This straight rye whiskey was aged in new handmade fine grain charred American oak barrels. In traditional barrel making, the cooper heats the staves over a fire of oak chips, allowing them to be bent and formed into a barrel. During this process, the inside of the barrel becomes lightly toasted. By the early 19th century, coopers had learned that if they allowed the heat to continue, the inside of the barrel would burst into flames and become charred. Handmade oak barrels—charred in this traditional manner—impart a rich color and unique character to this rye whiskey. Old Potrero is an attempt to recreate the original whiskey of America, and marks the return of pot-distilled whiskey in the United States. It’s distilled in a small copper pot still at the Hotaling & Co. Distillery on San Francisco’s Potrero Hill from a mash of 100% rye malt, with rye being the grain of choice for America’s first distillers.