It’s Bourbon Heritage Month. That means one thing — it’s time to talk turkey. Sorry, I mean bourbon. Since this month is dedicated to all things bourbon (in the U.S.), I thought it’d be a good time to break down 50 of my favorite bourbon releases of 2023 so far.
This month feels like a good time to put the first 2/3 of the year to rest since the release schedule in the months to come is absolutely packed with more new bourbons to test. Between Bourbon Heritage Month, the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bourbon & Beyond, and the impending holiday season, there are going to be a lot of big bourbons barrelling into bars and bottle boutiques. Buffo bourbons! Bourbon bonanza!
Buffalo Trace has their Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and Pappy Van Winkle launches coming up. Then there are new releases from Wild Turkey, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Jack Daniel’s, and Woodford Reserve … and that’s only scratching the surface of what’s to come in the rest of 2023. It’s ON.
Below, I’m naming 50 bourbon whiskeys that dropped in 2023 and are unassailably delicious. That said, each bourbon has its own vibe, feel, and profile, and won’t be for everyone — so I did rank these. There are some bold AF whiskeys on this list next to subtle slow sippers that hit just right. The choice is on you. Read through my tasting notes, find the bourbon(s) that speak to your soul, and then hit those price links to see if you can score one of these new 2023 bourbons to drink all the way through Bourbon Heritage Month.
- The 100 Best Bourbon Whiskeys From Kentucky, Ranked
- The Absolute Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
- The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons On The Market, Blind Tasted And Ranked
- The 100 Best Bourbons That *Aren’t* From Kentucky, Ranked
- The 100 Best Bourbons Under $100 Right Now, Ranked
50. Pursuit United Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished with Toasted American and French Oak
ABV: 54%
Average Price: $75
The Whiskey:
The latest release from the Bourbon Pursuit team is a blend of four to six-year-old bourbons. The three bourbons involved are a Finger Lakes whiskey (70/20/10 corn/rye/malted barley), an MGP bourbon (60/36/4 corn/rye/malted barley), and an undisclosed Tennessee whiskey (80/10/10 corn/rye/malted barley). Those whiskeys were finished in both American and French toasted oak barrels before batching and bottling with a touch of Kentucky water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dark chocolate nut clusters (pecan and walnut heavy) mix with burnt orange, a hint of mulled wine, and rum-raising with an echo of fresh cedar on the nose.
Palate: The palate has a sense of Nutella over scones with a Cherry Coke on the side while singed cedar and cherry bark mingle with clove-studded oranges and a hint of freshly cracked black pepper.
Finish: The end has a nice spicy warmth and a touch more of that singed wood next to spicy cherry tobacco.
Bottom Line:
The good folks behind the excellent Bourbon Pursuit Podcast released this at the start of the year, and it’s been one of the bottles that I’ve actually enjoyed enough to finish at home. That’s proof positive that this is great sipping whiskey that deserves a spot on your bar too. I like it over a single big rock.
49. McTavish Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $75
The Whiskey:
This brand-new whiskey brand from Graham McTavish (Outlander, House of the Dragon, etc.) is a lovely built batch of whiskey. The whiskey is made from a classic mash of 75/21/4 (corn/rye/barley) that’s left to rest for seven years. Those barrels were proofed down to bottled-in-bond standards and bottled as-is otherwise.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Caramel chocolate candies and vanilla cake with sprinkles drive the nose toward cinnamon and clove heavy nutcake, eggnog, and a soft layer of burnt orange zest.
Palate: The vanilla creates a lush buttercream on the palate as dark Black Forest Cake with spicy stewed cherry and very dark chocolate leads to more nutmeg and cinnamon with a fleeting sense of pipe tobacco and smoldering marshmallow.
Finish: The end leans into old oak and a light sense of fall orchard leaves, more stewed cherry, and creamy vanilla with a line of spiced winter bark warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is still fresh as it dropped only last month, but it’s a solid sipper that really leans into classic bourbon vibes. Try this one neat and then play around with it in your favorite cocktails.
