Limited-edition bourbon whiskey is often the very good stuff. It’s the whiskey that bottlers, blenders, and distillers release to showcase the best barrels in their warehouses. That means it’s often extremely tasty. But it’s also often fleeting. And expensive.
Spending a lot on a bottle of whiskey is no small ask — so let me help you find some great limited-edition bourbons that are worth the coin. To do that, I’m conducting a blind taste test of new limited-edition bourbons. Most of these were released in the last few weeks with a few coming in in the past month or so. They cover everything from special cask finishes to barrel entry-proof releases to bold craft whiskeys alongside some of the best small batches coming out of Kentucky right now.
Our lineup today stars the following bottles of limited-edition bourbon:
- Woodford Reserve Sonoma Triple Finish Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Limited Release Double Oaked Bourbon Whiskey Finished in a Second Oak Barrel French Oak
- Bardstown Bourbon Company Discovery Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Series #11
- Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Widow Jane The Vaults Aged 15 Years A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys
- Booker’s Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2023-03 “Mighty Fine Batch”
- Maker’s Mark 2023 Limited Release BEP Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Finished With 10 Virgin Oak Staves
- William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof (BTAC 2023)
- Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse “Camp Nelson F” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Joseph A. Magnus Cigar Blend Straight Bourbon Whiskey
After blind tasting each of these bourbons, I went ahead and ranked them based on taste. But taste is more than just “yum, that’s good!” I’m also looking at the depth of the profile, how balanced and complex it was, and how powerful those ABVs were. It’s a complex look at complex whiskey — let’s dive in!
Part 1 — The Limited Edition Bourbon Blind Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Freshly ground cinnamon drives the nose toward grilled peaches and pineapple before deep and oily vanilla arrives with a sense of fresh plums dusted with a hint of salt.
Palate: Those plums stay fresh on the palate as the vanilla really kicks up with a nice balance of old oak, a hint of leatheriness, and old tobacco dipped into mulled wine.
Finish: That mulled wine takes on an oakiness with more leathery tobacco on the finish as the plums are just stewed with winter spice barks and then folded into berry pie.
Initial Thoughts:
This has a great nose, a good body, and a cognac-like finish. I like this a lot but it’s very unique.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Your grandma’s caramel candies draw you in on the nose with a light sense of vanilla malts topped with whipped cream and cherry before the oak arrives with a sense of sweetness and light mocha espresso vibes.
Palate: The dark cherry takes on a mild cola feel before it drives toward rich vanilla buttercream cut with poppyseeds and nutmeg next to a hint of that sweet oak dipped in salted caramel.
Finish: Rich tobacco leaves wrap themselves around that caramel oak before a whisper of apple blossom and maybe some brandy-soaked pear round out the finish.
Initial Thoughts:
This opens with a soft nose that then gives way to a bold and very hot mid-palate with a warming end. A lot is going on with this profile and it feels like it needs a rock or some time to air before sipping more.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Tart cherries and rich toffee rolled in roasted almond and dipped in salted dark chocolate drive the nose toward cinnamon spice cakes with a hint of dried cranberry, plummy sauce, and rich tobacco.
Palate: The taste leans into caramel-covered peanuts with a hint of red fruit leather, old spice barks, and a whisper of orange rinds next to a touch of Cherry Coke, old leather tobacco pouches, and the old beams from a whiskey barrel house.
Finish: The end leans into a lush vanilla buttercream with notes of old back porch wicker, almost sweet cedar kindling, smudging sage, and cinnamon bark soaked in cherry brandy with a touch of chili-cut dark chocolate.
Initial Thoughts:
This opens beautifully and then just gets more luscious as you go. This is a winner and it’s delicious.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a rush of sharp cinnamon bark wrapped up with old saddle leather, freshly fried apple fritters, walnuts, old cedar bark braids twisted up with dried wild sage, and a hint of dried yellow mustard flowers with an underlying sense of maple syrup over pecan waffles.
Palate: The palate leans into the spice with a hint of allspice and ginger next to apple pie filling with walnuts, brandy-soaked raisins, and plenty of brown sugar next to spiced Christmas cake dipped in dark chocolate sauce.
Finish: The end takes its time and meanders through salted caramel, stewed plums with star anise and sharp cinnamon, a hint of vanilla Dr. Pepper, and a mild sense of chocolate-cinnamon-spiced chewing tobacco buzziness with a warming Texas hug that’s part Hot Tamales and part chili-spiced green tea.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a big crafty Texas whiskey (the color is a dead giveaway). It’s very good but also extremely hot. This needs ice ASAP.
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Perfectly toasted marshmallow gives way to cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven with a sense of real-deal sasparilla cut with vanilla ice cream and a hint of mint before an almost savory fruitiness arrives that’s part sandy pear and part yellow melon.
Palate: The vanilla takes on a lemon chocolate vibe (a very underrated combination) before the mint shocks the palate toward rich and chewy tobacco dipped in honey.
