 (58.85% ABV)
• Bottle: 5 of 145
• Bottled in: Frankfort, Kentucky
• Size: 750ml

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

Frequently Asked Questions

• How many bottles came from barrel #55? 145. This is number 5 — one of the first filled from the cask, which some collectors care about and most don't; the whiskey is identical either way.
• Why can't Old Carter make more of this? Because it's one barrel. A batch can be approximated again by blending toward the same target, but a single cask is a fixed quantity of one specific whiskey. When barrel #55 ran out at 145 bottles, that was the whole production run, permanently.
• How does #55 differ from barrel #54? They share an age and an exact proof — both thirteen years, both 117.7 — which is unusual for two separate casks. The differences are in yield (145 against 150) and in the flavour each barrel developed, since warehouse position shapes a cask as much as time does.