48. Milam & Greene Very Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch 1.2
ABV: 54%
Average Price: $69
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is from Master Blender Heather Greene who picked 75 barrels for the blend. The blend is a mix of contract-distilled Kentucky whiskey with Tennessee whiskey rounding out the mix. The batched barrels were vatted in a 1,000-gallon tank before being re-barrelled into French oak for a final rest.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is light but runs deep with walnuts, vanilla flowers, soft custard cut with nutmeg and clove, and a light sense of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Palate: The palate is like walking through a fruit orchard in full bloom with a hint of wet black tea next to buttermilk biscuits dripping with butter and honey.
Finish: The finish gets slightly dry with a sense of dry and barky winter spices, dried red berries, and apple chips next to a light sense of brandy-soaked oak staves.
Bottom Line:
Heather Greene really nailed it with this summery sipper. This is a great poolside sipping whiskey that also makes a highball pop (with good fizzy water and a nice herbal garnish).
47. Pinhook Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Flagship Bourbon 2023
ABV: 50.74%
Average Price: $42
The Whiskey:
The new Flagship release from Pinhook is made from a three-year-old set of barrels from Castle & Key. The bourbon is a contract-distilled mash of 75% corn, 15% rye, and 10% malted barley aged in the old Old Taylor warehouses. Those barrels were then batched and bottled at a lower cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Grandma’s butterscotch candies and leathery apricot drive the nose toward almost warm s’mores with gooey marshmallows, milk chocolate, and a fresh Graham Cracker.
Palate: There’s a sense of fancy dark chocolate peanut butter cups on the taste that leads to espresso beans, Red Hots, and a nice lush crème brûlée.
Finish: The vanilla cream keeps the finish soft as light winter spice, a hint of oak, and more chocolate and espresso round out the finish.
Bottom Line:
Pinhook just keeps getting better and better as it carries on. This year’s release is a great standard bourbon that goes that extra step in depth and drinkability to become damn good. Use this one for your favorite whiskey-forward cocktails.
46. Sweetens Cove 22 Tennessee Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 57%
Average Price: $200
The Whiskey:
This brand-new whiskey from Peyton Manning and Marianne Eaves is a serious blend. The blend is made with a mix of five-, six-, eight, and 10-year-old bourbons. That whiskey then goes into Speyside Scotch whisky casks for a final rest before blending and bottling with a tiny drop of proofing water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Leathery raisins and cranberries mingle with marmalade and sweet cedar next to a hint of clove tobacco and some old boot leather and vanilla buttercream.
Palate: Cinnamon toast and tart apple pies with plenty of cinnamon and walnuts mixed with a touch of smoldering cedar bark and allspice on the palate.
Finish: That singed vibe applies to vanilla pods as dark berries and old dry tobacco dominate the finish with a hint of sweet cedar and soft vanilla cream drizzled with salted toffee.
Bottom Line:
Marianne Eaves really killed it with this whiskey. It’s an easy sipper with good depth, especially over a big rock.
45. 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 is another whiskey brand that’s getting better each year. This year’s cask strength batch is a delightfully easy-sipping yet bold bourbon for fans of classic bourbon notes.
44. 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 highwater mark of craft distilling with a great balance between sweet grains and deep and dark whiskey notes. Take your time with this one and add some water to really let it bloom in the glass.
43. 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 just good classic bourbon. Sometimes that’s enough. Use this for mixing up your favorite cocktails.
42. Still Austin Bottled In Bond Red Corn Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $80
The Whiskey:
This brand-new whiskey — the first is a series of four new releases — from Austin’s Still Austin is about special corn. In this case, Jimmy Red corn thrown in the mash. That makes the recipe 36% Jimmy Red corn, 34% white corn, 25% rye, and 5% malted barley.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich, wet, and earthy masa drives the nose toward dark fruit leather, old spice bottles, and soft floral honey just touched with vanilla.
Palate: Freshly cut oranges are dipped in maple syrup on the palate with a sense of soft vanilla custard, pumpkin pecan pie, and plenty of winter spice that amps up toward black peppercorns.
