Kentucky Company Combines Bourbon and Technology to Create Hogshead, an Online Barrel Marketplace

Site Brings Buyers and Sellers of Aged Bourbon Barrel Inventory Together

LOUISVILLE, KY – There’s a saying that bourbon brings people together. In Louisville, Kentucky, the heart of bourbon country, the bourbon and technology industries have come together to form Hogshead, the first-of-its-kind online marketplace for barrel-aged spirits.

Named after the old English reference to a large cask that holds liquid, Hogshead Company was formed in 2023 by a bourbon industry insider and a team of tech entrepreneurs based in Louisville with the goal of bringing barrel-aged buyers and sellers together in one seamless platform.  On the site, licensed buyers can browse an inventory of aged bourbon worth more than $310 million, held inside more than 135,000 aging barrels for sale by various proprietors.  Sellers who have an excess of aging bourbon barrel inventory can reach a broad audience of potential buyers, and distilleries can utilize the site to streamline and automate their contract distilling business.

“Hogshead is a one-stop-shop for the online buying and selling of bulk whiskey,” said Chris Wiedmar, co-founder, Hogshead.  “We’ve taken the technical knowledge that all of our team has in software development, IT strategy, applications, data mining and online marketplaces, and brought it together in this site.  We’re a tech company focused on whiskey, and we’ve brought the management of aged barrel inventory up to the 21st century.”  Wiedmar has spent his career in various tech and start up companies, including a founder of a barrel sensor technology company and creating software for a large global distilled spirits company based in Louisville.

Another Co-Founder, Beau Beckman, brings over a decade of experience in managing and developing barrel sales and web-based platforms for one of the world’s largest spirits companies. “In my previous career, I built a marketplace of sorts for single barrel buyers because I recognized the growing need for purchasing barrels online. Now, with Hogshead, we’re doing the same for bulk barrel buyers—making it easy for both buyers and sellers to connect, while also simplifying execution and management for distilleries and bonded storage facilities,” said Beckman.  “When the bourbon industry declined in the 1980s, it coincided with the rise of software and tech. But when the industry bounced back, it lacked the standardization and documentation to keep up. That’s why the first thing we built at Hogshead was a barrel commerce engine—to streamline transactions and create a centralized tool that aggregates, facilitates, tracks, and manages everything from bulk sales to storage contracts, removing complexity from the process. By simplifying how brands source barrels for bottling and adding pricing transparency, buyers can make more informed decisions, finding the best barrels at the right quantities and prices. Ultimately, this delivers more value to the customers enjoying the whiskey—because without them, none of this works.”

All sellers are vetted before they can begin listing their product on Hogshead, and all inventory is checked by the Hogshead team to ensure everything is legitimate.  Buyers must have a federal tax identification number to purchase.  “There are no ‘scams’ on the inventory we list, everything you see on the site is authentic,” adds Beckman.

Buyers may see barrels listed for sale in ages ranging from 16 years old to recently made bourbon, also called “new fill.” The barrels listed are from some of the most recognized distilleries in the world, many with hundreds of years of distilling expertise behind them.  All of the barrels have a minimum order quantity, or MOQ, some as low as one barrel.

Since the barrels are physically located in different storage facilities, depending on the seller’s warehousing location, Hogshead can also assist in the logistics of moving barrels to the buyers.  Financing is also available for qualified buyers.  More updates and opportunities will be added to Hogshead.com as they develop.

About Hogshead

Hogshead is a barrel business company founded in 2023 by five Louisville, Kentucky residents with backgrounds in technology, starts ups and bourbon.  Named one of the 2025 KY Inno Startups to Watch, Hogshead is a first-of-its-kind online marketplace for bulk spirits, bringing together buyers and sellers of barrel-aged spirits.  Hogshead offers solutions for all sides of the spirits industry, sellers, brands, investors and distillers.  For more information on Hogshead visit www.hogshead.com

Highly Anticipated Arrival
2006 Glenlivet 17 Year Old “Signatory Unchillfiltered Collection” 1st Fill Single Sherry Butt #900810 Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

(700ml) ($149.99)

“This is world-class whisky that truly deserves a higher price point—but here we are. We bought every available bottle in the country.”
— David Othenin-Girard, K&L Spirits Buyer

Just landed! This exceptional barrel from a renowned Speyside distillery takes us back to a time when high-proof, sherry-matured single malt was available at accessible prices. Filled in 2006 into a first-fill Oloroso sherry butt, this whisky spent 17 years aging before being bottled at cask strength—unchillfiltered and without added color.

