The Story of Prodigal Son
When writing a song, sometimes it's the drumbeat or guitar riff and other times it's the lyrical hook that comes first. This time it was the title.
Legitimizing and elevating the ‘sticker game’ by incorporating fine art on spirits bottles has been a mission of Subtle Spirits from day one. Prodigal Son is a befitting title because it marks the return to my own Subtle Spirits Originals lineup after a stretch of co-branded private barrel selection releases. It also happens to be the first cask of bourbon bottled and released under my label. Although bourbon is the spirit that most people want and know me for, it has not been the easiest to track down in recent years. A choice selection such as this, cherry-picked out of a larger lot, is not something traditional NDP’s (Non-Distilling Producers) release because they’re usually required to buy many casks in bulk without sampling for ‘single barrels’ first. It’s not hard to figure out the provenance of the cask by looking at the back label, though the most important part is that for the first time it reads: Bottled by Subtle Spirits.
About a year ago, I was scrolling through a whiskey board when I came across a bottle of Old Weller Antique up for raffle. It was a familiar and sentimental one, a single barrel selection I had chosen for PlumpJack a few years prior. According to the seller (who happened to be a friend of mine), he had purchased it from an auction in the UK. I couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that this bottle had made its way quite literally around the world, exchanging hands over three times, only to arrive back in the United States. I’m not usually a gambler but decided to pay $35 for a 10% chance of winning the bottle. Quite a premium to the $35/bottle cost it was originally sold for, but I was feeling lucky that day. I ended up winning the bottle, and when I told my friend the story, he promptly exclaimed, “The Prodigal Son has returned!” Immediately, I knew I had the name for the next Original release.
At the end of 2020, Gabe Weis reached out wanting to collaborate. Aside from the fact that stylistically he was right up my alley, he spent time in my home state of Wisconsin and later moved to the Bay Area to pursue his passion for painting. He has a similar edge in his demeanor, and we shared a sense of energy and respect for what it takes to build your own hustle. Later I found out, one of my best friends in San Francisco was his neighbor in Wisconsin over a decade ago. After such a serendipitous encounter, it didn’t take long to conceptualize the piece and begin the production process. The original Prodigal Son artwork is an 18” x 24” acrylic painting. Its vibrancy is even more exceptional in person.
Beyond the coincidental story or the symbolism of ‘returning home,’ there is a metaphysical aspect to this release. One of the most exciting parts of putting together these releases for me is working with the artists. And that has been especially true after meeting Gabe. Since the painting of Prodigal Son, Gabe has seen an explosion in growth and popularity in the NFT markets. He has been one of the top featured artists on OpenSea.
I will be doing a limited edition NFT package for the first numbered 20 bottles of Prodigal Son. Rather than simply include the digital version of the artwork with the NFT, it will also include a hand-numbered and signed bottle along with a corresponding numbered and signed print of the artwork, 1-20. We are the first to bring this type of spirit and artwork combination to the NFT space, and altogether this will be one of the rarest spirits offerings the world has ever seen.
Read more of my thoughts about NFTs and some of the ways they are being used today.