It’s that time of year — the San Francisco World Spirits Competition results are in! This year, I’m going to list every single “double gold” bourbon whiskey winner in one spot, so that you can get an idea of what’s hot right now in the world of bourbon whiskey in America. For reference, “double gold” spirits get their medal when every judge at the table blindly gives that pour a gold medal.
Full disclosure, I’m a head judge at this competition. I sampled just north of 300 pours of spirits over the three days (200 plus of which were American whiskeys). While I sampled a ton of these bourbons, I didn’t try them all in San Francisco. There were over 6,000 total entries (all spirits can be found here). Plus, it was double-blind and I still don’t know what I tasted, for obvious reasons. Still, I’ve added my own tasting notes to all the double gold-winning bourbons where I could. Otherwise, I’ve included tasting notes from the bottler or distiller.
One caveat here, many of these whiskeys are very local. You’ll either have to live in a certain region or visit at the right time to get some of these. I look at it this way: The hyper-regional whiskeys are a good guide to what to drink when you do meander around the country. Otherwise, read those tasting notes and find the more widely available whiskeys that spark your interest.
Then hit that price link to try something totally new — let’s dive in!
15 STARS Timeless Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Aged 13 Years
ABV: 54.5%
Average Price: Coming Soon
The Whiskey:
This new whiskey from the father and son team is a blend of two carefully sourced barrels. The mix blends a 13-year and 15-year barrel together to make a sharp and delicious bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft orchard fruits and maple syrup lead the way on the nose as roasted almonds and vanilla/caramel tobacco pipe tobacco round things out.
Palate: The palate balances creamy vanilla sauce with a dark and bitter chocolate powder that’s nearly espresso bean oil.
Finish: The finish is subtle but deep with a hazelnut vibe that blends with the chocolate for a lush Nutella feel next to woody maple, rum-soaked raisins, and a hint of old porch wicker draped in old leather.
Bottom Line:
These releases always slap. They’re rare which makes them fleeting outside of Kentucky but they’re worth the hunt.
World Whiskey Society Class Collection Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Port Cask Aged 10 Years
ABV: 51%
Average Price: $164
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is distilled in Oklahoma but bottled in Georgia. The whiskey in the bottle is made from a mash bill (recipe) of 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% malted barley. That hot juice was then aged for almost a decade before going into a huge port cask for a final rest.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a sense of grape soda and orange zest on the nose with a hint of crafty bourbon grains, dry grass, and old oak.
Palate: The palate sort of leans into red fruit and dry grass with a light sense of orange and vanilla.
Finish: The end is short and has a touch of vanilla cake and holiday spice.
Bottom Line:
I’m not the biggest fan of this one, but I can see how the crafty graininess works with the port finish in a balanced and enticing way.
Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Port Wine Barrels Cask Strength
ABV: 59.9%
Average Price: $229
The Whiskey:
This modern classic is a yearly limited release from the beloved Lousiville distiller. The juice is made from a mix of locally sourced barrels that are finished in Ruby Port casks. The best of the best are hand-selected by Angel’s Envy’s team for as-is batching and bottling with only 14,000 odd bottles making out this year.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a deep sense of blackberry jam over a Southern biscuit with plenty of brown butter, vanilla sauce, and apple fruit leather with a dash of cinnamon, allspice, and star anise next to a whisper of cherry cream soda and orange-chocolate tobacco packed into a cedar box.
Palate: The palate is soft and supple with a brandy butter vibe next to mince meat pie with powdered sugar icing, meaty dates, black tea, and rich Black Forest cake.
Finish: The end subtly meanders through shaved dark chocolate and stewed cherry, eventually landing on a vanilla-laced tobacco leaf rolled up with apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks and old wicker canes.
Bottom Line:
This was just delicious and really feels like a holiday vibe whiskey.
Art of the Spirits Whiskey Cask Strength “Frogman” Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 58.2%
Average Price: Coming Soon
The Whiskey:
This is a sourced whiskey with a Navy SEAL theme but also… old-timey pinup girls. The brand supports vets. Otherwise, they don’t really say much about what’s in the bottle.
Tasting Notes:
None available.
Bottom Line:
A lot of the “bullet bros & pinup girls” branding by this crew brand feels like a time machine back to the 1990s in a war machine/ misogynistic sort of way. I’ll just leave it at that.
Art of the Spirits Whiskey Cask Strength “Final Run” Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in a Ruby Port Cask
ABV: 64%
Average Price: $114
The Whiskey:
This is another sourced whiskey. In this case, the branding is built around Bonnie and Clyde running from the feds.
Tasting Notes (from Drizly):
Nose: “Caramel corn, apple candy, satin rose flower bed, British toffee.”
Palate: “Baked apple, caramel corn, candied apple, brown sugar rock candy, honey apricot tip of tongue.”
Finish: “Deep caramel apple BBQ with smoked apple wood, peach cobbler, caramelized sugar creme.”
Bottom Line:
Again, the people behind the brand provide little to no information about this whiskey online, making it hard to judge what it is.
Augusta Distillery Buckner’s Aged 13 Years Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 60%
Average Price: $199
The Whiskey:
This is a very niche brand that’s sourcing old barrels. The whiskey in the bottle is a Kentucky straight bourbon that rest for 13 years before it was bottled pretty much as-is with a touch of proofing water.
Tasting Notes (from the bottler):
Nose: “A haunting combination of antique wood, wet soil, and dry corn pulls forward from a honeyed vanilla palate. This introduction immediately suggests a rare complexity that can only be found in a true Kentucky bourbon with properly aged maturity.”
Palate: “Exotic spice and caramel notes are directly complemented by hints of buttery cream and cured tea leaves.”
Finish: “Each sip provides an unforgettable experience that instantly returns you to the limestone hills of Kentucky only to demand further exploration.”
Bottom Line:
This sounds nice enough. Though there’s going to be a pretty bold oakiness.
Axe and the Oak Distillery First Stake Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey
ABV:
Average Price: $74
The Whiskey:
This whiskey from Colorado Springs is a new crafty on the bourbon stage. The whiskey is three years old and rendered from a high-rye bourbon mash bill. Those barrels are blended and bottled as-is without any proofing.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
Nose: “Brown Sugar, Rye Bread, Sweet Corn, Rich Butterscotch”
Palate: “Candied Pecans, Creamy Vanilla, Caramel Glaze, Cracked Black Pepper”
Bottom Line:
This sounds nice enough though I can’t imagine seeking it out unless I was in Colorado.
Blue Note Juke Joint Straight Bourbon
ABV: 46.5%
Average Price: $30
The Whiskey:
This sourced whiskey comes from Kentucky. The juice is a blend of 70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley whiskey that’s aged for up to four years before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This smells like “bourbon” on the nose with hints of caramel, vanilla, oak, and a dollop of maple syrup.
Palate: The palate has a thick winter spice vibe with dusty cinnamon and eggnog-heavy nutmeg with a creamy edge next to vanilla tobacco with a whisper of cedar humidor.
Finish: That spice really amps up toward the finish with a Red Hot tobacco chew and dry wicker finish.
Bottom Line:
This is nice. That said, I always forget this on the shelf. At the end of the day, I’d mix this into a highball with good fizzy water or ginger ale.
Blue Note Crossroads Straight Bourbon
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $41
The Whiskey:
This is the same bourbon as above but finished in toasted French oak. Those barrels are blended in Memphis and proofed down to a little higher proof, allowing more of that toasted barrel to shine through.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: That oak comes through on the nose with a mix of dry cedar and resin-heavy pine as more standard notes of toffee, vanilla, and cherry shine.
Palate: The palate largely follows that path with the mid-palate leaning into dried fruit and more of a dry tobacco leaf.
Finish: The finish is short and sweet with a dry woodiness that’s part old cedar box and part moldy wicker deck furniture with a hint of hot mulled wine.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those whiskeys where you sip it and say, “yeah, that’s nice” and then kind of forget it exists. Though I have to admit, our editor — less of a bourbon head than me — always talks about how he likes it. Palate differ,yo! [Also, he never gets to try the $5000 bottles you get. –ed.]