Finish: That black pepper makes for a spiced finish as the pecan pie, orange, and custard all slowly fade away with a fleeting hint of an earthy cornfield after the rain.
Bottom Line:
This is a great example of craft whiskey done expertly. It balances the corn notes excellently with deep and nostalgic bourbon notes while still feeling fully fresh.
41. 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 masterclass in blending and finishing MGP barrels. This is one of those whiskeys that you may as well buy a case of and use it as your house pour and mixer for the rest of the year (especially if you’re looking for spicy fruit in your bourbon).
40. Woodinville Straight Bourbon Whiskey Private Select Single Barrel
ABV: 57.2%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This craft distillery out in Washington is starting to create a big footprint nationwide. This release is a single barrel pick of five-year-old local grain-to-glass Washington bourbon. The barrel spent exactly five years and four months aging in Central Washington during deeply cold winters and very hot high-desert summers, accelerating the aging process significantly. It was then barreled 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A dark and almost dried cherry greet you on the nose with a sense of toasted Graham Crackers, maple syrup, and huckleberry pie next to hints of spiced winter cakes and salty dark chocolate.
Palate: Those spicy winter cakes follow on the palate as salted caramel and vanilla cake lead back to a lush cherry ice cream with a hint of dark chocolate and almond.
Finish: That dark chocolate gets creamy and sweet on the finish with a hint of floral honey and nasturtium spice next to a mild sense of old yet sweet oak.
Bottom Line:
Woodinville has always knocked it out of the park with its bourbon, and now we’re getting single-barrel releases nationwide! Get some and see what whiskey fans in the Pacific Northwest have been bubbling about all these years.
39. Nashville Barrel Company UPROXX Single Barrel 6 Years Old January 2023 Barrel
ABV: 59.08%
Buy Here: $119
The Whiskey:
The barrel was chosen and bottled at the tail end of 2022 on a visit to Nashville Barrel Company. The whiskey in the bottle is a 6-year-and-two-month-old bourbon from MGP of Indiana. The high rye mash bourbon (75/21/4 corn/rye/malted barley) aged for five years in Indiana before moving to Nashville for an additional 14 months of resting. The bourbon went in the bottle at cask strength straight from the barrel.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with toffee, mild leather, orchard barks, blood orange, soft sweet grains, cinnamon sticks, cherry tobacco, plum, and a whisper of old pine accented by a touch of thyme.
Palate: The taste meanders through salted caramel, dates, cinnamon bark, cardamon pods, clove buds, and soft vanilla cake before leaning slowly into a spiced warmth.
Finish: The end arrives with sweet and chewy pipe tobacco, orange bitters, rock candy, and very light yet creamy cacao lushness next to hazelnut Manner Neapolitan Wafers and dry oak.
Bottom Line:
I picked this barrel for UPROXX’s first single-barrel release. Yes, it’s great and you still might be able to snag a bottle if you hurry. Once it’s in your hand, pour it over a big rock and let it take you away.
38. Fortuna Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 51%
Average Price: $84
The Whiskey:
This whiskey — a revival of a centuries-old dead brand — is from the new company founded by Heaven Hill’s Andrew Shapira with partners Pablo Moix and Peter Nevenglosky, based around the Rare Character Whiskey shingle. The whiskey in the bottle is rendered from six barrels of six-year-old whiskey that’s expertly batched and bottled with just a touch of local Kentucky water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Fresh orange blossom and nasturtiums mingle on the nose with honeycomb next to stewed plums with hints of clove and allspice.
Palate: The palate is luxurious with a sense of salted caramel, cherry Dr. Pepper, and sticky toffee pudding with plenty of winter spice, dark orange zest, brandy butter, and black-tea-soaked dates.
Finish: The end has a sense of plum pudding with burnt sugars and orange tobacco kissed with star anise and clove, rolled up with wild sage and cedar bark, and wrapped in old leather pouches.
Bottom Line:
This is quintessential Kentucky bourbon. It’s built to be nostalgic and bold so treat it that way and use it for old fashioneds, on the rocks sipping, and a cheeky bold Manhattan.
