Limited-edition bourbons are often considered the “good stuff” by whiskey fans. For one, they’re rare — it’s right there in the name. That makes them more desirable whether what’s in the bottle is good, great, or just okay. More often than not, what’s in the bottle is actually special. Limited edition bourbons tend to be smaller releases of the whiskey that the distillers and blenders think are truly special barrels of whiskey that deserve a little extra recognition. That specialness deserves our attention, so I’m going to blindly taste some new limited-edition bourbons below.
For this exercise, I’m blindly tasting limited edition bourbons that came out very recently for the first time ever or limited edition bourbons that recently released their 2023 batches of their limited editions. All told every whiskey on this blind-tasting panel is about rarity.
That makes our lineup of limited edition bourbons the following bottles of whiskey:
- Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Straight Tennessee Whiskey Finished in Añejo Tequila Barrels
- Rabbit Hole Dareringer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Edition Cask Strength Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Casks
- Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof 13 Years Old
- Lost Lantern Blend Series Far-Flung Bourbon Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies from Nevada, Ohio, Colorado, & Texas
- Lost Lantern Single Distillery Series Soaring Spice Frey Ranch Distillery Nevada Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Kentucky Senator Bourbon Release #4: John Sherman Cooper Very Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8 Years Old
- Kentucky Owl Confiscated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2023 Batch
- Barrell Bourbon Cask Strength A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Batch #035
- Jefferson’s Reserve Twin Oak Custom Barrel Very Rare Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Booker’s “Apprentice Batch” Batch No. 2023-02 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
After the blind tasting, I’m ranking each of these bottles based on taste and depth. While all of these whiskeys are rare limited editions, they’re not all created equal and some slap more than others.
Before we do dive in, there’s one thing that should be addressed. While all of these whiskeys are available for a price, they’re not going to be cheap or easy to find. We’re talking about rare whiskey here that may already be sold out on its first retail run, meaning that the aftermarket or a whiskey bar is the only play to get some of these. Thems just the breaks, folks. Let’s dive in!
Part 1 — The Limited Edition Bourbon Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a light sense of old leather that gives way to dried chili spices on the nose with a sense of burnt orange, old oak staves, and light tobacco spiciness.
Palate: There’s a hint of peppery agave on the palate with soft apple butter, walnut bread, and old oak staves with a hint of winter spice and fruit orchard bark wrapped in leather.
Finish: White pepper just peaks in on the finish as apple and pear bread with cinnamon and walnut vibes with soft leathery tobacco and a whisper of clove and nutmeg rumminess with a light end.
Initial Thoughts:
A lot of chili pepper and light almost airiness drives this pour. It’s refreshingly different and very tasty. The end is a little light, but it doesn’t take anything away from the over vibe.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Thick vanilla custard and walnut cake drive the nose toward musty sherry oak still in the cellar next to dark raw sugar syrup over a spiced fruit cake.
Palate: The dark winter spices from the nut cakes drive the palate toward large stretches of cinnamon bark, old oak staves, and dark cherry with a hint of Meyer lemon and tart currants.
Finish: Mulled wine and salted toffee round out the finish with a return to the walnut cake and plenty of sherry-soaked old oak.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a deeply quintessential Kentucky bourbon. It delivers everything you want plus so much more. It also feels like Christmas in a glass. This is a winner.
Taste 3
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, nutty marzipan, and dark cherry all combining into chewy tobacco packed into an old pine box and wrapped up with worn leather thread.
Initial Thoughts:
Holy Shit! This is amazing.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Ancho chili spiked dark hot chocolate opens the nose with a sense of dried ginger candies, old oak staves, and sweet cornmeal cut with buttery toffee.
Palate: That spicy dark chocolate creates a lush palate with a sense of clove-studded orange, soft vanilla cakes, and rich winter spice barks with a pipe tobacco edge.
Finish: The tobacco takes on some Ancho chili and salted dark chocolate vibes as espresso beans, oily vanilla, and woody spice draw out the hot finish.
Initial Thoughts:
This is really good too. I didn’t write “amazing” in my notes like I did for the last pour, but this is up there. It’s so deep and satisfying.
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Spicy holiday cakes dominate the nose before focusing on allspice berries, cardamon pods, and eggnog-heavy nutmeg creaminess with a hint of orange rind and vanilla as well.
Palate: The palate is very winter nut cake with a lot of pecan, almond, and walnut next to rum raisin, brandy-soaked berries, and tons of dark winter spice with a touch of buttery toffee.
Finish: The end is warm and leans into the winter spice barks with a sense of hot chewing tobacco and chili-spiced chocolate sauce.
Initial Thoughts:
This is very good too but falls more “classic” than “quintessential” as a sipper.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft spiced stewed cherry cut with orange oils and covered in salted caramel and vanilla crumble mingles with soft oak on the nose with this fleeting sense of Cherry Dr. Pepper and cedar kindling.