Bainbridge Whiskey Forty Saloon Bourbon Whiskey Small Batch Organic Bottled In Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $79
The Whiskey:
Bainbridge Organic has been making seriously great whiskey for years now up in Washington. This whiskey is their first foray into bourbon. Overall, the mash bill is a classic 60% heirloom corn., 25% old variety Triticale (a rye-wheat hybrid), and 15% soft white wheat mix. The whiskey is left alone for five years and six months before batching and bottling.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
“Rye, corn, cherry, vanilla, citrus, and caramel with just a lick of fresh char.”
Bottom Line:
I trust Bainbridge to make a great whiskey, so I can’t imagine this not landing well.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Chateau de Laubade Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskies Finished in Armagnac Casks
ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $160
The Whiskey:
This bourbon is a blend of 12-year-old, low-rye bourbon from Kentucky and 10-year-old, very-low-rye bourbon from Tennessee. The whiskeys were re-barreled into Armagnac casks from the famed Chateau de Laubade. One set spent two years mellowing on the bottom floor of the rickhouse while another set spent 16 months mellowing on the top floor. After that, the barrels were vatted and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This hits on complex notes on the nose from old leather, dried sage, cellared oak, roasted almonds rolled in toffee, sultanas, and then deep winter spice: freshly ground nutmeg, mace, cardamom, sharp cinnamon.
Palate: The palate has a silky vanilla foundation with more sultanas over top, fresh and meaty dates, ginger snaps, and prunes mingle.
Finish: The end has a gingerbread vibe next to cherry bark and grape must with more of those spices pouring into an old cedar humidor that used to hold tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This release from Bardstown Bourbon Company might truly get you hooked on rare whiskey.
1845 Distilling Company Preemption Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $72
The Whiskey:
This is a Texas grain-to-glass craft bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
None available.
Bottom Line:
There’s really not much information out there about this release besides that the people who make are pretty excited it exists.
Blanton’s The Original Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 46.5%
Average Price: $136
The Whiskey:
Buffalo Trace’s Blanton Single Barrel is made up of hand-selected single barrels that meet the sky-high standards of former Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee, who created the expression back in 1984.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear sense of Christmas spices right away, leaning towards honey spiked with vanilla and an old cedar cigar humidor.
Palate: The taste holds onto the spice, especially nutmeg, as caramel kettle corn, more fresh honey, fresh red berries, and vanilla husks dominate the palate.
Finish: The end doesn’t overstay its welcome as hints of eggnog spice, dry vanilla, and popped corn surface on the fade.
Bottom Line:
It’s Blanton’s. It’s iconic for a reason and everyone should have at least one bottle on their bar cart at all times.
Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 65.15%
Average Price: $249
The Whiskey:
Blanton’s is “The Original Single Barrel” bourbon, and this expression is the purest form of that whiskey. The whiskey in this case is from the barrels that need no cutting with water and are excellent as-is, straight from the barrel. All the barrels will come from Warehouse H (where Elmer T. Lee stored his private stash of barrels back in the day) and arrive with varying proofs. The through-line is the excellent taste of that single, unadulterated barrel in each sip.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is full of very bespoke dark chocolate-covered salted hard caramel toffees encrusted with almonds and pecans — the kind you get from a chocolate shop that imports their goodies from somewhere like Belgium.
Palate: The nutty toffee carries through into the taste as oily vanilla pods mingle with cedar boxes of dried tobacco leaves and a touch of floral honey.
Finish: The end is very long and lingers in your senses, with a hot buzzing that subtly fades through all that sweetness.
Bottom Line:
Standard Blanton’s is a delicious whiskey that is proofed way down (93-proof to be exact). The whiskey simply shines more brightly at cask strength. If you’re even remotely attracted to standard Blanton’s, then it’s time to graduate to this.
Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey A Blend
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $41
The Whiskey:
Colorado’s mountain-high Breckenridge made a modern classic with this one. The whiskey is a blend of three-year-old Colorado bourbons made up in the Rocky Mountains and proofed with water from the glaciers.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is sweet on the nose with apple orchards, corn mush, vanilla cake, and honeyed biscuits.
Palate: The palate builds on the sweet nose with dark winter spices, soft oak, and a nice balance of vanilla and caramel.
Finish: The end is short and sweet but sticks with you with a classic orchard fruit/vanilla/caramel vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice and easy whiskey that’s built for mixing.
Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey A Blend High Proof
ABV: 52.5%
Average Price: $56
The Whiskey:
This is Breckenridge’s classic blended bourbon amped up a tad. The whiskey is aged for over three years before batching a kiss of proofing with local Rocky Mountain water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose runs deep with burnt orange, marzipan, and woody winter spices next to a hint of toffee dipped in dark chocolate.
Palate: The palate largely follows the nose with buttery toffee leading to marzipan and eventually a mix of cedar and cinnamon bark with a whisper of tobacco.
Finish: The end leans into the woodiness of the spices and tobacco with a nice counterbalance of rich and sweet toffee with a nutty edge.
Bottom Line:
This is just nice, easy, and smooth. It makes a hell of a cocktail too.
Brother’s Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey Original Cask Strength
ABV: 57.9%
Average Price: $80
The Whiskey:
The newest release from Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley is an evolution of their brand. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of three bourbons which create a four-grain bourbon. That blend was then bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a balance of old leather boots and freshly cracked black pepper next to a hint of walnut shell, vanilla pod, and orange zest.
Palate: The palate leans into what feels like star fruit as orange marmalade, salted butter, and fresh honey drip over rye bread crusts.
Finish: The end comes with a good dose of peppery spice and old leather as those walnuts and orange combine with a handful of dried fruit and a dusting of winter spices on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This latest version of Brother’s Bond proved the brand was about more than celebs white labeling booze. It proved that Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley truly care about this industry and the whiskey in their bottle.
Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 13 Years Old
ABV: 55%
Average Price: $173
The Whiskey:
This whiskey was made by Eddie Russell to celebrate his 40th year of distilling whiskey with his dad, Jimmy Russell. The blend is a collection of a minimum of 13-year-old barrels that Eddie Russell hand-picked. Those barrels were married and then bottled as-is with no proofing or filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sweet and dried fruits invite you on the nose as a touch of fresh, creamy, and dark Black Forest cake mingles with mild holiday spices, dried almonds, and a sense of rich pipe tobacco just kissed with sultanas.
Palate: That dark chocolate and cherry fruit drive the palate as a hint of charred cedar lead towards vanilla tobacco with more of that dark chocolate and a small touch of honey, orange blossom, and a whisper of dried chili flake.
Finish: That honey leads back to the warmth and spice with a thin line of cherry bark smoke lurking on the very backend with more bitter chocolate, buttery vanilla, and dark cherry all combining into chewy tobacco packed into an old pine box and wrapped up with worn leather thread.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best Wild Turkey releases of all time. It’s on shelves now and still (kind of) gettable. Basically, if you’re a fan of Wild Turkey in any way, this is a no-brainer addition to your bar cart.
Wilderness Trail High Rye Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 56%
Average Price: $86
The Whiskey:
Wilderness Trail is the whiskey nerd’s whiskey. Their High Rye Bourbon is a mash of 64% corn, 24% rye, and 12% barley grains that are fermented with a proprietary Wildness Trail yeast using the sweet mash process. The whiskey then spends four years and nine months aging before it’s bottled without any filtration and barely proofed.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a mild holiday cake vibe with brown spice, nuts, and dried fruit mingling with touches of oak, chocolate-covered berries, and biscuits.
Palate: The taste becomes a sort of buttered-biscuit-smothered-with-berry-jam that’s been touched with spice as a note of sweetened vanilla lurks in the background.
Finish: The end is long and leans back into the fruit as the vanilla and spice create a silken mouthfeel.
Bottom Line:
Every home bar cart should have at least one Wilderness Trail on it. And I really got into mixing Manhattans and Sazeracs with this. It’s a great bold whiskey that truly shines when mixed.
Pinhook Vertical Series Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 7 Years
ABV: 57.5%
Average Price: $89
The Whiskey:
This is an instant classic from Kentucky’s Pinhook. The whiskey is hewn from a mash bill of 75% corn, 20.5% rye, and 4.5% malted barley, distilled at MGP of Indiana and aged at Castle & Key (in Kentucky). The whiskey was left alone for seven years before batching and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens. with toasted raisin bread, cinnamon butter, dates, prunes, and figs with a nice layer of leathery dark berries.