37. Green River Kentucky Straight Wheated Bourbon Sour Mash Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $37
The Whiskey:
This new release from Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Green River distillery is a wheated classic. The whiskey in the bottle is made from a mash bill (recipe) of 70% Kentucky-grown corn, 21% wheat, and 9% malted 6-Row barley. That whiskey then spends four to six years mellowing before batching, proofing, and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This pops on the nose with rich caramel next to soft roasted peach and apricot next to a rush of cinnamon bark and nutmeg with a creamy vibe.
Palate: Toffee drives the palate toward Nutella and honey over buttermilk biscuits with an apple/pear tobacco aura that leads to a soft orange.
Finish: The end is rich and full of stewed fruits — peach, pear, orange, raisins — and a mild sense of oaky spice and a mild graininess.
Bottom Line:
Green River is going to be the whiskey that pops in 2024. It’s inexpensive, delicious, and becoming more and more available nationwide. I’m not joking one bit when I say, watch out Wild Turkey, Evan Williams, and Jack Daniel’s. There’s a new kid in town.
36. Penelope Straight Bourbon Whiskey Double Cask Finish Rio
ABV: 49%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This is damn near a classic now. This year’s Rio is still Penelope’s batch of four-grain bourbon (the blends of barrels work out to 74% corn, 14% wheat, 9% rye, and 3% malted barley). The ripple is that once batched the whiskey is re-barrelled into American honey and Brazilian Amburana oak casks. Those casks are then batched, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The honey is super creamy on the nose with a hint of pine forest next to hot cinnamon sticky buns with melting buttercream frosting and plenty of winter spice next to a hint of pecan.
Palate: The spiced rolls drive the palate toward a darker gingerbread with fresh and orange-infused honey adding a sharp contrast before the barkier elements of the spices and nuts roll back in.
Finish: The end leans into almost savory figs and date leather with a sense of winter spice barks, burnt orange rinds, and singed vanilla pods next to a hint of marzipan tobacco and soft fresh honeycomb.
Bottom Line:
This is a great end-of-summer sipper to drink well in October before the weather breaks. It’s also a lot of fun in citrus-forward cocktails.
35. Traverse City Whiskey Co. Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Seasoned Sherry Casks
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. Those sherry casks were then blended, proofed with local Michigan water, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is lighter but leans into rum raisin and caramel with a hint of Cherry Dr. Pepper and cinnamon toast.
Palate: There’s a good amount of cinnamon and vanilla on the palate with a touch of walnut bread with plenty of butteriness, clove, and anise.
Finish: The end hints at apple cinnamon tobacco and vanilla beans but ends very lightly.
Bottom Line:
This new Traverse City bourbon won a ton of awards this year and one sip in and you’ll see why. Pour it over some ice and take your time.
34. Boondocks Eighteen-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey Cask Strength
ABV: 52.7%
Average Price: $279
The Whiskey:
This limited edition release is all about who’s making the whiskey. Legendary Master Distiller David Scheurich is behind this blend. For those not in the know, he came up the ranks working at Seagram (now MGP), Wild Turkey, and Brown-Forman before starting his own shingle. Scheurich selected very rare barrels that were at least 18 years old for this release and ended up with a mere 1,620 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Salted toffee dipped in ground winter spice opens the nose toward pecans rolled in maple syrup, dark cherry bark, and a sense of dry spice barks and buds next to this faint flutter of dried mimosa blooms.
Palate: Rich vanilla pods mingle with that salted toffee on the front of the palate as dark chocolate-covered coffee beans lead to a dark and sweet cherry syrup, old oak staves, and a rush of orchard fruit and bark.
Finish: The end is lush and full of soft vanilla and cherry notes that fold into a spiced tobacco leaf and old cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This is just good bourbon. Drink it however you like to drink your whiskey.
33. Rieger’s Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $59
The Whiskey:
This small craft whiskey from Kansas City, Missouri 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:
Nose: The nose is old and leathery with a good layer of salted caramel over pecan waffles with buttercream and cinnamon syrup next to a hint of black peppercorn and woody orchards.
