The Benevolent Barrel Thief & Rock Town Private Barrel Pick to Support Arkansas School for the Deaf

Last Updated on December 22, 2025 by 5e2793

Arkansas’s bourbon community continues to prove that great whiskey can also be a force for good. On June 21, Alan Myers of The Benevolent Barrel Thief shared an update highlighting how an upcoming Rock Town Distillery private barrel pick will directly benefit a local organization doing meaningful work—the Arkansas School for the Deaf.

According to Alan’s post, Britton reached out to the Arkansas School for the Deaf as the institution prepares to begin a major new project. After conversations with Chloe at the school, The Benevolent Barrel Thief made the decision to align this Rock Town private barrel pick with supporting that initiative.

“Hey @everyone, wanted to let you know how our Rock Town private barrel pick is going to impact the community!
Britton reached out to the Arkansas School for the Deaf and they have a big project they are about to start working on. After speaking with Chloe, we decided to support their project!”
— Alan Myers, June 21

A Mission-Driven Barrel Pick

The Benevolent Barrel Thief has built its reputation around using bourbon as a platform to give back to Arkansas communities, and this Rock Town private barrel selection is another example of that mission in action. Rather than simply releasing a standout bottle, this pick ensures that excitement around the release translates into direct, positive impact for a local institution.

Rock Town Distillery, Arkansas’s first legal distillery since Prohibition, remains a frequent partner in these efforts—making their private barrels a natural fit for charitable collaboration.

July 7 Release: More Details Coming Soon

While details about the specific project at the Arkansas School for the Deaf will be shared closer to the release, Alan noted that additional information will be provided as the July 7 barrel pick date approaches.

This upcoming Rock Town release represents more than just another sought-after Arkansas barrel pick—it reflects how organizations like The Benevolent Barrel Thief continue to shape a bourbon culture rooted in generosity, community, and purpose.

Stay tuned to ArkansasLiquor.com for updates on the barrel pick, project details, and how this release will help support the Arkansas School for the Deaf.

Cheers to bourbon with heart. 🥃

Update — July 2, 2023 (Alan Myers)

“Hey @everyone, hope you are having a great weekend! Wanted to remind you guys that Friday we are selecting our first ever full barrel, a Rock Town Private Barrel, to raise money for a project for the Arkansas School for the Deaf.
The money will be used to remodel and repair the dorms that the students call home throughout their school year. They haven’t been updated for over 30yrs and are in desperate need for an update. Our goal is between 3–5k (details on when that will happen to come).
For those lucky people who are coming to the meet and greet at Rock Town on July 7th from 5–7pm, look forward to seeing you there.”

Update — July 7, 2023 (Alan Myers)

“@everyone, thank you all who came out to the BBT meet and greet tonight, we are excited to say we have chosen two barrels with Rock Town, both are a column still, one being a French oak. Phil and Lynn were so gracious to the nonprofit organization tonight.
BBT is thankful for the professional relationship with Rock Town and John at 107 Liquor for making this happen. Tasting notes and more details on the barrels to come in the next few days!”

Update — July 9, 2023 (Tyler Shinabery)

*“Rock Town Barrel Pick(s) Alert!!
We are excited to share with you the tasting notes on the two barrels we selected from Rock Town this past week. We were planning on doing one barrel but both of these blew us away.

Barrel #1 — FIRST EVER Barrel Strength Column Still French Oak Finish
Age: 3yrs
Proof: 110.5
Nose: Toasted marshmallow, wine forward, sweet crème brûlée, sophisticated
Palate: Smooth creamy mouthful, caramel, crème brûlée
Finish: Medium linger, earthy, bread, complex

Barrel #2 — Column Still Bourbon Whiskey
Age: 3yrs
Proof: 120
Nose: Brown sugar, cherry, ethanol, caramel apple
Palate: Marshmallow, brown sugar, oak, banana bread
Finish: Medium linger, cinnamon bread, cherry

Details to come soon on when and how to get a bottle or two.
We couldn’t have asked for a better first barrel pick to start with and thanks to everyone again for helping us give back to our community.”*

Update — July 17, 2023 (Ryan Britton)

*“@everyone I’m really excited about this upcoming event. Our goal for this event is 3k–5k, but the more we can bring in to help them out, the better.
Before this kicks off I wanted to give you all a little bit of information about Arkansas School for the Deaf (ASD) along with an opportunity to see the current dorms the students have been staying in.

ASD has a strong legacy: it is the only school for students who are deaf or hard of hearing in the state of Arkansas. It was founded in 1849 and it is one of the state’s oldest schools. It is also a leader in the field of deaf education nationwide.

ASD has 135 students. 100% of ASD students have special needs while 27% are “Deaf Plus” (have multiple disabilities). Currently, over two-thirds of the students are from communities outside the Little Rock Metropolitan Area and more than 50% live on campus during the school week ranging from ages 4–18.

The residential life staff strives to provide the students with every comfort of home while they stay at ASD. However, many aspects of the current residential halls have fallen into disrepair amongst budget cuts. New paint and carpeting is also needed. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these needs. The lack of updated furnishings and other material is even more noticeable than usual. The students need more…they need a place that feels like home.”*

Update — July 20, 2023 (Alan Myers)

*“@everyone ATTENTION BBT!!! ROCK TOWN ASD EVENT INFO… PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
We will start our event to raise funds for the remodeling of the Arkansas School for the Deaf dormitory this Sunday. (65 Column Still and 90 French Oak Cask Strength Column Still, total 155 — tasting notes on July 9th post.)

This event, and future ones, will be run differently. We want to ensure that all of your donations are tax deductible, so the bottles will be given away.

For every $85 donation, you are eligible for one bottle. A donation of $170 gets you two bottles (one of each barrel pick, until we run out of the regular column still). You can only receive a maximum of two bottles at this time.

