All voices matter
River Valley Whiskey Society Releases 12-Year Huling Station Bourbon
River Valley Whiskey Society and RiverPointe Wine & Spirits released a 12-year Huling Station single barrel in Fort Smith at 140.97 proof.
Share your love
Last Updated on September 13, 2026 by Justin Jones
ARKANSAS RELEASE · FORT SMITH · SEPTEMBER 2026
River Valley Whiskey Society lands a 12-year Huling Station at 140.97 proof
A Fort Smith barrel pick from River Valley Whiskey Society and RiverPointe Wine & Spirits takes Huling Station to 12 years old; and bottles it at a full 140.97 proof.
12 years
Age statement
140.97
Barrel proof
70.49%
Alcohol by volume
Fort Smith
Arkansas release
Watch Matt Trotter’s first taste
River Valley Whiskey Society member Matt Trotter opens the 12-year Huling Station and shares his first impressions. He finds pecan, roses and forest-floor notes on the nose, followed by cinnamon, dried fruit, cherry and doughy bread—and says the 140.97-proof bourbon drinks far softer than its number suggests.
Video courtesy of Matt Trotter, River Valley Whiskey Society. Recorded September 12, 2026.
Read the video transcript
All right, all right. We’ve got a little brown-bag special here. You should probably recognize the shape of this bottle. For those who don’t know, I think I was the last one on the drawing list to get this, so I’m going to do everyone the honor of giving a first-impressions taste test.
Sorry to those who missed out on this. Maybe, if I have some left at the gathering, I’ll bring it so you can try it. I love the sound of a nice pop.
That smells delightful. On the nose: pecan and roses, a little natural earth and maybe some forest floor, but very sweet. It smells sweeter than I would expect for its age and proof. There are bourbons where I cannot put my full nose in the glass without getting a little burn, but in a blind tasting you would have no idea this is nearly 141 proof.
On the first sip: cinnamon. It is so soft on the mouth. You would have no idea this is 141 proof. Chase, you’ve got a good one here.
The initial flavor brings some dried fruit, a little cherry and a nice doughy, bready, yeasty note. This is what a barrel-proof pick should taste like. It is phenomenal.
Thanks to Chase for what you do with the drawings. I wanted to record the first sip from this bottle. I like to save a lot of my bourbon, so friends who want a sample can reach out. This is easily among my top five barrel picks.
What really sells it for me is the aftertaste. It fades quickly and leaves that nice doughy-bread note. There is no way this drinks like its stated proof—more like 90 to 100 proof. Good stuff.
A rare barrel reaches the Arkansas River Valley
River Valley Whiskey Society announced a Huling Station Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey carrying a 12-year age statement and a formidable 140.97 proof. The bottle’s selection sticker names RiverPointe Wine & Spirits, tying the release to Fort Smith and the Arkansas River Valley.
The society announced the bottle to members on September 3, bringing an unusually mature Huling Station barrel to the Arkansas River Valley.
The visible bottle label confirms the essentials: Huling Station Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey, aged 12 years, bottled at 140.97 proof and 70.49% alcohol by volume. The announcement also says the whiskey aged in a Kelvin Cooperage barrel.
“We’ve got a rare one for you!”
River Valley Whiskey Society announcement, September 3, 2026
River Valley Whiskey Society describes itself as committed to bringing hand-selected single barrels to the River Valley. RiverPointe, located at 6207 Grand Avenue in Fort Smith, has become one of the western Arkansas retailers worth watching for private barrels and high-proof releases. ArkansasLiquor.com maintains a separate RiverPointe Wine & Spirits reference page covering the store and its earlier selections.
Twelve years pushes Huling Station into new territory
Huling Station has built its following on bold sourced whiskey, especially the high-rye bourbon and wheat whiskey bottled under Old Dominick’s Memphis banner. This River Valley barrel takes that familiar name somewhere the public releases had not gone before.
The regular Huling Station bourbon arrived without a numerical age statement. Over time, single barrels moved into the five-to-seven-year range, followed by seven- and eight-year wheat whiskeys. The Trolley Stop Series then raised the bar with nine-year bourbon and wheat-whiskey releases inspired by the streets and trolley lines of Memphis.
River Valley Whiskey Society’s selection adds three more years to that progression. At 12 years and 140.97 proof, it stands apart even before the cork comes out. The age brings the expectation of deeper oak and concentration, while the proof promises that none of the barrel’s force has been polished away.