Finish: Sharp cherry cola drives the finish toward fresh honeycombs with a hint of nutmeg sprinkled in next to vanilla pound cake cut with poppyseeds and almond oils.
Initial Thoughts:
This was very light comparatively. There’s a lot of good stuff going on the profile but there’s no wow factor.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dark brown sugar and cask warmth pops on the nose with a sense of deep and very real vanilla under a heat lamp and lashing the air with deep vanilla smells as caramel sweetens the rest of the air with bourbon-y vibes of oak, leather, and tobacco.
Palate: That deep and warm vanilla drives the palate toward a Kentucky hug from a grizzly bear as the ABVs warm toward sharp winter spice barks, dark cherry cola, and marzipan cut with dark chocolate and more dark cherry before the old oakiness arrives with a hint of warehouse floor.
Finish: The grizzly bear Kentucky hug only gets sharper and hotter on the finish as the brown sugar, dark cherry, and old oak lead to a creamy lush vanilla finish that’s just kissed with eggnog, marzipan, and spiced holiday cookies.
Initial Thoughts:
This is classic with a bold AF Kentucky hug. Again, this is begging for a big ol’ rock.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Roasted vanilla beans and pan-toasted winter spices (nutmeg, clove, allspice, and cinnamon) mingle with lush and butter caramel sauce, brown-sugar rock candy, and a whisper of old wicker furniture with a hint of pipe tobacco.
Palate: That brown-sugar sweetness drives the palate toward woody and warm winter spices that create a nice buzz alongside a creamy eggnog edge next to vanilla sheet cake sprinkled with toffee chards and dried orchard fruits.
Finish: The end dries out a tad as the warm spices ramp up toward a holiday cake made with plenty of vanilla, brown sugar, buttercream, and toasted woody spices before being kissed with fresh pipe tobacco that was left in a cedar box for a spell.
Initial Thoughts:
This is nice and balanced with a very lovely (approachable) flavor profile. I like this one.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Deep and dark candied black cherry mingles with dry cedar bark, molasses, real vanilla beans, nutty brown butter, and old leather rolled in pipe tobacco and just kissed with smoldering sage and dry chili pepper flakes.
Palate: The palate opens with a full blast of ABVs, making the front of your tongue tingle, as floral honey, cherry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream, and brown butter streusel cut with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove lead to a hint of dry orange tobacco.
Finish: Cinnamon sticks and clove buds floating in maple syrup arrive on the finish with a sense of old leather boots, the oak in an old rickhouse, orchard barks, and soft notes of vanilla and cherry cake.
Initial Thoughts:
This has a beautiful nose, palate, and finish. It’s warm but not hot. It’s pretty much a perfect pour of bourbon that actually goes beyond classic and into bourbon glory.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Wild Turkey’s iconic spiced cherry vibe is present in spades on the nose with a deep and dark cherry cut with anise, clove, allspice, and cinnamon next to rum-soaked raisins, black tea-soaked dates, and a rich and lush vanilla foundation.
Palate: The clove attaches to dried orange rinds as salted rich caramel drives the taste toward more dates, plum sauce, and leathery prunes with a deep winter spice bark vibe next to a dash of powdery white pepper.
Finish: Honeyed tobacco mingles with sticky toffee pudding, mincemeat pies, and sweet oak mixed with richly spiced tobacco rolled with cedar bark, sage, and old wicker porch furniture.
Initial Thoughts:
This is both classic and delicious. There’s a serious depth that shines brightly on quintessential Kentucky bourbon flavor notes.
Taste 10
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with sticky toffee pudding that really amps up the cinnamon and nutmeg next to black-tea-soaked dates next to some stewed prunes wrapped in chili-chocolate-laced tobacco leaves and dripped in honey and then walnuts.
Palate: A savory fruitiness opens the palate with figs and pumpkin that leads towards an apricot jam with a hint of clove and cinnamon next to light touches of old library leather and funk.
Finish: A faint hint of dark berries arrives on the mid-palate before the finish luxuriates in burnt toffee, almond shells, more of that leather, and dried-out apricots.
Initial Thoughts:
This is really nice bourbon. It’s kind of funky and fresh with a killer essential foundation of bourbon iconography on the profile.
Part 2 — The Limited Edition Bourbon Ranking
10. Widow Jane The Vaults Aged 15 Years A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys — Taste 5
ABV: 49.5%
Average Price: $249
The Whiskey:
This year’s Widow Jane The Vaults takes the age statement up to 15 years. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of Tennessee and Indiana bourbons that rested for 15 years before batching and re-filling into Chinquapin oak casks for another three months of mellowing in Widow Jane’s Red Hook warehouse.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty good but was the lightest pour of the panel. It felt more like a base for a cocktail than a sipper today.
9. Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 4
ABV: 70.45%
Average Price: $249
The Whiskey:
This year’s Cowboy Bourbon from Garrison Brothers is a blend of only 118 barrels of six-year-old Texas bourbon. 1,000 bottles of the crafty Texas whiskey will be available in mid-September at the distillery with an additional 8,600 bottles going out nationwide the first week of October.
