The Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Company was organized in 2013, by Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company, as a vehicle for commercializing a large stock of ultra-aged American whiskeys that it had maturing at the Stitzel-Weller distillery in Shively Kentucky. Although the company is relatively young, its whiskeys have deep roots in the storied and convoluted history of American whiskey.