Palate: Soft caramel opens the palate before sharp winter spice barks, sticky toffee pudding, and vanilla buttercream lead to fresh gingerbread.
Finish: The end leans into the rich buttercream and woody spices with a soft sense of pipe tobacco and Christmas cakes.
Bottom Line:
This is another great release from a brand that just keeps getting better and better.
Clyde May’s Special Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 55%
Average Price: $80
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is sourced from an “undisclosed” distillery in Indiana (cough, cough, MGP, cough, cough). It’s aged for about three years and proofed a tad before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Spice and wet brown sugar mix on the nose with a sense of apple crumble with plenty of butter and maybe a little too much clove and allspice.
Palate: The palate has a sense of savory fruit (think cantaloupe) with black peppercorns, pancake syrup, and woodiness.
Finish: The whole sip is very “general” and ends with cornbread meets brown butter cut with dark sugar, vanilla, and tobacco vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty damn good overall, especially if you’re looking for something that leans classic and easy to sip. It’s a little sweet for me but that’s not a knock. That’s just my palate.
Kentucky Owl The Wiseman Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.4%
Average Price: $50
The Whiskey:
This new-ish release from Kentucky Owl is meant to be an affordable and accessible Kentucky Owl from the otherwise elite brand. The whiskey is a blend of contract distilled whiskey from Bardstown Bourbon Company and sourced barrels from around Kentucky that are four to eight years old.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is very interesting on the nose with a mix of circus peanut, garam masala, sweet grass, and pine resin next to a hint of rich buttery toffee sauce with a flake of salt.
Palate: The palate leans into that toffee and then layers in raspberry sorbet, vanilla beans, masa azul, and wet cedar planks.
Finish: A leathery tobacco pouch rounds out the sip near the end with more of that cedar, dry sweet grass, and a hint more of the spice.
Bottom Line:
This is a home run. It’s awesome on the rocks but really kills in a cocktail. Try it in your next Manhattan.
Fox & Oden Double Oaked Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 49.5%
Average Price: $90
The Whiskey:
This sourced whiskey (from MGP of Indiana) is all about finding the best barrels and batching them to create something more. The whiskey in this small batch bourbon is rendered from MGP’s 21% and 36% rye bourbon mash bills. The barrels are between eight and 15 years old. Once vatted, the whiskey is just touched with water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A rich buttery note comes through on the nose with a hint of salted corn next to savory figs with a hint of honey and freshly ground nutmeg mixed with some vanilla cream.
Palate: The palate turns that butteriness into salted caramel with a hint of sticky toffee pudding with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg next to a thin line of charred oak underneath it all.
Finish: The end dries out with a sense of old leather wrapped around an old and dry tobacco leaf with a twinge of raisin.
Bottom Line:
This is just a well-made whiskey. It’s easy to sip and, well, that’s it.
Joseph Magnus Murray Hill Club Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend
ABV: 51.5%
Average Price: $90
The Whiskey:
This is a masterfully sourced whiskey. The whiskey is a mix of 18 and 11-year-old bourbon with a nine-year-old light whiskey (a high-proof whiskey aged in lightly toasted, uncharted barrels). That blend is then just touched with water before bottling without any fussing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a rich sense of buttery toffee on the nose with plenty of cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice next to a hint of savory fig and some vanilla cream.
Palate: The palate merges the spices into a lush eggnog vibe as hints of old cedar planks mix with a black peppercorn sharpness.
Finish: The end mixes the spices into a buttery cookie with hints of singed cinnamon bark, old pine, and soft vanilla tobacco leaves.
Bottom Line:
This was solid all around. It felt like the perfect cool-weather drinker thanks to all that wintry spice. That also means this would make a hell of a Manhattan.
Detroit City Distillery Butcher’s Cut Bourbon
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $55
The Whiskey:
The whiskey in this bottle is all about craft distilling. The juice is made of 68% corn, 27% rye, and 5% specialty roasted barley malts. All of the grains are locally and sustainably sourced. The whiskey spends a few years in the barrel before it’s “double-barreled” into hand-smoked Michigan northern oak barrels for a final rest. It’s then barely proofed down to 100 proof.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
“Spicy, oaky, and smoky.”
Bottom Line:
I’m very intrigued by this whiskey. Smoked barrels are going to be a big thing in the coming years in bourbon (yes, I’m calling it now) and this feels ahead of the curve on that front.
Doc Swinson’s Exploratory Cask CS ‘French Toasted’ Bourbon
ABV: 54.3%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is a blend of two MGP bourbons — their classic 75/21/4 corn/rye/malted barley mash bill with their very high rye 60/36/4 corn/rye/malted barley mash. Those whiskeys rested for 5.5 years before blending and re-barrelling into new French oak from Taransaud Cooperages that’s made with trees from the famous Troncaise forest. After about three months, those barrels were batched and this whiskey was bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a creamy almost maltiness to the nose with a deep vanilla coffee cake, clove-studded orange, and pecan waffles with more creaminess with a buttery edge.
Palate: Apricot leather and apple fritters drive the palate with a spiced cinnamon toastiness next to a light drizzle of salted dark chocolate.
Finish: Cinnamon bark and sweet orange marmalade mingle on the finish with a light sense of spiced apple cider, wet orchards in the late fall, and creamy pear pudding.
Bottom Line:
This is a wild bourbon. It presents much more like an old Scotch whisky for cognac lovers with hints of American bourbon peaking in from time to time. It’s fascinating, delicious (like, really delicious), and a true outlier. Get some before it’s gone forever.
Wyoming Whiskey Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 48%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This is the famed Wyoming craft bourbon in a single-barrel format. The whiskey is still proofed down but comes straight from the barrel, one at a time.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
Nose: “Browned butter, cola, black currant, and dried dates.”
Palate: “Cola, dark chocolate, buttered pastry, dried date and fig, raisin, and orange citrus.”
Finish: “Full and rich, chewy, spicy, creamy, with nuts.”
Bottom Line:
Wyoming Whiskey never misses. This is sure to be a winner.
Chicken Cock Chanticleer Cognac Barrel Finish Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 56%
Average Price: $499
The Whisky:
This is the second major holiday release from Chicken Cock. This year’s super rare whiskey is made from a classic mash of 70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley. That whiskey was aged for an undisclosed amount of years before it was re-barreled into 32 French cognac barrels. Those 32 barrels were then batched, proofed, and bottled as-is for this release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is supple and full of creamed honey, moist marzipan, peaches and cream ice cream with a hint of waffle cone, and fresh plums dashed with clove and star anise.
Palate: The palate leans into the plums with a spiced cake vibe next to rich Black Forest Cake, candied dates, rum-raisin, and banana bread with plenty of butter, cinnamon, and walnut with a twist of fresh orange zest.
Finish: The end embraces the orange and adds in salted dark chocolate tobacco with a hint of brown butter, pecan shells, and cedar boughs.
Bottom Line:
Yes, it’s expensive but it’s also delicious.
Filmland Spirits Moonlight Mayhem! Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $63
The Whiskey:
This new brand blends the worlds of Hollywood B-movies and Ohio Valley whiskey-making in one brand. The Indiana whiskey is made from a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Those whiskeys aged four to five years before they’re sent to Kentucky for batching and bottling with a touch of that limestone water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Orange oils and cherry pie dominate the nose with mild hints of Saigon cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove next to a rush of caramel and maple syrup sweetness next to a hint of oak.
Palate: The taste opens sweet with more of that caramel leading to a lush vanilla base accented by cherry tobacco and cinnamon bark — in short, a classic bourbon palate.
Finish: The end gets creamy and soft with a sense of salted toffee and chocolate-covered espresso beans next to toasted tobacco and old oak.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice start and makes me pretty excited to see where Filmland takes us next with these releases.
Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $37
The Whiskey:
Four Rose’s standard single barrel expression is an interesting one. This is their “number one” recipe, meaning it’s the high-rye mash bill that’s fermented with a yeast that highlights “delicate fruit.” The whiskey is then bottled at 100 proof, meaning you’re getting a good sense of that single barrel in every bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Woody maple syrup and cinnamon sticks lead to a hint of pear candy, rich vanilla, and a leathery dark fruit with this faint whisper of floral herbs on the nose.
Palate: The palate lets the pear shine as the spices lean into woody barks and tart berries next to leathery dates and plums with a butteriness tying everything together.