Palate: Maple syrup attaches to the pecan waffles with a sense of Christmas nut cake, dried cranberry, and vanilla cream with a touch of winter spice barks and burnt orange.
Finish: The end has a classic warmth derived from spiced wood notes next to a hint of winter cake tobacco with plenty of dark and spicy syrup and buttery caramel.
Bottom Line:
Kansas City has some great whiskey right now. Get ahead of the crowd and grab some of this for whiskey-forward cocktails and kitchen table pours.
32. Monk’s Road Small Batch Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $42
The Whiskey:
This wheated whiskey from Log Still is all about highlighting that grain. The bourbon is sourced (for now) and aged and bottled by the Dant Family in Gethsemane, Kentucky.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is a stone-cold classic bourbon nose of dark Cherry Coke, spiced winter cakes, and salted caramel with an old oak barrel sense.
Palate: The palate leans into the spiced dark cherry with a hint of root beer (maybe even Dr. Pepper) next to singed apple and cinnamon bark with this fleeting sense of peanut brittle underneath it all.
Finish: The end leans into the smoldering woody spices and orchard barks with a hint of marzipan and burnt orange rounding things out.
Bottom Line:
Again, this is just good. Buy it, enjoy it slowly, and then dig into the other great releases coming out of Gethsemane.
31. New Riff Blue Clarage Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $56
The Whiskey:
This brand-new distillery-only release from New Riff goes hard on the grain-to-glass ethos. The whiskey is made with heirloom corn — Blue Clarage, to be specific — that was developed by local Ohio farmer Edmund Clarridge back in the 1920s. New Riff had some more grown for this whiskey and created a mash bill (recipe) of 65% Blue Clarage corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. That whiskey aged for five years before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is super fruity in fascinating ways with fresh red and green chilis next to ripe peach and marmalade all cut with sharp cloves and allspice with a mild sense of old leather wrapped around chili-infused tobacco leaves.
Palate: The palate is super lush with a sense of dark cherry Black Forest cake next to dried chili pepper, soft vanilla buttercream cut with salted caramel, and a sense of orchard tree bark.
Finish: That bark doesn’t take away from the lushness of the finish as soft leather and apple pie tobacco mingle with soft dates and figs next to a light sense of that marmalade on the end.
Bottom Line:
New Riff has released a lot of great stuff this year so far. This was the best. Pour it over a rock and take your time with it. It’ll reward your patience.
30. 291 Bad Guy Colorado Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 57.8%
Average Price: $109
The Whiskey:
This Colorado whiskey is made from a mix of local corn, malted wheat, malted rye, and beech-smoked malted barley. As per 291’s classic aging methods, the whiskey is aged for about two years with aspen wood staves in the barrel to accelerate the aging process. Finally, this is batched and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a whole fruit basket of fruitiness with stone fruit really shining through — think apricots and peaches — next to old tart apples, cinnamon sticks, toffees dusted with crushed almonds, and a murmur of chamomile tea.
Palate: The palate has a crafty graininess that’s akin to oatmeal cookie dough with a hint of nuttiness, brown sugar, cinnamon, and something slightly floral but woody.
Finish: The end brings the apricot back as a spicy jam with a little vanilla creaminess and tannic florals.
Bottom Line:
This is the one 291 bourbon to buy in 2023. You will need a rock to really let it express itself though.
29. 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 whiskey has become an insider’s pick with tons of awards. I can attest, it lives up to the hype as a sipper and great cocktail base.
28. Blood Oath Pact No. 9 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Oloroso Sherry Casks
ABV: 49.3%
Average Price: $139
The Whiskey:
This is a classic and very high-end luxe blend of bourbons from Lux Row. The whiskey is made with one 16-year-old bourbon barrel married to two 12-year-old barrels. That batched whiskey was then blended with three seven-year-old bourbons that were finished in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks, all sourced from the Sherry Triangle region in Southwest Spain. Once batched, the whiskey is bottled as-is with no proofing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose runs deep with a sense of red fruit leather, dark yet sharp woody spice barks, salted toffee rolled in toasted almond, and a fleeting whisper of dark chocolate sauce cut with salt, lavender, and red chili.
