Macaulay Minton ran the single barrel program at Wilderness Trail before he and David Peet opened Dark Arts in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2023. Minton is Chief Alchemist. Peet is CEO.
Dark Arts buys Indiana whiskey, mostly six to eight years old, then blends, re-barrels and finishes it. Armagnac, Madeira, port and sherry casks do the patient work. For wood loud enough to swallow a whiskey whole, Amburana above all, it switches to toasted staves and dials the dose. That is why Breaking Bourbon calls its Amburana rye a good primer on the style. You get the strange wood and still taste the rye under it. Our picks are single barrels.