Finish: A spicy tobacco chewiness leads the mid-palate toward a soft fruitiness and a hint of plum pudding at the end with a slight nuttiness and green herbal vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is unique but made total sense from nose to finish. It offered something extra and felt fresh without sacrificing taste.
Frank August Case Study: 01 Mizunara Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 62.2%
Average Price: $165
The Whiskey:
For this first “case study,” the team at Frank August picked five bourbon barrels to finish in Japanese Mizunara casks. While those barrels were finishing the elixir within, the team checked the whiskey every 30 days to assure they batched and bottled the whiskey at just the right moment.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a rich sense of butterscotch candy on the nose with freshly fried sourdough doughnuts dusted in brown sugar, cinnamon, and maybe some spearmint next dusting of white pepper.
Palate: The taste starts off creamy and full of toffee as apple pie filling with plenty of cloves and cinnamon leads to peppery mint chocolate and salted caramel drizzle with a twinge of pine resin.
Finish: The end is lush and spicy with a hint of caraway-encrusted rye next to cinnamon bark and clove buds next to warm menthol tobacco dipped in dark chocolate and wrapped with cedar bark and wild sage.
Bottom Line:
This is a whiskey that goes somewhere new with its bourbon profile. It’s funky and fun with a hint of malt whisky in the mix. Get this if you’re looking for a bourbon with subtle hints of malted whisky — definitely a win for anyone eager to expand their bourbon-drinking palates!
George Dickel Handcrafted Small Batch Bourbon Whisky Aged 8 Years
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $34
The Whisky:
The whisky in the bottle is the same Dickel Tennessee whiskey but pulled from barrels that leaned more into classic bourbon flavor notes instead of Dickel’s iconic Tennessee whisky notes. The barrels are a minimum of eight years old before they’re vatted. The whiskey is then cut down to a manageable 90-proof and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with creamy vanilla next to spiced tobacco with plenty of apple pie vibe and winter spices with a butter underbelly.
Palate: The palate has a light bran muffin with a molasses vibe next to vanilla/nougat wafers that then leads to peach skins and gingerbread.
Finish: The end leans into the nutty chocolate and vanilla wafer with a touch of orange zest, marzipan, and mint tobacco with a hint of garden store earthiness.
Bottom Line:
This is a bit of an outlier taste-wise. If you’re looking for a classic bourbon, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for something fresh and new with a Tennessee whiskey vibe, then you’ll dig this.
Ghostwood Blended Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $75
The Whiskey:
This blended whiskey is made from a four-grain mash bill (corn/rye/wheat/barley). That blend is proofed down before bottling.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
Nose: “Oak with hints of Toffee and Spice”
Palate: “Oak, Almond, Toffee, and Spice”
Finish: “Warm, dry, and uniquely smooth”
Bottom Line:
I’m sure this is nice. That’s about all there is to say.
Still & Oak Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $56
The Whiskey:
This whiskey comes from Milwaukee’s Great Lakes Distillery. The whiskey is made with Wisconsin grains (67% corn, 22% malted barley, and 11% rye) and rested for over four years before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
“Notes of clove, oak spices, vanilla, caramel, and dried fruit that ends with a delightful long lasting finish.”
Bottom Line:
This sounds like something I’d track down if I was in Wisconsin but that’s about it.
Elijah Craig Single Barrel 18-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $259
The Whiskey:
This is what you get when you take standard Elijah Craig and let it rest in just the right spot for 18 years. The 18-year-old barrel is hand-selected after a long search through the warehouses. Once selected, the whiskey is cooled slightly with that soft Kentucky limestone water and then bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: You get a sense of oak with a touch of a rock-hewn cellar next to notes of dark chocolate oranges, mild brown spices, a touch of vanilla cream, and a hint of honey.
Palate: That vanilla takes on a nutty edge as the spices build and the wood softens towards cedar with a hint of fruity tobacco chew.
Finish: The vanilla creaminess really drives the finish towards a silken mouthfeel with plenty of spicy/fruity tobacco leaving you with a mild buzz across your senses.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those “smooth” whiskeys that doesn’t even need water — it’s that easy to drink. Still, this bottle has a lot going on that you need to take your time with. Explore the layers by adding water, learning from the nose, and giving the sip time to wash across your senses.
Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $12
The Whiskey:
This is more of an entry point for Evan Williams. The whiskey is a mix of four to seven-year-old barrels of the standard Heaven Hill bourbon. The difference in this bottle is that it’s proofed at a slightly higher 86 proof, giving it a slight edge against Evan Williams Green Label at 80 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is very light but does meander through apple candy, dry corn, vanilla, and a touch of caramel.
Palate: The taste stays on a similar path with a hint of brown spice and “oak.”
Finish: The end is short but does touch on more vanilla and oak with a hint of cherry tobacco way in the background before an ethanol note takes over.
Bottom Line:
Overall, this is a highball whiskey.
Heaven Hill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled-In-Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $56
The Whiskey:
This expression has been a touchstone “bottled-in-bond” since 1939 and remains a go-to for many bourbon lovers. The whiskey is the classic Heaven Hill bourbon mash bill that’s left to age for an extra three years compared to Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond (also from Heaven Hill and the same base spirit).
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with this rich and creamy vanilla ice cream (you know the kind that’s likely labeled “Tahitian”) that’s drizzled with a buttery and salty caramel sauce next to soft leather and dried apple blossoms with a hint of old cedar bark braids.
Palate: A floral honey vibe melds with Graham Crackers on the palate as creamy toffee covered in crushed almonds mingles with vanilla-laced pipe tobacco and old leather-bound books.
Finish: There’s a bit of freshly ground nutmeg near the end that leads to a light cherry tobacco note with whispers of old cellar beams and winter spices on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is really good. It’s not amazing but it works wonders as a cocktail whiskey.
William Heavenhill 9th Edition 15-Year-Old Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 54.5%
Average Price: $1,199
The Whiskey:
The latest edition of Heaven Hill’s super exclusive William Heavenhill release was made from just 34 barrels. Those barrels were from a specific floor of a specific warehouse where they rested for 15 long years before batching and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: That oak comes through like a dank old cigar box with a sense of cinnamon bark, whole nutmeg bulbs, and stewed cherry syrup with a whisper of sassafras and marzipan.
Palate: The palate is lush with a sense of old rye bread crusts next to huckleberry cobbler, more marzipan, orange oils, vanilla oils, and a touch of singed cedar kindling.
Finish: Salted caramel peanut clusters and thick cherry tobacco chewiness mingle with old oak cellars with dirt floors and a fleeting sense of falling fall leaves.
Bottom Line:
This is delicious, hard to get, and very rare. That said, I walked into the Heaven Hill bottle shop and it was right there behind the cash registers. So it’s not impossible. Otherwise, expect very high, unicorn whiskey prices.
Heaven’s Door Aged 10 Years Decade Series Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $95
The Whiskey:
This is the first release in the new series from Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door Tennessee whiskeys. The whiskey is a 10-year-old straight bourbon that was made in Tennessee but wasn’t charcoal filtered before or after aging. The sourced barrels were blended and just proofed down before bottling without any other fussing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a tannic old oakiness on the nose (this is older) with hints of pecan waffles covered in maple syrup with vanilla butter.
Palate: The taste is pure silk with salted caramel, vanilla cream, black licorice, marzipan, and a hint of cinnamon-pecan ice cream with a dusting of powdery chocolate in malt.
Finish: The end has a moment of warmth thanks to that cinnamon before lunging toward old porch wicker, cinnamon bark, star anise, pear tobacco, and old leather with a hint of potting soil.
Bottom Line:
This was simply delicious. It was so vibrant and classic while taking you on a journey.
Hillrock Estate Distillery Solera Aged Straight Bourbon Whiskey Tawny Port Finished
ABV: 41.3%
Average Price: $92
The Whiskey:
This whiskey marries Hillrock’s own estate bourbon with a carefully sourced barrel or two. The whiskey is partially aged in Oloroso sherry casks before it’s finished in rare tawny port casks. Finally, those barrels are batched, proofed, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a nose full of deep vanilla oils, rich caramel with a hint of salt, orange florals, and a deep creamy honey sweetness with a whisper of lemon oil.
Palate: Moist marzipan drizzled with buttery toffee mingles with vanilla cake and more of that honey before a counterpoint of savory melon, slightly bitter marmalade, and dried leathery apricot arrives.
