Private Barrels
This is a (mostly) up-to-date list of all the Private Barrels we’ve bottled.
Private Barrel Archive List last update 4/05/2026
Joshua Thinnes has spent 20 years and tens of thousands of hours tasting wines and spirits. Back in those days, “single barrel” meant something of an earned designation reserved for the rare cask that truly stood apart, found by tasting through as many barrels as it took to find one.
What twenty years and thousands of tastings actually builds isn’t the best palate or a perfect palate — it’s the ability to walk others through the forest and help them develop and discover theirs. Joshua’s role in this program has never been to cherry-pick every barrel and only choose what he deems the best of the best. He strives to guide people through the garden: learning what you respond to and what you’re reaching for, and helping you find it among the living, breathing, ever-changing seasons of those barrels and the unique microclimate they are living in.
The Volumes
Most brands use the same standard packaging for their regular product line and in their private barrel programs, usually with a limited space for your logo or printed name. Some allow you extra space to design your own AI art for the label. That’s not what we do.
Like everything in the Subtle Spirits catalog, these bottles are made to be worth owning beyond what’s inside. Each volume is paired with a original piece of artwork — the same philosophy that drives our Original line. Every volume release is limited. The artwork changes with each volume. The volume has a defined run, a defined look, and a defined chapter, and when it’s done, it’s done. This gives our program a sense of collectibility.
Volume 1 — Artwork by Aeos One
Inspired by the Bay Area's vast array of graffiti and murals, Volume 1 features the artwork of third-generation Oakland native DeVante Brooks, a.k.a. Aeos One. The piece features the word 'Bourbon' in a funky beveled letter style. It was done on a three-foot-wide wood panel, cut out with a jigsaw, and then spray-painted. DeVante's work, in calligraphy and graffiti form, can be seen all over the Bay Area. Volume 1 is all bourbon.
Volume 2 — Artwork by Jason Lois
Volume 2 is all straight rye, ranging in age, mashbill, and sometimes finish. The original artwork features Louisville artist Jason Lois and is composed on a 3’ x 4’ canvas using acrylic paint, drip pen, and oil pastel. Before the final text was layered on, the piece was photographed to create the base label image. Jason created the text digitally first, then painted it onto the canvas — producing the high-build varnish embellishment on the final label that you can touch and feel.
Volume 3 — Artwork by Jason Lois
Volume 3 is all bourbon, with varied age ranges, mashbills, distillate sources, and cask finishes. All barrels are bottled at cask strength, uncut and unfiltered. The artwork also features Jason Lois, painted on a 3’ x 4’ canvas using acrylic paint, drip pen, spray paint, and oil pastel.
Volumes 4 & 5 — Artwork by Jason Lois
Jason Lois returns with his most ambitious piece for the program — two 4’ x 5’ canvases painted using acrylic, spray paint, and pastel, designed to stand alone or together. The collective work is titled “Self-Inflicted.” Jason’s work feels alive: layered, textured, and a little unruly, just like the best barrels.
Volume 4 (on the left in the photo below) accompanies all rye selections. Volume 5 (on the right in the photo below) accompanies all bourbon selections. Together they form one complete image — a diptych that mirrors the way the barrels themselves are chosen: separately, but always in relation to each other.