Palate: The palate opens with juicy pears and grilled peaches next to stewed plums and leathery prunes over rum raisin dipped in that dark and spicy chocolate with a hint of creamy cherry butteriness.
Finish: The woody chili spice and creamy dark fruit kicks up on the end with a sense of sticky toffee pudding tobacco, old cedar humidors, and a bushel of dried vanilla pods layered with smudging sage.
Bottom Line:
We got a new Blood Oath this year and it was another killer pour. If you’re a collector of rare stuff, this is a must-have.
27. Stellum Bourbon Single Barrel Perseus Selected by Topflight Series by ReserveBar
ABV: 57.59%
Average Price: $52
The Whiskey:
Perseus is the latest in the astronomical lineup from Stellum Bourbon. This whiskey starts off with a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. That hot juice then rests for at least four to six years before single barrels are picked for bottling. In this case, ReserveBar snagged this barrel for their Top Flight program as a special barrel pick.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Candied pecans cooked into crispy, vanilla-forward waffles dance on the nose with a touch of sour cherry tossed in sea salt, a deep winter spice bark medley, and old leather tobacco pouches.
Palate: The taste moseys through salted dark chocolate squares next to maple syrup-dipped graham crackers, dried wild sagebrush, and a rush of sharp spearmint with black cherry lush sweetness at the base.
Finish: That black cherry drives the finish toward salted caramel and dried red chili pepper spice next to a whisper of orchard bard, woody spice, and soft and chewy tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is basically Stellum Bourbon at half price and just as delicious. Get two and start mixing up killer Manhattans with it.
26. Hirsch The Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished In Cognac Casks
ABV: 63.5%
Average Price: $210
The Whiskey:
This cask-strength version of Hirsch is made from a classic bourbon mash of 72% corn, 13% rye, and 15% malted barley. That hot juice then rests for six years in new American oak. Those barrels are batched and then re-filled into 30-year-old Hine XO fine cognac casks for another year-and-a-half of resting. Finally, the whiskey is batched and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose feels lush and oaky with a sense of Christmas cookies, mincemeat pies, and sticky toffee pudding next to stewed plums over fresh scones with a hint of brandy butter.
Palate: Old leather boots filled with cinnamon bark and a medley of dates, figs, and prunes lead to chocolate cut with red chili and vanilla and kissed with salt and dry cedar.
Finish: That cinnamon bark intensifies with dark red fruit, light chili pepperiness, and a sense of old malted cookies dipped in vanilla toffee on the very end.
Bottom Line:
If you buy one Hirsch bottle this year … you know the rest. This is an excellent slow sipper that makes a great cocktail.
25. Blackened X Rabbit Hole A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Distilled in Tennessee & Kentucky Finished in Calvados Casks Cask Strength
ABV: 53.3%
Average Price: $149
The Whiskey:
This brand-new collaboration between Metallica’s Blackened and Rabbit Hole is masterful whiskey. The blend is a 13-year-old Tennessee high-rye bourbon batched with Rabbit Hole Heigold High-Rye Double Malt Bourbon (with malted rye and malted barley). Once batched, the whiskey was re-barreled into Calvados casks (an apple brandy) for a final rest before 100% as-is bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of chili pepper warmth on the nose with a hint of macadamia cookie nuttiness, honey Graham Crackers, light summer florals, and a whisper of darkly stewed apple.
Palate: Cinnamon-infused pear brandy sparks on the palate with a sense of clover honey, walnut loaf, and this thin line of smoked applewood with a good sense of barrel warmth.
Finish: The honey and walnut drive the finish toward a soft warmth that leaves the gentlest of numbness on the senses.
Bottom Line:
Holy Shit! This is good whiskey. It’s really nice neat, but a little water or a rock will really open its true depth.