Finish: The end arrives with a hint of spicy old oak (think cinnamon bark and nutmeg) with deeper and creamier honey attached to burnt orange and marzipan on a velvety finish.
Bottom Line:
This is the whiskey you pour when you want something that tastes … classy. It has a 20-year-old single malt vibe that’s filtered through a really accessible sip of bourbon. If you’re a fan of higher-end single malt, then 100% try this bottle. You will like it.
Ben Holladay One Barrel Bourbon Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 60.45%
Average Price: $74
The Whiskey:
This whiskey tends to be a store barrel pick for the Missouri area.
Tasting Notes:
None available.
Bottom Line:
If you’re shopping for whiskey in Missouri, maybe give this a shot.
McFarlane’s Reserve Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $21
The Whiskey:
This is a wheated bourbon for the budget market in Kentucky. The whiskey is aged for four years before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cherry, vanilla, and caramel express on the palate with a classic bourbon vibe.
Palate: Dark Cherry Coke and brownies drive the palate with a sense of cinnamon, wood, and caramel.
Finish: The end is short and sweet.
Bottom Line:
This is a mixing whiskey.
J. Rieger & Co. Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $59
The Whiskey:
This small craft whiskey is made with a mash of 56% corn, 30% rye, and 14% malted barley. The whiskey was left to age for six years before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
Nose: “Aromas of tart fruits upfront – lemon oil, apple pie, clove, and hints of maple.”
Palate: “Flavors on the pallet led by sweet fruit including dark cherry and plum. A very rich, elegant, and buttery texture with flavors of cigar smoke, cornbread, and cotton candy.”
Finish: “The finish is loaded with complex flavors of honey-cinnamon, dark-roast coffee, vanilla, caramel, and sea salt. There’s a rich, malty, lingering effect that is reminiscent of a stout beer.”
Bottom Line:
This feels like something I’d seek out and really enjoy.
Jack Daniel’s 10 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey, Batch 2
ABV: 48.5%
Average Price: $199
The Whiskey:
This age statement released from Jack Daniel’s is a throwback to a bygone era in Tennessee Whiskey. The whiskey is aged for at least 10 years before batching. During that time, the barrels spend time in the “Buzzard’s Roost” at the top of the rickhouse. Once they hit the right flavor profile, those barrels are moved to the bottom floors of other warehouses to slow the aging down. Finally, the whiskey is batched, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a rich matrix of cherry syrup, apple cores, sticky toffee, vanilla ice cream, and a bold line of wet and sweet oak with a mild earthiness.
Palate: The palate opens up towards the dark fruit but dries it out and marries it to a woody and spicy tobacco leaf alongside toasted cedar soaked in salted caramel paired with dry corn husks that are just singed.
Finish: The finish really takes its time as the cherry attaches to an old cinnamon stick and the tobacco takes on a sticky chewiness with an almost smoked oak woodiness.
Bottom Line:
This was an oaky whiskey with a nice fruitiness to balance things out. I’d say if you’re looking for something oaky but more fruity than spiced, then get this.
Jack Daniel’s 12-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey, Batch 1
ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $80 (MSRP)
The Whiskey:
Jack Daniel’s doesn’t hide any of its processes. The mash at the base of this whiskey is a mix of 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye. Those grains are milled in-house and mixed with cave water pulled from an on-site spring and Jack Daniel’s own yeast and lactobacillus that they also make/cultivate on-site. Once fermented, the mash is distilled twice in huge column stills. The hot spirit is then filtered through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal that’s also made at the distillery. Finally, the filtered whiskey is loaded into charred new American oak barrels and left alone in the warehouse. After 12 years, a handful of barrels were ready; so they were batched, barely proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is creamy with deep notes of old boot leather, dark and woody winter spices, black-tea-soaked dates, plum jam with clove, and an underbelly of chewy toffee-laced tobacco.
Palate: That creaminess presents on the palate with a soft sticky toffee pudding drizzled in salted caramel and vanilla sauce next to flakes of salt and a pinch of orange zest over dry Earl Grey tea leaves with a whisper of singed wild sage.
Finish: The end leans into the creamy toffee chewy tobacco with a hint of pear, cherry, and bananas foster over winter spice barks and a deep embracing warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is so well-balanced, nuanced, and just freaking tasty. It leaned more into the sweet fruit yeasty flavor notes while still holding onto classic and deep bourbon flavor notes. This is the good stuff, folks.
Kings County Distillery Bottled-In-Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $96
The Whiskey:
This crafty whiskey from New York is a grain-to-glass bourbon experience. The mash bill on this one eschews rye and wheat for 80% locally grown corn supported by 20% malted barley from England. The juice is then aged for four years in small 15-gallon barrels and treated according to the law and bottled in Kings County’s signature hip flask bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This draws you in with a strawberry shortcake with a cornmeal base, topped with fresh berries, buttery vanilla whipped cream, and then dipped in a caramel sauce.
Palate: The palate veers away from all of that and touches on bitter black coffee syrup with brown sugar and butter notes next to oatcakes and vanilla sauce with a hint of spice lingering in the background.
Finish: The end is long and full of chocolate malts, leather, and more of that creamy and buttery vanilla whipped cream.
Bottom Line:
This is a quintessential craft bourbon. There’s a deep layer of sweet graininess that leans into fresh fruit and classic bourbon vanilla and spice notes. Overall, that makes this the perfect whiskey for someone looking for something local, tasty, and more on the crafty side of things.
Laws Whiskey Bonded Four Grain Bourbon
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $87
The Whiskey:
A.D. Laws out in Colorado is renowned for its award-winning four-grain bourbons. The whiskey is made from 60% corn, 20% heirloom wheat, 10% heirloom rye, and 10% heirloom malted barley. That hot juice is then aged for over six years before it’s batched and cut down to 100 proof per bonded whiskey laws.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This feels more crafty on the nose with a balance between bitter black tea that’s been cut with a summery and floral honey as touches of cinnamon and orange pop in the background.
Palate: The orange and spice thickens and leans into an orange pound cake with a buttery and spicy streusel crumble as that black tea bitterness circles back to cut through all that butter, spice, and orange.
Finish: The end leans into the spice with more of a cinnamon candy vibe that leads towards a final dusting of dark cocoa.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice outlier on the list. It’s a great entry point for Laws’ wider selection while also being a nice, summery sipper over some rocks or in a bright cocktail.
Old Ezra Aged 7 Years Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 58.5%
Average Price: $97
The Whiskey:
This brand from Luxco is still sourced whiskey though they did start distilling their own in 2018. This bottle is a seven-year-old blend of barrels with a bourbon mash bill of 78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye, which just so happens to be Heaven Hill’s bourbon mash bill. These barrels are blended down and left as-is at cask strength for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is a pretty classic bourbon from nose to finish with a strong sense of rich caramel, pancakes with plenty of vanilla, sweet oak, wet brown sugar, and a whiff of cherry tobacco.
Palate: The palate leans into the woody brown spices as a dark cherry vibe sweetens the mid-palate.
Finish: The end circles back to that sweet oak and spicy cherry tobacco on a short finish.
Bottom Line:
This is good, classic, and strong bourbon. For me, those higher ABVs scream “cocktails” but this does work as a sipper with plenty of ice to calm down that high proof.
Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky
ABV: 55.05%
Average Price: $42
The Whisky:
This special release from Maker’s Mark is their classic wheated bourbon turned up a few notches. The batch is made from no more than 19 barrels of whiskey. Once batched, that whiskey goes into the barrel at cask strength with no filtering, just pure whiskey-from-the-barrel vibes.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Burnt caramel candies and lush vanilla lead the way on the nose with hints of dry straw, sour cherry pie, and spiced apple cider with a touch of eggnog lushness.
Palate: The palate has a sense of spicy caramel with a vanilla base that leads to apricot jam, southern biscuits, and a flake of salt with a soft mocha creaminess.
Finish: The end is all about the buzzy tobacco spiciness with a soft vanilla underbelly and a hint of cherry syrup.
Bottom Line:
This is delicious whiskey. It’s so clearly a good and lush bourbon, even the newcomer can taste the excellence (and the flavors are dialed, which makes analyzing it a little more clear-cut). Get some!