K&L has had the privilege of bottling several standout Glenlivet casks from this era, and this release proudly continues that tradition. Available exclusively through K&L in California, this rare whisky typically commands prices at least $50 higher elsewhere in the global market. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience an exceptionally aged Glenlivet at an unbeatable value.

2006 Glenlivet 17 Year Old “Signatory Unchillfiltered Collection” 1st Fill Single Sherry Butt #900810 Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) ($149.99)

David Othenin-Girard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: February 17, 2025

There was a time when we could sell 16-year-old Sherried Glenlivet from Signatory for $80. Then, for many years, a similarly aged bottle would easily cost over $200, and even 12-year-old stocks ran $140. Now, we’re back to a world where Signatory dominates both price and quality, offering high-caliber whisky at well below market rates. This exceptional Glenlivet, presented in the iconic Signatory decanter, is part of a notable run of 2006/2007 barrels that Signatory appears to have held onto for quite some time. We’re extremely lucky to have acquired a substantial stock of this remarkable cask. While some Glenlivets from this batch are ultra-clean and refreshing, others present a deeply complex, old-school character—this one definitely falls into the latter category.

The color is a rich burnt umber (1.7). On the nose, it’s dense and layered with notes of dried tobacco, dried plums, fruitcake, dark jam, and a roasty rancio undertone. The palate is unctuous and bold, brimming with jammy flavors and sweet caramel candies, accented by hints of old wood, tobacco, and mineral oils for a bit of sass. This is world-class whisky that truly deserves a higher price point—but here we are. We bought every available bottle in the country.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

SINGLE POT STILL IRISH WHISKEY

Ireland is in the midst of a golden era for whiskey, and while you’ll find single malts, blends, ryes and more in all corners of the Emerald Isle, there’s one style that’s come to exemplify Irish whiskey above all others: single pot still.

Like single malt, single pot still whiskey refers to whiskey made at one distillery in a pot still. But unlike single malt, single pot still whiskey is made with a mixture of malted and unmalted barley (and often with other grains, too), resulting in a creamy texture and a fruity and spicy flavour profile.

                                                                                                                                                                   DISCOVER                SHOP NOW

There’s no style that captures the history, spirit and flavours of Irish distilling quite like single pot still. Those are just the basics, but the story of its rise, fall and modern renaissance is a must for those looking to expand their whisky knowledge.

EQUINOX & SOLSTICE SPRING 2025 LONGMORN – 11 YEAR OLD

Kicking off our 2025 Equinox & Solstice series, this 11-year-old Longmorn is a blend of two 2013 first-fill barrels. One of which was naturally pretty low and wonderfully syrupy and concentrated as a result. Bottled at 48.5%, this whisky is fruity, luscious, and full of vibrant, natural sweetness.

To top it off, this release features artwork by this years new Equinox & Solstice artist, Kirsty Lorenz. She specialises in artworks that explore and celebrate Scottish flowers and flora – a very fitting theme for our Equinox & Solstice series. We’re delighted with what Kirsty has come up with, and we’re really pleased with how this luscious Longmorn has turned out.

SHOP NOW

One of only 176 bottles – charged from a Refill Hogshead – REF – DL15825. This 2000 Dumbarton is a single cask bottling for Douglas Laing’s Old Particular range of whisky. Distilled at Dumbarton Distillery, bottled by Douglas Laing.

Distilled November 2000
Bottled May 2022.
Cask No DL15825.

£98.00

TyndrumWhisky.com
The Green Welly Stop
Tyndrumwhisky, Tyndrum
Crianlarich, Perthshire FK20 8RY
United Kingdom

The Good Dram Show – Episode 586 ‘Bruichladdich Octomore’ – Welcome to this week’s episode of the show in which peat is definitely the theme as I’ll be looking at the Octomore 14’s and 15’s.

https://youtu.be/aOIJzbqayqs