24. Nelson Bros. Whiskey A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Finished in Trubee Honey Casks
ABV: 53.6%
Average Price: $199
The Whiskey:
This whiskey starts off by seasoning used whiskey barrels (from Nelson’s Green Brier’s warehouse) with honey. The distillery sends its barrels to TruBee Honey Farm in Arrington, Tennessee where the barrels are filled with wildflower honey. After the honey has finished its rest, the barrels are emptied and sent back to Nashville. Once they arrive at Nelson’s, they’re filled with Belle Meade’s award-winning bourbon for a six to eight-month rest where the honey makes its mark on the whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of a fruit orchard on a sunny day with subtle spice barks and floral honey next to a moment of leather, caramel tobacco, and almond.
Palate: Those almonds take on some toast on the palate as vanilla cake cut with buttercream and floral honey leads to a sense of honey sesame crackers and sharply spice oak staves.
Finish: A bright pepperiness drives the finish into spiced honey with a touch of toasted oats, marzipan, and burnt orange with a whisper of chamomile tea.
Bottom Line:
No other honey cask finish comes close to this one. This just rocks.
23. Kentucky Senator Bourbon Release #4: John Sherman Cooper Very Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8 Years Old
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.
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.
Bottom Line:
The latest Kentucky Senator Bourbon is another home run. Pour this over some rocks or neat and let it flow.
22. 15 STARS Triple Cask Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 52.5%
Average Price: $179
The Whiskey:
This new release from 15 STARS is a blend of two bourbons with a big finishing run. The whiskey is made from an eight and 16-year-old blend that was finished in Kentucky in port, cognac, and rum casks for eight additional months before batching and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Woody huckleberry jam over raisin scones mingle with eggnog spices and brown sugar cookies, spiced cherry fruit leather, and a twinge of sweet yet old oakiness.
Palate: That dark fruit leather leans into brandy-soaked dates and prunes with a sense of old oak cellars next to rich vanilla, soft apples, and sticky toffee pudding.
Finish: There’s a dark cherry spiced vibe to the finish that leans into fresh chewy tobacco packed into an old oak box and then wrapped in leather with a burnt orange rind and winter spice bouquet on top.
Bottom Line:
The team at 15 STARS just can’t miss. This is a quintessential slow-sipping bourbon that’s worth taking your time with.
21. Baker’s Single Barrel 13 Years Minimum Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $450
The Whiskey:
This brand-new re-release of Beam’s Limited Edition “Minimum 13 Year” Baker’s just dropped. The whiskey in the barrel is from single barrels that hit just the right mark for something special. Beyond that, there’s not much else to know besides this is Baker’s at a high age that shines bright.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of dried sweetgrass, salted ballpark peanuts, and old vanilla pods that leads to softer notes of marzipan, vanilla sheet cake, and mild cherry.
Palate: Soft winter spices and minty tobacco drive the palate toward smudging sage and roasting herbs with a sense of marzipan slowly building on the mid-palate with a minor key of orange and cherry.
Finish: The vanilla sneaks in on the finish with more roasting herbs and dry grassiness with a hint of menthol, peanut shell, and distant oak.
Bottom Line:
The latest Baker’s is a funky and fun ride. I like this over a single rock when I’m hankering for something completely different but still excellent.
20. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch No. B523
ABV: 62.1%
Average Price: $69
The Whiskey:
The latest Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is here (number two of three for 2023). This edition is a batch of bourbons that are a minimum of 11.5 years old (down from the usual 12-year age statements). The batch is bottled completely as is without cutting with water or chill filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of funk and fruit on the nose — think standing by a barn in an apple orchard — that leads to salted caramel, cherry tobacco, and rich dark chocolate cut with red chili pepper flakes with a lush vanilla foundation of almond cakes and powdered sugar icing.
Palate: Rich winter spice cakes with a hint of rum raisin drive the taste toward dark cherry spiced tobacco with a rush of ABVs that cause a deep buzz before old cellar dirt floors and oak arrives with a dark sense of chocolate and espresso all kissed with salt.