Rabbit Hole Dareringer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Cask
ABV: 46.5%
Average Price: $84
The Whiskey:
This wheated bourbon — 68% corn, 18% wheat, and 14% malted barley — is contract distilled whiskey and very reminiscent of wheated bourbons from both Heaven Hill and Luxco (though we’ll never know where it really comes from). That whiskey spends an undisclosed amount of years aging before it goes into 15 Casknolia Pedro Ximenez sherry casks per batch (a truly small batch bourbon). Those barrels are then blended and touched with that soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Fruit shines through on the nose with fresh raspberries mingling with strawberry jam, Bing cherries, and dried plums and apricots with a hint of leather and winter spice baking that fruit up.
Palate: The palate really embraces those fruits with a tart and sour vibe to the cherries and red berries while the leather leans raw and the spices lean toward cinnamon and tobacco with a caramel mid-palate.
Finish: The sweetness fades quickly as the finish continues with berries and spice while the cherry attaches to the tobacco and soft cedar on the end.
Bottom Line:
If you’re in the mood for a fruit-bomb bourbon, this is the play.
Mystic Broken Oak Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $149
The Whiskey:
This is a small and very local craft whiskey from North Carolina.
Tasting Notes:
None available.
Bottom Line:
These tend to be very bespoke and very local. So unless you’re in North Carlina, you’re probably not going to come across this.
Nashtucky Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 64.08%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This new whiskey from Nashville Barrel Company is a marriage of Kentucky spirit and Tennessee ingenuity. The whiskey is made and preliminary aged in Kentucky before the barrels are sent to Nashville to continue the maturation process in a different climate. After five years, the barrels are bottled one at a time at cask strength with no filtering or fussing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a nice mix of old porch wicker (hardcore nostalgia really) next to supple caramel sauce, white pepper, and a sense of savory fruits like figs and maybe some starfruit.
Palate: The palate holds onto that savory fruit before some ABVs kick in with a nice mix of woody spices and burnt sugars.
Finish: The mid-palate leans into green sweetgrass, savory herbs, and a hint of sweet fruit candy that subtly morphs into strawberry soda at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is another delicious whiskey that proves that sourcing whiskey is more than just putting whiskey in a bottle. The care that the selection process takes and then the aging of this whiskey in a different place adds a whole new dimension to the whiskey. Seriously, this is special stuff for anyone looking for something both new and delicious in the world of bourbon right now.
Neeley Family Distillery The Old Jett Brothers Sauternes Finished Bourbon
ABV: 54.56%
Average Price: Coming Soon
The Whiskey:
This is an old-school Kentucky family brand. The whiskey in the bottle is made from a wheated mash bill that was left for 5 years to age before rebarrelling in Barbados rum barrels for another nine months.
Tasting Notes:
None available.
Bottom Line:
These tend to be very crafty (a lot of sweet grain) but well-balanced. Again though, unless you’re in Kentucky, you’re probably not going to find this.
New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled in Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $34
The Whiskey:
This four-year-old whiskey is rendered from a mash bill of 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. That whiskey is then blended under the bottled-in-bond laws and proofed down to 100 proof before bottling in New Riff’s flashy bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Freshly baked sourdough cinnamon rolls with a butter and vanilla frosting draw you in on the nose with a hint of baked apple pies drizzled in caramel sauce.
Palate: The palate has a hint of mulled wine spice layered into those stewed apples with vanilla pudding, salted caramel, and old cedar rounding things out.
Finish: The finish has a touch of cotton candy next to more wintry spice (especially sharp cinnamon and ginger) next to lush vanilla tobacco stuffed into a cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This was above and beyond average small batch pours. This sip is one of those “instant love” whiskeys.
Hidden Barn Whiskey Kentucky Straight Bourbon Small Batch Series One Batch #5
ABV: 53%
Average Price: $75
The Whiskey:
Former Master Taster for Old Forester, Jackie Zykan, just left her post at Brown-Forman and her new whiskey is already on my desk. Zykan’s first release at her own shingle is a sourced whiskey from Neeley Family Distillery in rural Kentucky. The bourbon is made from a sweet mash (a brand new mash with every cook instead of reusing mash for a sour mash) with a high-ish rye content over pot stills (a true rarity in bourbon these days). Those barrels aged for four to five years before Zykan picked a handful for this inaugural release at batch proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is full of digestive biscuits and whole wheat pancakes cut with vanilla and pecan next to hints of anise, caramel candy, and cinnamon-toast tobacco.
Palate: The palate holds onto the massive graininess with a clear sense of rye bread crumb next to thick oatmeal cookies with more of those pecans and plenty of raisins and spice.
Finish: Later, a hint of white pepper arrives and leads the finish to soft espresso cream with a dash of nutmeg and creamy toffee.
Bottom Line:
This was so engaging and out of left field in the best possible way. It also delivered on what was promised with a grain-forward bourbon unlike any other. It was so unique while also hitting nostalgic bourbon notes kind of like you were drinking from inside of your grandmother’s cookie jar.
Old Louisville Whiskey Co. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 57%
Average Price: $180
The Whiskey:
This is from a brand new (opened in August 2022) blending and bottling house in Louisville, Kentucky. The whiskey in the bottle is a small-batch blend of seven to 10-year-old rye mash bourbon from MGP of Indiana. Those barrels are married and bottled with no proofing or filtering.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a classic sense of bourbon vanilla and caramel with a hint of sour cherry and pancake batter next to a whisper of leather and old marshmallow.
Palate: The palate has a sense of apple wood followed by black peppercorns, vanilla sauce, marzipan, and black cherries.
Finish: It finishes a little warm with a hint of winter spice and more of that cherry wrapped up in tobacco.
Bottom Line:
MGP barrels are some of the most coveted right now. This is a great example of why. This is just an all-around solid sipper with real depth and nice character. I did want to add a rock, but it wasn’t necessary.
Peg Leg Porker Spirits Straight Tennessee Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $47
The Whiskey:
This is a sourced whiskey created by a BBQ pitmaster. The whiskey is made with a mash of 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley and aged for at least four years.
Tasting Notes:
None available.
Bottom Line:
I’d definitely give this a try at a BBQ joint in Nashville.
Penelope Private Select Batch 22-302
ABV: 59.1%
Average Price: $60
The Whiskey:
This new-ish whiskey from Penelope really helps solidify the brand as a powerhouse in blending. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of three bourbon mash bills (one is 21% rye, another 90% corn, and a 45% wheated bourbon — all from MGP), which create a four-grain (corn, wheat, rye, and barley) bourbon. Beyond that, this is about masterfully blending of four to five-year-old barrels into something bigger than the individual parts.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: You get a sense of dry cornmeal on the nose next to apple crumble, plenty of wintry spice, a hint of mulled wine, wet brown sugar, and a thin layer of wet yet sweet cedar.
Palate: A hint of brandy-soaked cherries arrives on the palate with a dusting of dark chocolate powder next to more apple pie filling, spice, and buttery crust alongside a sweet, toffee-heavy mid-palate.
Finish: The end arrives with a dry wicker vibe, cherry tobacco chewiness, and a hint of that dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
These tend to be stellar one-offs. They’re great for a neat pour after a long day or mixing into a simple whiskey cocktail. You can’t go wrong here.
The Clover Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $46
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is a celebration of golf legend Bobby Jones. The whiskey in this bottle is a sourced (from an undisclosed distillery) single barrel of whiskey that’s bottled with a touch of proofing water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is very basic on the nose with leather next to banana Necco Wafer, a hint of cherry, and maybe some caramel.
Palate: The palate is grainy like a bran muffin with a sense of cherry protein powder, some almond, and a vanilla wafer.
Finish: The end has a sense of toasted cedar next to vanilla and cherry.
Bottom Line:
This is fine. May I suggest that if you have a bottle, you mix it into a hard Arnold Palmer? That feels like the right use.
2XO The Phoenix Blend Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 52%
Average Price: $103
The Whiskey:
This is the new whiskey from famed blender Dixon Dedman (former head of Kentucky Owl). The whiskey is sourced and highlights the best of the best barrels that Dedman was able to get his hands on.
Tasting Notes (from the bottler):
Nose: “Sweet Creme Brûlée, Butterscotch, Oak, Red Apple”
Palate: “Caramel, Vanilla, Ripe Red Fruit”
Finish: “Mild Peppery Spice”
Bottom Line:
This is sure to be a killer bottle worth seeking out.