Bottom Line:
Ah, that ABV is a lot. This presented as a hazmat whiskey and it was hard to get into the flavor profile with all of that heat. That said, this over some ice is usually magical.
8. Booker’s Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2023-03 “Mighty Fine Batch” — Taste 6
ABV: 63.3%
Average Price: $175
The Whiskey:
This new batch from the Beam team honors Beam Master Distiller Booker Noe’s old favorite phrase when a batch of bourbon worked out just right. The cask-strength batch of bourbon was pulled from prime barrels from prime spots across the Beam warehouses in Clermont, Kentucky. Once batched, the whiskey was bottled 100% as-is at barrel strength.
Bottom Line:
Again, this was so hot that sampling it neat was a lot to deal with. That said, I’ve been drinking this over a big ice cube and it’s fantastic. You know what to do.
7. Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Limited Release Double Oaked Bourbon Whiskey Finished in a Second Oak Barrel French Oak — Taste 2
ABV: 59.8%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This is a four-year-old Starlight bourbon that was aged in French oak casks from the jump. Then that same whiskey was refilled into new French oak casks for a final maturation before batching and bottling to help with prostrate cancer research via bottle sales this year.
Bottom Line:
This is another really good bourbon that needs a touch of water or ice to let it bloom and cool a tad.
6. Woodford Reserve Sonoma Triple Finish Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 1
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $149
The Whiskey:
The latest Distillery Series from Woodford leans into the California oak. In this case, the whiskey in the bottle was made from barrels of bourbon finished in Sonoma County Pinot Noir, brandy, and red wine bourbon barrels. Those barrels were then batched and just proofed down before bottling for this special release.
Bottom Line:
Okay, now we’re into the easy-going sippers with solid depth. If you’re looking for a killer red wine pairing whiskey for a big dinner party, this is the bottle to have on hand.
5. Joseph A. Magnus Cigar Blend Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 10
ABV: 50.35%
Average Price: $194
The Whiskey:
This sourced bourbon is built from 11 and 18-year-old bourbon barrels. The real star of the show with this whiskey is that those bourbons were finished in Armagnac, Cognac, and sherry casks before vatting and bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is just nice AF bourbon that’s so easy to drink while giving you a deep and fun profile. It’s not classic and sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed to change things up.
4. Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse “Camp Nelson F” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 9
ABV: 58.8%
Average Price: $300
The Whiskey:
The second release from Wild Turkey’s Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse Collection moves to the Camp Nelson campus in Kentucky to highlight the terroir and aging happening in Rickhouse F. The whiskey barrels were pulled from the center cut of the warehouse — floors four and five (out of seven). Once batched, the whiskey was bottled 100% as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is another whiskey that’s just excellent. Pour it over a big ice cube and you’re good to go.
3. Maker’s Mark 2023 Limited Release BEP Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Finished With 10 Virgin Oak Staves — Taste 7
ABV: 55.35%
Average Price: $69
The Whisky:
This is the final chapter of Maker’s Mark “Wood Finish Series” before the next set starts dropping. The whiskey in the bottle is made from classic Maker’s that’s batched at barrel entry proof (BEP), which is 110-proof. Next, the whiskey is finished with ten bespoke wooden staves inside the barrel, all made from new (or “virgin”) oak. Those barrels are then batched and bottled without any proofing water.
Bottom Line:
This feels like a great digestif whiskey pour after a big holiday meal. Pour it neat or on a big rock and you’ll be set.
2. Bardstown Bourbon Company Discovery Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Series #11 — Taste 3
ABV: 59.05%
Average Price: $139
The Whiskey:
The latest release from Bardstown Bourbon Company is a full-on Kentucky bourbon blend. The whiskey is made with 73% 13-year-old Kentucky bourbon, 21% 10-year-old Kentucky bourbon, and 6% of Bardstown’s own six-year-old Kentucky bourbon. Once batched, the whiskey mellows before bottling 100% as-is at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best whiskeys of the year.
1. William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof (BTAC 2023) — Taste 8
ABV: 66.8%
Average Price: $1,499
The Whiskey:
This is Buffalo Trace’s classic wheated bourbon. This year’s Weller BTAC was distilled back in the spring of 2011 and left to rest in warehouses C, L, M, and N for 12 long years. Those barrels were batched and this whiskey was bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This is a hallmark bourbon. If you want to get sneaky with it, use it for a Manhattan to really take your cocktail game to the next level.
Part 3 — Final Thoughts on the Limited Edition Bourbons
Cards on the table, all of these are pretty great bourbons. They all offer something unique. Find the tasting notes that speak to you and the price that fits your budget and away you go! You’ll be in for a treat.
If you want to go all in on the best bourbons right now, anything from the top four or five are stellar choices. But as with all limited edition anything, they’re going to be hard to find and likely pretty expensive. Consider yourself warned.