The oldest Huling Station release on record
Huling Station releases previously topped out at nine years. This 12-year River Valley selection is the oldest expression in the brand’s published history and one of the most unusual Huling Station barrels to reach Arkansas.
How Huling Station reached 12 years
Huling Station has steadily moved into older whiskey, from its original bourbon to seven-, eight- and nine-year releases. The River Valley barrel is the biggest jump yet.
2020 · The modern line
The standard Huling Station Straight Bourbon arrived without a numerical age statement and introduced drinkers to the modern sourced-whiskey line.
2022 · Seven-year wheat whiskey
Four seven-year Huling Station wheat-whiskey barrels were bottled for the Overton Park Conservancy edition in Memphis.
2023 · Eight and nine years
Seelbach’s released an eight-year Huling Station wheat-whiskey single barrel. Later that year, the Trolley Stop Series established a nine-year benchmark across bourbon and wheat-whiskey releases.
2026 · Twelve years
River Valley Whiskey Society and RiverPointe released a 12-year Huling Station single-barrel bourbon at 140.97 proof, the oldest published age statement in the line.
A 12-year barrel with nothing held back
The numbers on the RiverPointe selection label do most of the talking: 12 years old, 140.97 proof and 70.49% alcohol by volume.
The whiskey is bottled as Huling Station Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Its deep color is visible through the square bottle, beneath the familiar red Huling Station label. A white selection strip at the base carries the RiverPointe name alongside the age and proof.
River Valley Whiskey Society also called attention to the Kelvin Cooperage barrel used to age the bourbon. After 12 years in oak, the barrel still produced whiskey at a striking proof—high enough to make this a pour built for patience, a small glass and, for many drinkers, a little water.
The whiskey
Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey
The age
12 years in a Kelvin Cooperage barrel
The proof
140.97 proof · 70.49% ABV
For comparison, ArkansasLiquor.com previously covered a separate seven-year Old Dominick wheated single barrel released through 107 Liquor. That release was straight wheat whiskey; the River Valley bottle is a 12-year straight bourbon and a very different side of the Huling Station family.
The organizations behind the release
River Valley Whiskey Society
The Arkansas River Valley group behind the selection, bringing an unusually mature Huling Station barrel to local whiskey drinkers.
RiverPointe Wine & Spirits
The Fort Smith retailer named on the bottle and a familiar stop for Arkansas private-barrel selections.
Old Dominick and Huling Station
Old Dominick revived the historic Memphis whiskey name and uses Huling Station for its sourced whiskey family. The line honors Huling Avenue and Memphis whiskey history.
Why this Arkansas release matters
Age is not a guarantee of quality. Twelve years in new charred oak can produce deep concentration, but it can also push a whiskey toward drying tannin and dominant barrel character. The unusually high 140.97 proof adds another variable: this barrel reached the bottle with little apparent reduction, preserving intensity but demanding careful tasting.
The combination is what makes this barrel special: 12 years old, just shy of hazmat proof, selected by an Arkansas whiskey group and released through a Fort Smith retailer. Nothing else in the Huling Station lineup has carried an age statement like it.
It is also a reminder that Arkansas whiskey culture extends well beyond Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas. The River Valley has built its own community of selectors, retailers and drinkers, and this bottle gives Fort Smith a release with significance beyond the local market.
A standout River Valley pick
Twelve years. 140.97 proof. One barrel selected for an Arkansas group and a Fort Smith retailer. River Valley Whiskey Society’s release is the oldest expression in Huling Station’s published release history and a bottle that deserves a place in Arkansas’s private-barrel record.
Editorial Use Notice: Third-party names, labels, logos, screenshots and supplied images are used for news reporting, commentary, identification and documentation. Ownership remains with the respective rights holders.
AI-Assisted Images: Some images may be created, enhanced, composited, or modified with the assistance of artificial intelligence as part of the site’s editorial workflow. AI assistance does not transfer, cancel, or diminish the rights of the original rights holder.
Independent & Non-Commercial: ArkansasLiquor.com is a personal, independently funded website. It does not sell advertising, accept payment for coverage, charge for access, or generate revenue from the content published here.
Corrections and attribution: Send documentation, corrections or rights concerns to [email protected].
Justin Jones
Articles: 209Related Posts
Subscribe
Login
0 Comments
Oldest