Pursuit United A Blend Of Straight Bourbons
ABV: 54%
Average Price: $65
The Whiskey:
This is batched from 40 total barrels from three different states, making it a “blended” straight bourbon whiskey. While the team at Pursuit United doesn’t release the Tennessee distillery name, we know the whiskeys from Kentucky and New York are from Bardstown Bourbon Company and Finger Lakes Distilling, respectively.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a rush of cedar next to Christmas spices steeped in sweet red wine.
Palate: That sweetness tends to lean into fresh honey with a touch of caramel and maybe a little dark chocolate on the end. The taste holds onto the honeyed sweetness with burnt sugars, light cedar, chocolate tobacco leaves, and a hint of orange oils.
Finish: That orange is what builds and powers the finish to its silken end, concluding with an orange-choco vibe and a very soft landing.
Bottom Line:
This is really solid bourbon, that said — it got a rougher score from me on a recent blind test.
Red Line Cask Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon
ABV: 58%
Average Price: $70
The Whiskey:
This whiskey from Red Line is sourced from hand-selected barrels from MGP of Indiana. The team at Red Line picked six-year-old barrels of MGP’s iconic high-rye bourbon mash of 75% corn, 21% rye, and only 4% malted barley. Those barrels were vatted and then bottled as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a lovely sweetness that arrives on the nose with a hint of burnt sugars and brown butter just starting to coalesce into caramel with a flake of salt and a sense of rum-raisin and an echo of charred oak.
Palate: The palate leans into a light apple compote with a hint of plum and plenty of wintry spices next to vanilla and wicker before the warmth of the ABVs peak on the mid-palate.
Finish: The end is soft and supple with a sense of spiced prune jam, old porch wicker, and allspice berries.
Bottom Line:
This seemingly small and bespoke bottler killed the awards circuit this year with this expression of finely sourced Indiana bourbon.
Rocker Spirits Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 48%
Average Price: $66
The Whiskey:
This Colorado grain-to-glass whiskey is made with a mash of local corn and wheat (70/30 split). That whiskey is left to age in variously charred oak for over three years before batching and bottling.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
“A sweeter whiskey with caramel, butterscotch, and honey notes up front coupled with a light citrus and moderate oak finish. Nose comes across as sweet, creamy cereal. Enjoyably long warm finish.”
Bottom Line:
This is another one that I’d look for if I was in Colorado but that’s about it.
FEW Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $55
The Whiskey:
This expression from Illinois’ FEW Spirits marks the 125th anniversary of the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. The juice is made from 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley. That whiskey spends four years resting before it’s proofed down to 100 proof and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of vanilla cream pie with an extra thick vanilla pudding next to dry cedar bark with a touch of white moss, a touch of black licorice, and a hint of barrel smoke.
Palate: The palate leans into cherry bark with a light cherry tobacco spiciness that melds with the vanilla pudding, a pan of fresh sticky buns with plenty of cinnamon and walnuts, and a hint of black pepper and more of that dry cedar bark.
Finish: The finish has a bit of an oatmeal cookie vibe that leads back to the spicy cherry tobacco and white moss.
Bottom Line:
FEW Spirits perfected their bourbon craft with this expression.
Widow Jane 10 Year Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.5%
Average Price: $79
The Whiskey:
This is sourced from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee bourbons (though that’s likely to change since Heaven Hill bought the brand). The hand-selected barrels are sent to New York where they’re blended in small batches of no more than five barrels, proofed with New York limestone mine water, and bottled. What you’re paying for here is the exactness of a whiskey blender finding great barrels and knowing how to marry them to make something bigger and better.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a raw pancake batter note on the nose next to mulled red wine with plenty of spice and orange next to a vanilla pudding and light mint waxiness.
Palate: The taste has a mix of marzipan next to dark chocolate and real, almost woody maple syrup.
Finish: The finish adds some cherry to that dark chocolate and layers in woody birch water on the end.
Bottom Line:
This is really damn nice, especially as a sipper on a rock or two. It definitely lives up to the hype.
Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 10 Years
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $51
The Whiskey:
This might be one of the most beloved (and still accessible) bottles from Buffalo Trace. This whiskey is made from their very low rye mash bill. The hot juice is then matured for at least ten years in various parts of the warehouse. The final mix comes down to barrels that hit just the right notes to make them “Eagle Rare.” Finally, this one is proofed down to a fairly low 90 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Old leather boots, burnt orange rinds, oily sage, old oak staves, and buttery toffee round out the nose.
Palate: Marzipan covered in dark chocolate opens the palate as floral honey and ripe cherry lead to a winter cake vibe full of raisins, dark spices, and toffee sauce.
Finish: The end has a balance of all things winter treats as the marzipan returns and the winter spice amp up alongside a hint of spicy cherry tobacco and old cedar.
Bottom Line:
It’s amazing that you can still find these (sort of). If you can, buy a case. This is a perfect house pour that’ll always deliver. I tend to drink it over a single large ice cube. It rules.
E. H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $149
The Whiskey:
Buffalo Trace’s Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch is an entry point to the other 12 expressions released under the E.H. Taylor, Jr. label. The whiskey is made from Buffalo Trace’s iconic Mash Bill No. 1 (which is a low rye recipe). The final whiskey in the bottle is a blend of barrels that meet the exact right flavor profiles Buffalo Trace’s blenders are looking for in a classic bottled-in-bond bourbon for Taylor.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of soft corn mush with a hint of fresh green chili, Saigon cinnamon (a little sweet), orchard tree bark, and the black mildew that grows on all the whiskey warehouses in Kentucky.
Palate: The palate leans into buttery toffee with a twinge of black licorice next to cinnamon-spiced dark chocolate tobacco and a hint of huckleberry pie with vanilla ice cream.
Finish: The end has a salted caramel sweetness that leads back to a hint of sweet cinnamon and dark tobacco with a light sense of the fermentation room with a hint of sweet gruel.
Bottom Line:
This is a great, classic bourbon whiskey. It’s also a $40 bottle at MSRP and you really need to keep that in mind when buying and comparing it. It certainly punches above its price point, hence the inflated secondary price. Still, this is an essential cocktail bourbon far more than a deep sipper.
Weller The Original Wheated Bourbon Aged 12 Years Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $299
The Whiskey:
This is the main age-statement whiskey from Weller. The barrels spend at least 12 years mellowing (some say the barrels can reach into the 20-year range) before they’re vatted, proofed down, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with soft orchard fruits — think old peaches and bruised pears — that lead to a spun wool, vanilla-heavy pancake batter, and really good marzipan with an echo of rose water and orange oils next to soft and worn wicker canes wrapped in old leather sheets.
Palate: The taste is a perfect balance of cherry wood, dried cranberry, buttery Southern biscuits, salted toffee candy, and Christmas spices (clove and nutmeg heavy).
Finish: The end lets those sharp spices shine but isn’t hot by any stretch alongside moist angel food cake, apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks, and orange-infused marzipan with a hint of dark chocolate coating and a mild sense of old (damn near musty) cherry tobacco leaves.
Bottom Line:
This is an iconic whiskey at an extremely approachable ABV. It’s just an easy AF sipper without water or ice. Adding some, and you’ll get this silky and luxurious pour of Weller that’s damn near second to none.
Southern Star Paragon Single Barrel Cask Strength Wheated Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 58%
Average Price: $103
The Whiskey:
This North Carolina bourbon is starting to make some serious waves. This very limited batch of single-barrel bourbon is made from wheated bourbon mash bill with 70% corn, 16% wheat, and 14% malted barley. The hot juice was left for around four years before the barrel was hand-pocked and bottled as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of orange blossoms and an apple orchard with a hint of pear and plum next to walnut shells, old honey bottles, and rich vanilla sauce with a hint of poppy seed.
Palate: The palate has a touch of dark chocolate powder sweetness that melds with walnuts and honey to make a cluster before the brown spice kicks in with sharp cinnamon and a touch of root beer.
Finish: The end leaves the spice and warmth behind for smooth vanilla walnut cake with a hint of apple-honey tobacco wrapped up with old cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
This is just plain ‘ol solid. It also tends to rack up awards because of that. It will be hard to find outside of the main bourbon markets (and North Carolina), but I’d argue it’s worth the effort to find. This is quality bourbon with a deep richness.