We are throwing in a bonus too! Everyone that donates at least $170 (two bottles) will be entered into a raffle to help us pick our next private barrel on September 1st (trust me, you want to go to this distillery and pick this barrel with us). Those individuals are also automatically eligible for one of those bottles. Two lucky names will be drawn to do the barrel pick.

If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. Thank you, and as always, we really appreciate your support.”*

Update — July 23, 2023 (Alan Myers)

“ASD OFFICIAL EVENT POST
@everyone here is your chance to ensure the Arkansas School for the Deaf can remodel their student dorms and you can get a 🍼 from one of our two ‘The Benevolent Phil Barrel’ barrels from Rock Town Distillery.
(65 Regular Column Still, 90 First Ever French Oak Cask Strength — total of 155 🍼)

PLEASE ENSURE YOU READ CAREFULLY.

Donate here 👇🏼
https://thebenevolentbarrelthief.org

SCREENSHOT DONATION BELOW 👇🏼

$170 or more donation (complete tax write-off, no additional cost for 🍼) =
• 2 🍼 of Rock Town (please say preferred bottles when posting screenshot)
• Automatically in for a Starlight 🍼 (still must donate for the 🍼 during that event at a future date)
• Name entered for a chance to go pick a Starlight barrel with us on September 1, 2023 at Starlight Distillery (2 names will be drawn)

$85 or more donation (complete tax write-off, no additional cost for 🍼) =
• 1 🍼 of Rock Town (please say preferred bottle when posting screenshot)

MAX of two 🍼 right now. We expect to have some more than the initial count, but won’t know how many for another two weeks.

IF WE GET THE DONATIONS RAISED TO MOVE ALL 🍼 WE WILL HAVE RAISED AT LEAST $4.5–5k FOR ASD 🔥🔥

Lastly, if you know someone who wants to donate and doesn’t have social media, through our website they can join our email subscribers list and participate in the event 🥃

Any questions, just reach out to myself, Tyler, or Britton 🙏🏼”*

Update — July 24, 2023 (Tyler Shinabery)

*“Evening BBTs!
Wanted to give a status update on the inaugural Rock Town charity drive. In just over 24 hours we have 32 donations of $170 already. Thank all of you that have donated so much already!

The goal for the Arkansas School for the Deaf is $3–5k. Currently the raise is right around the $2k mark and counting. As our first-ever full barrel pick, we are looking for a strong push for ASD. A great showing will help us secure more unique opportunities for future benevolent barrel thieving for Arkansas charities.

We have 45 slots left for $170 donations to receive two bottles. A donation of $85 will still secure one bottle as well. Please refer to the post from yesterday for tax-deductible donation instructions from Alan. As always, feel free to reach out to Alan, Britton, or myself with any questions.

We know you have a lot of choices for private picks, and we are grateful for your continued support as we overpay for the underserved.

Cheers BBTs!”*

Update — August 1, 2023 (Alan Myers)

“@everyone we have raised over $2k so far for the Arkansas School for the Deaf 🫶🏻
Just a reminder that today is the last day to donate and get your name on the list to be randomized to select two people to go do the Starlight barrel pick with us at the distillery on September 1!
Please ensure you go to the ‘Official Event Post’ to read through how to donate and post a screenshot of your donation there. Thank you 🙏🏼”

Update — August 18, 2023 (Alan Myers)

*“I want to take a moment and share the artwork for our Rock Town Distillery private barrel picks! Once again, a big thank you to John Crow for setting this up and everyone at Rock Town for being so open and welcoming to our nonprofit.

Next Friday we will have our barrels bottled and then start working on getting them to the folks who have donated so far.

We still have some more left to push so we can raise some good funds for a good cause—remodeling the dormitory at the Arkansas School for the Deaf.

So we are going to run another event tomorrow with only 25 spots. There will be two highly allocated prizes that will be given away, just like with the 15-spot event we did.

Keep an eye out for those details tomorrow 😎🥃🙌🏼 Happy Friday @everyone!”*

Update — August 25, 2023 (Tyler Shinabery)

*“The time is near BBTs! Dump Day! Our Rock Town French Oak Cask Strength Column Still and Rock Town Cask Strength Column Still hit the bottling line today!

Final Proofs:
French Oak CS: 110 proof
Column Still CS: 124 proof

Thieving glasses straight from the barrel is something special.

Quick-hitting tasting notes:
French Oak CS: Black cherry, toasted marshmallow, brown sugar—viscous, smooth, and an easy drinker for 110 proof.
Column Still CS: Burnt brown sugar, vanilla, cherry, blackberry, and a noticeably more oaky profile with a bit of bite at 124 proof.

It is not too late to get in on these. See Alan Myers’ previous post for our current raffle to access these, with an Old Fitz decanter and Michter’s Barrel Proof Rye up for grabs as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks to all of you that have donated to date.

Cheers BBTs.”*

Update — September 6, 2023 (Tyler Shinabery)

*“Good morning BBTs! So today is the day we can start distribution for all those who donated to the Arkansas School for the Deaf Rock Town picks!

Details:
Location: Custom Compounding Center, 11700 Kanis Road, Ste 1, Little Rock, AR 72211
Time: Starting today (9/6) after 11 AM. Normal hours are 8 AM–5 PM, Monday–Friday.

My staff will be trained on this—anyone can help you. I would love to meet you if I am in, but if not, just tell them you are here for your charity bottle 🙂

As always, mules are welcome for other parts of the state—we can start a conversation in the comments of this post. I have also posted the spreadsheet with our current donors list and number of bottles. If you see an error, please let us know.

Hit me up in DMs if you have any questions at this time. Cheers,
Tyler.”*