The Orphan Barrel project is an aptly-named venture from Diageo, which has, over the past several years, acquired unique access to various warehouses storing rare, mature bourbon and rye, some from cherished mothballed distilleries like Stitzel-Weller. Whiskey aficionados and collectors have been snatching up these releases – Old Blowhard, Forged Oak, Lost Prophet and the Rhetoric lineup – like casts of thirsty falcons, knowing they have some of the last drops of these discontinued, or at least very rare, spirits.

The trouble is, most of these…