Palate: Walnut bread with a whisper of orange and banana drives the palate toward dried cherries dipped in salted dark chocolate and piled high on a pecan waffle with salted caramel drizzle and whipped buttercream before a hint of white pepper sneaks in.
Finish: Orange-cinnamon syrup drives the finish toward leathery tobacco rolled with cedar bark and smudging sage on the slow and warm finish.
Initial Thoughts:
This is also pretty goddamn delicious.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The sip draws you in with a slight note of anise and maybe even licorice next to old cellar oak, vanilla cream, and a touch of ripe cherry.
Palate: The taste warms on the tongue with dark spices, more of that old oak, and a touch of raw leather.
Finish: The end is long and touches back on those spices, building a real buzzing on your senses, and hitting back towards that oak and leather, with just a hint of cherry tobacco.
Initial Thoughts:
This is good and complex but, dare I say, average. It’s good bourbon. It’s just not that interesting.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Old fruit leather and plum jam drive the nose toward zucchini bread, orange oils, and Sioux City Sasparilla with a hint of old dark chocolate bars stacked with cedar bark, dry pipe tobacco, and rum raisin.
Palate: Orange-infused hot chocolate with a touch of dried red chili mingles with anise and port on the palate as eggnog and buttercream smooth everything out toward pine-driven earthiness.
Finish: Hazelnut ice cream and Almond Joys arrive on the finish with a sense of rainwater, old rye bread crusts, and soft winter spice barks with a hint of Cherry Coke.
Initial Thoughts:
This is all over the place. It’s tasty but I feel like I need a good 30 minutes to figure it all out.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Oak comes through with moments of firewood, cedar, and woody winter spice accented by vanilla pods, old pipe tobacco, and boot leather.
Palate: That oak stays bright and toasted on the palate as woody apples and unripe peaches lead to woody braids of cedar, tobacco, and sweetgrass are accented by soft vanilla and caramel sauce.
Finish: That cedar, tobacco, and sweetgrass braid starts to smolder on the finish as the toasted oak takes on a cellar earthiness late on the finish.
Initial Thoughts:
This is pretty oaky but very deep and easygoing.
Taste 10
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with brandy-soaked holiday cake with a deep layer of rich vanilla, candied orange, candied cherry, stewed pear, and deeply sharp winter spices.
Palate: The taste is winter nut bread forward and spiced with real clove, allspice, and nutmeg next to apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks, eggnog creaminess, and floral honey.
Finish: The end really amps up those spices with a very barky vibe as the orange turns to marmalade and just keeps going and going until the heat overtakes everything and then crashes down, leaving your tongue buzzing.
Initial Thoughts:
This is hot but very tasty. I need little water or a rock to really let it open up to judge it better. There’s a lot of good in this glass though.
Part 2 — The Limited Edition Bourbon Ranking
10. Kentucky Owl Confiscated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2023 Batch — Taste 7
ABV: 48.2%
Average Price: $175
The Whiskey:
Kentucky Owl is another resurrection brand by Master Blender Dixon Dedman, the great-great-grandson of the shingle’s original founder. Yes, this is sourced juice from an undisclosed distillery in Kentucky, meaning we don’t know a whole lot of what’s in the bottle, but that leaves the family story and the taste of the whiskey as our only touchstones.
Bottom Line:
This is perfectly good standard bourbon. It’ll make a nice whiskey-forward cocktail or on the rocks slow sipper. This is a good “I don’t have to think about it” bourbon pour.
9. Jefferson’s Reserve Twin Oak Custom Barrel Very Rare Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 9
ABV: 45.1%
Average Price: $110
The Whiskey:
This special single barrel from ReserveBar and Jefferson’s takes their classic bourbon and re-barrels it in a custom-designed “wave barrel” for a final maturation run. The “wave barrel” is toasted and then heavily grooved with wavy grooves to create more surface space for the whiskey to interact with the wood.
Bottom Line:
This leaned a little oaky but had some nice depth overall. I’d likely mix this into cocktails to calm down that woody nature.
8. Barrell Bourbon Cask Strength A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Batch #035 — Taste 8
ABV: 58.75%
Average Price: $84
The Whiskey:
This brand-new blend of bourbons from Barrell Craft Spirits is a masterclass in blending. The mix starts off with six, seven, and eight-year-old Indiana bourbons and then adds in seven and 13-year-old Tennessee whiskeys alongside an eight-year-old Kentucky bourbon. That blend is then bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This simply needs time and water to enjoy fully — there’s just so much going on. It’s excellent whiskey but does feel a little like homework.
7. Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Straight Tennessee Whiskey Finished in Añejo Tequila Barrels — Taste 1
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $41 (375ml bottle)
The Whiskey:
This new edition of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series (number 11) is a classic Tennessee whiskey with a special finish. Classic Jack was re-barreled into añejo tequila barrels for a finishing run for this limited release. Those finishing barrels were originally new oak that the Jack Daniel’s was aged in that were sent down to Mexico to age tequila and then sent back to Tennessee to finish this whiskey.
Bottom Line:
This is fresh and different and I really like it for that. The only reason it’s lower on this list is that the end is a tad light — but that’s me really reaching for something to nitpick. Overall, this is a great whiskey to reach for if you’re in the mood for something fresh and new.
6. Booker’s “Apprentice Batch” Batch No. 2023-02 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 10
ABV: 62.75%
Average Price: $249
The Whiskey:
The second batch of Booker’s has arrived. This batch is named after the relationship between Booker Noe (who helped define Beam in the 20th century) and his mentor, Carl Beam, back in the 1950s. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of a lot of barrels from prime spots in several warehouses across the Beam campus. The end blend ended up being 7+-year-old bourbon that’s bottled completely as-is without proofing or filtering.
Bottom Line:
This simply needed a rock. It would probably be a top-three pour if it was cut a little with water to really let it open up. That said, this has a great depth that’s hard not to enjoy. You just need a machete to get there.
5. Lost Lantern Single Distillery Series Soaring Spice Frey Ranch Distillery Nevada Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 5
ABV: 63.8%
Average Price: $100
The Whiskey:
This new drop from Lost Lantarn celebrates a single distillery in a special small batch release. In this case, that’s a four-grain Frey Ranch bourbon. The mash is made with Frey Ranch-grown corn, barley, rye, and wheat. The hot juice spends four years aging in Nevada before Lost Lantern batched and bottled 900 bottles at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This is where we get into the really good stuff all on its own. This is very good whiskey. It’s classic through and through and will likely make an amazing whiskey-forward cocktail too.
4. Kentucky Senator Bourbon Release #4: John Sherman Cooper Very Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8 Years Old — Taste 6
ABV: 54%
Average Price: $134
The Whiskey:
That latest edition of Kentucky Senator honors one of Kentucky’s biggest names in the Senate in the 20th century. Senator Cooper was a dear friend of JFK and served as everything from a judge to foreign ambassador. The whiskey in the bottle is a Bardstown bourbon made with 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. That hot juice was aged for eight years before six barrels were chosen for this small batch. Once batched, the whiskey was just touched with water before bottling, yielding only 1,000 bottles.
Bottom Line:
This is better than just classic bourbon. It’s excellent. It has real depth while providing a wonderful sense memory with every profile note. This is the good stuff, folks. Drink it however you like to drink your whiskey.
3. Rabbit Hole Dareringer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Edition Cask Strength Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Casks — Taste 2
ABV: 51.9%
Average Price: $312
The Whiskey:
This new Founder’s Collection release from Rabbit Hole is a doozy. The whiskey in the bottle is made from wheated bourbon, aged in well-charred Pedro Ximenez sherry casks from Spain’s renowned Casknolia Cooperage. Just 15 barrels were selected for this tiny small batch offering and bottled 100% as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is another excellent bourbon. It’ll truly take you on a journey as you nose and taste this one. It’s a great ride.
2. Lost Lantern Blend Series Far-Flung Bourbon Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies from Nevada, Ohio, Colorado, & Texas — Taste 4
ABV: 68.4%
Average Price: $110
The Whiskey:
This new series from Lost Lantern highlights whiskeys from all over the American craft scene in one small batch release. The whiskeys in this batch are from Nevada’s Frey Ranch, Ohio’s Watershed, Colorado’s Boulder Spirits, and Texas’ Still Austin. All the barrels were three to seven years old and were all straight bourbons. Finally, once batched the whiskey was bottled as-is at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This is another excellent whiskey. It’s so deep and rewarding from top to bottom. I can also see this making one hell of a Manhattan.
1. Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof 13 Years Old — Taste 3
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.
Bottom Line:
This was miles above the rest of the pack — and there were some killers on this panel. This just exploded from the pack and offered a profile and experience that was singular and exceedingly delectable. This is a desert island bourbon, folks.
Part 3 — Final Thoughts on the Limited Edition Bourbons
Brass tacks, I wouldn’t skip any whiskey on this list. Each bourbon offers its own vibe and that’s okay. I would probably skip the Kentucky Owl just based on price. That said, it’s in no way an inferior product. If you’re looking for a good standard Kentucky classic, by all means, go with it.
That said, the top five of this ranking are all stone-cold killers. You cannot go wrong getting any of them.
In the end, we’re here for more than that, aren’t we? If you want to be blown away, then track down that Russell’s Reserve 13-year. It’s a true masterpiece.
