Rising Tide Spirits Bundle #3: Old Stubborn Cask Strength Single Barrel Rye + Old Swagger 13 Year Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon

The Old Stubborn Cask Strength Single Barrel Rye arrived quietly alongside its wheated sibling during Rising Tide's OS3 release — and it was just as hard to get. Distilled on a pot still at the same undisclosed West Virginia facility, this is rye bourbon in a format that most people have never encountered: West Virginia grain, traditional pot still distillation, barrel proof, barely filtered, and aged over a decade. It's a legitimately rare combination. Paired here with the Old Swagger 13 Year Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon, a silky and refined MGP expression bottled at exactly 100 proof, this bundle gives you the full range of what Ed Bley's curatorial instincts can produce.

Old Stubborn Rye pours from a barrel — your barrel, because it's a single barrel selection — somewhere in the 117–142 proof range. What pot still distillation does to a rye mashbill is worth talking about. The process retains more congeners and natural grain oils than column distillation, producing a rounder, more textured mouthfeel than typical high-rye bourbon, while still delivering all the black pepper, dried fruit, and grain intensity that defines the category. The rye-heavy mashbill here (corn, rye, malted barley with rye in a lead role) pushed through a pot still and then aged 12–13 years produces something more intense and less common than almost anything currently on the American whiskey market.

Then there's Old Swagger 13 Year. Bley's decision to hold to the Bottled-in-Bond standard for this expression reflects a specific philosophy: transparency as a form of quality assurance. One distillery, one distilling season, government-supervised aging, 100 proof — every detail accounted for. Thirteen years from MGP's Indiana facility at that standard yields a bourbon of uncommon maturity and composure. Vanilla, leather, and sweet oak define the core, while the low rye grain content keeps everything smooth and polished rather than spicy or aggressive.

The contrast here — raw, singular, West Virginia rye fire next to elegant Indiana bourbon control — makes this one of the more intellectually interesting bundles in the lineup.