Still Austin Whiskey Co. Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 59%
Average Price: $60
The Whiskey:
The folks at Still Austin have spent the last six years perfecting their grain-to-glass whiskey experience. The juice is rendered with grains from Texas and water from the ground beneath their feet, all imbued with a crafty Texas vibe in every sip. The actual whiskey is a two-year-old bourbon that’s batched to highlight the bright fruits of the new and crafty whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is really fruity. Think a tropical, hazy IPA with clear notes of pineapple, lemon-lime, and maybe a slight hint of savory papaya next to more a-typical bourbon notes of vanilla, holiday spices, and caramel.
Palate: There’s a clear sense of those spices on the palate with a hint of dark chocolate leading back to all that fruit, a touch of marzipan, and a dash of vanilla cream pie.
Finish: The end warms a bit with the fruitiness waning towards a spicy, choco-tobacco end.
Bottom Line:
This is very very fruity. Still, it works since the fruits mostly stay on the nose to entice you into the sip. All of that being said, this really shines best as a cocktail or highball base.
BLACKENED x Wes Henderson Master of Whiskey Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 58.1%
Average Price: $179
The Whiskey:
This new collaboration from Metallica’s whiskey finds Master Distillers Rob Dietrich of BLACKENED working with Wes Henderson, Co-Founder of Angel’s Envy, to create a new expression. The whiskey is a classic Kentucky bourbon aged for six years. Those barrels are vatted and then refilled into white port wine casks for a final rest. Finally, the port barrels are batched and the whiskey is bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a good bit of fruit on the nose with pear skins, rum-raisin, and burnt orange next to dried-up old cinnamon sticks and tobacco leaves.
Palate: The palate stews the pear with honey and wintry spices while a hint of dried chili flake leads to walnut cake and a very mild echo of old wet straw.
Finish: The end is lush and full of oranges studded with cloves and allspice next to pear tobacco and old cedar humidors.
Bottom Line:
This is great. It’s a party-hard-yet-classic-feeling bourbon with a truly well-built flavor profile.
Sweet Grass Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 58%
Average Price: $74
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is bottled in South Carolina from sourced barrels. The whiskey in those barrels is a mash of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley that’s left to age before small batch bottling after six years.
Tasting Notes (from the bottler):
“It’s a bourbon with a smooth, well-rounded finish and excellent richness, depth, and character.”
Bottom Line:
This sounds like a must-try the next time any of us are in Charleston.
Bullock Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch #2
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $43
The Whiskey:
This is a classic sourced bourbon made from a mash of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. The whiskey is aged for at least four years before batching and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: “Aromas of vanilla, citrus, and wood.”
Palate: “The marriage and proofing of barrels is evident as the bourbon starts somewhat hot and sweet with flavors of dried fruit, vanilla, cream caramel, and wood.”
Finish: “The finish is layered with caramel, orange peel, spice, and wood.”
Bottom Line:
The next time I’m in West Virginia I’ll definitely try this one.
Traverse City Whiskey Co. Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 59%
Average Price: $87
The Whiskey:
This Michigan whiskey is made to highlight a true grain-to-glass experience. The juice is made from a mash of 71% corn, 25% rye, and 4% barley. It’s aged for four years in the extreme weather of the Great Lakes. Barrels are then hand-picked and bottled with no fussing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The milled corn comes through with a touch of orange zest, vanilla, toffee, and lemon jam.
Palate: The taste amps up the toffee with a caramel kettle corn vibe next to hints of cedar and orchard fruit.
Finish: The end is long and very clearly all about the velvety vanilla and toffee sweetness with a slight alcohol warmth, thanks to a touch of spice and citrus.
Bottom Line:
This is an always fun crafty bourbon with great depth.
Traverse City Whiskey Co. Sherry Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 47.5%
Average Price: $59
The Whiskey:
This is classic award-winning Traverse City high-rye bourbon that’s re-barrelled in sherry casks for a final rest.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
Nose: “Caramel, sassafras (root beer), cinnamon, and raisins”
Palate: “Light and nutty; walnut, toasted almond, green cardamom, and a hint of vanilla bean”
Finish: “Mild, toasted rye bread and tobacco”
Bottom Line:
Traverse City doesn’t miss and this is sure to be a great bourbon.
WhistlePig PiggyBack 100 Proof Bourbon Whiskey Aged 6 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $49
The Whiskey:
This newer whiskey from WhistlePig mixes locally made Vermont whiskey with Indiana whiskey to create a bespoke bourbon. The mash bill leans into the corn with a good measure of rye in the mix. The whiskey barrels are left alone for six years before batching, proofing, and bottling on the farm in Vermont.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a soft leathery nose that leads to caramel corn and a nutty spiciness with a hint of old oak.
Palate: The nuttiness drives the palate toward fresh maple syrup that turns creamy with an almond vibe, plenty of winter spice, and a hint of black tea.
Finish: That tea calms down toward a wet chamomile with a dollop of honey, a twist of orange, and a pinch of sweet cinnamon with a lingering sense of oak in the background.
Bottom Line:
This is a pretty good whiskey. If you’re a fan of WhistlePig, you’re going to dig this. If you like classic bourbon vibes, you’ll be a fan too. I’d sip this over some ice or in a simple cocktail.
Puncher’s Chance Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $32
The Whiskey:
This is a celebrity-owned bourbon from UFC’s Bruce Buffer. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of four to six-year-old bourbons from Kentucky that are touched with a little proofing water after blending.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a slightly tannic nose (think old, red-wine-soaked oak) with woody vanilla, nutmeg, and a lush vibe.
Palate: The palate mixes up the sweet vanilla with sweet yet sharp spice, some dark chocolate, and a hint of orange zest.
Finish: The end combines everything into a lush finish that highlights old oak, soft nutmeg, and a soft orange-chocolate vibe with a hint of clove and anise.
Bottom Line:
This is a really easy-to-drink whiskey that offers a deep and distinct flavor profile.
Old Forester King Ranch Edition
ABV: 52.5%
Average Price: $72
The Whiskey:
The new release from Old Forester leans into heavy char and special charcoal filtering. The heavily charred barrels hold classic Old Forester bourbon that’s filtered through mesquite charcoal from Texas’ King Ranch before batching and bottling with a touch of proofing water.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
Nose: “Dried cherries, cranberries, toasted pecans, and marshmallows drizzled with sorghum molasses.”
Palate: “Sweet dark chocolate, tobacco, and leather spices mingle with toasted and caramelized oak and nut character.”
Finish: “Long and warming.”
Bottom Line:
This sounds delicious though it’s only available in Texas. That makes it a hard one to find outside of that state.
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $30
The Whiskey:
The mash bill on this bourbon is mid-range rye heavy with 18% of the grain in the bill for support. Triple distilling in pot stills (like Irish whiskey) and blending with column-distilled whiskey is utilized. The bourbon then rests for six to seven years — taking time to mature before barrels are pulled for blending, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a rush of Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider, pear candy, and vanilla cake with a hint of dark chocolate, orange zest, salted caramel, and some sour red berries tossed with fresh tobacco and mint.
Palate: The palate opens with some dried apple skins next to cinnamon sticks floating in hot and spicy apple cider, a hint of mint tobacco, and salted orange dark chocolate bars.
Finish: The end has a nougat wafer vibe next to caramel and vanilla cookies with a hint of old porch wicker and boot leather.
Bottom Line:
This was pretty damn good but felt like a quintessential cocktail base more than anything else. Plus, it just felt classic from top to bottom.
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $49
The Whiskey:
This expression takes standard Woodford Bourbon and gives it a finishing touch. The bourbon is blended and moved into new barrels that have been double-toasted but only lightly charred. The juice spends a final nine months resting in those barrels before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a welcoming aroma of marzipan, blackberry, toffee, and fresh honey next to a real sense of pitchy, dry firewood.
Palate: The taste drills down on those notes as the sweet marzipan becomes more choco-hazelnut, the berries become increasingly dried and apple-y, the toffee becomes almost burnt, and the wood softens to a cedar bark.
Finish: A rich spicy and chewy tobacco arrives late as the vanilla gets super creamy and the fruit and honey combine on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
This is another bourbon that’s really solid through and through. Pour it over some rocks or mix it into your favorite cocktail. Either way, you’ll be all set.
