Whiskey on the water

The bottle in hand reads “Old Ingram River Aged Straight Rye Whiskey.”

Wondering if this was another gimmick of the spirits industry, I went straight to the source — O.H. “Hank” Ingram III, proprietor of the only whiskey aged in a floating barrelhouse barge on the Mississippi River.

What I learned is that, for Ingram, the Mississippi River is more than a waterway; it is a genetic imprint. As a fifth-generation descendant of the first O.H. Ingram, he initially thought his career would be in industrial barges, his family’s business since they first floated lumber down the river in 1857.

The Ingram family has been in the Mississippi River transport business since 1857. Now O.H. "Hank" Ingram III ages whiskey, harnessing the power of the same river. (Courtesy of the Ingram Distillery)

However, a Vanderbilt MBA project and a chance encounter at a university club tasting sparked a realization: The history of bourbon is inextricably tied to the mighty Mississippi.

Ingram discovered that, while his ancestors were building steam wheelers to move logs, the earliest bourbon was being aged by the motion and microclimates of river journeys to New Orleans. As the liquor industry grew, more predictable modes of transportation were used. Today, Ingram has brought that history full circle, trading lumber for liquid gold to create the only whiskey in the country aged entirely in a floating barrelhouse.

Initially, Ingram‘s MBA project hypothesized that putting whiskey on a barge would fast-track the ageing process.

“It started as an idea that failed, but in its failure created something rather beautiful,” Ingram said. “It didn’t necessarily age faster; what it did, though, was it aged differently.”

The Ingram River Aged process leverages nature’s volatility to produce a superior spirit. Unlike traditional Kentucky rickhouses, massive structures that can hold thousands of barrels, Ingram’s operation is housed on heavy, solid steel barges moored on the Mississippi River bank in Columbus, Kentucky. The floating barrelhouses subject the whiskey to a set of variables—motion and humidity—that no land-locked warehouse can replicate.

O.H. Ingram whiskies are housed in floating barrelhouse barges moored on the Mississippi River in Kentucky, ageing with the rising and falling of the river. (Courtesy of the Ingram Distillery)

Ingram retrofits old grain barges into barrelhouse barges, with one barrelhouse barge holding 3,000 barrels, and channels the motion of the river, the exposed microclimate and temperature fluctuations into the whiskey, increasing its complexity.

Because the water under the barge acts as a massive heat sink, it pulls temperature off the barrelhouse barge at night, creating dramatic temperature swings—sometimes 40 to 50 degrees in a single day for the upper barrels. This constant expanding and contracting of the wood, combined with the humidity of the river environment, exposes more liquid to the surface of the oak barrels that results in a unique and deep flavor.

Since 2018, Ingram has put whiskey distilled in contract with Green River Distilling on his barges. It doesn’t come off the barge until Master Blender Scott Beyer determines it is “good and ready, sometimes 4, 5, 6 or 7 years,” said Ingram.

O.H. Ingram River Aged Straight Rye Whiskey, aged on the Mississippi River, has notes of graham cracker, cherry, leather and a soft spice finish. (Courtesy of the Ingram Distillery)

Oak trees and a rushing river have helped create a fleet of Ingram whiskies. O.H. Ingram Straight Rye Whiskey (98 proof, $54.99) has a mashbill of 51% rye, 45% corn and 4% malted barley.

The high corn content mellows the rye spice gives caramel and brown sugar on the nose followed by a graham cracker, dark red fruit and leather palate, with a medium finish characterized by lingering spices.

Others in the River Aged fleet include Kentucky Straight Bourbon (105 proof, $55), Uncharted Wheated Bourbon (92 proof, $39.99) and small batches, including a recent Flagship High Rye Limited Batch 5 (116.5 proof, $80).