Finish: Cherry Coke and gingerbread drive the finish with a lush and vibrant sense of red chili pepper spice, black pepper woodiness, and cinnamon bark softness before stewed apple and buttery pie crust lead back toward a vanilla almond cake vibe with a lingering warming sensation.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for the deepest classic bourbon, this is it. It’s a solid sipper that also works wonders in cocktails.
19. Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey
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.
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.
Bottom Line:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the best bourbon from Texas right now.
18. Woodford Reserve Historic Barrel Entry Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This 2022 Master’s Collection (that was released in February 2023) experiments with entry proof. Master Distillers Chris Morris and Elizabeth McCall loaded this whiskey into barrels at a low 100-proof and let it do its thing (125 proof is the industry standard though that varies wildly these days). Once the whiskey in those barrels hit the best flavor profile, it was bottled completely as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with real vanilla pods layers into apple-cinnamon coffee cake, spice-rich eggnog, hazelnut cream, black cherry pie filling, and a flutter of fresh and sharp spearmint dipped in creamy dark chocolate and then hit with a flake of smoked salt.
Palate: The coffee cake leans toward banana bread with walnuts on the palate as huckleberry jam leans into an almost sour creamy espresso with a shot of mint chocolate syrup.
Finish: Burnt orange arrives late to cut through the sweetness and adds some more bitterness as old oak and dry tobacco round things out.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best high-end Woodford Reserves money can buy. Take it slow, enjoy the depth, and then go back for more.
17. Legent Yamazaki Cask Finish Blend
ABV: 57%
Average Price: $214
The Whiskey:
This new version of Legent leans into the marriage of Kentucky and Japan in the bottle. The whiskey is a straight bourbon from Beam that spent eight years mellowing in Kentucky. That whiskey was then sent to the Yamazaki Distillery outside of Kyoto, Japan where blending legend Shinji Fukuyo transferred the whiskey into French and Spanish oak casks for another rest before batching again and re-filling the whiskey into the incredible Yamazaki Spanish Oak whisky casks for a final rest before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a leathery sense of old dried chilis that have just been kissed with heat before a sense of dried cranberry and rich malted chocolate take the nose toward soft plummy cakes full of soft powdered spices.
Palate: A hint of maltiness comes through early on the palate with a fleeting sense of smoked red berries before deep vanilla buttercream creates a luscious foundation for rich pipe tobacco, cranberry sauce cut with anise, clove, and nutmeg, sticky toffee pudding, and mulled wine cut with toffee and dry reeds.
Finish: The spices warm on the finish before descending toward soft nutcakes and winter-spiced doughnuts with a light sense of stewed plum and pear over old saddle leather and rickhouse dank.
Bottom Line:
If you’re already into Legent (which is a great cocktail bourbon), then you’re going to love this. It’s a supple sipper that just keeps delivering deeper and deeper tasting notes on every return.
16. Maker’s Mark 2023 Limited Release BEP Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Finished With 10 Virgin Oak Staves
ABV: 55.35%
Average Price: $69
The Whisky:
This is the final chapter of this series 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 (the average bourbon goes into the barrel at 125-proof) and then finished with ten bespoke wooden staves inside the barrel, all made from new (or “virgin”) oak.
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 with 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 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.
Bottom Line:
Maker’s Mark is really amping up their Limited Releases this year with stellar whiskeys. This is a whiskey that deserves some serious time and love as it washes over you.
15. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch #22A
ABV: 66.1%
Average Price: $399
The Whiskey:
Stagg is Buffalo Trace’s Mash Bill no. 1 (a low-rye mash) turned all the way up to MAX volume. The whiskey spends about a decade resting in the old Buffalo Trace warehouses before it’s batched and bottled (in this case in Spring 2023) 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is rich on the nose with deep senses of dark chocolate brownies just kissed with stewed black cherry and old vanilla pods before a soft sense of red chili tobacco and wet brown sugar tobacco lead to a whisper of smoldering fall leaves.
Palate: That dark chocolate and chili-laced tobacco drives the taste toward a Christmas cake brimming with candied cherry, orange rind, rum raisin, clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and creamy vanilla icing with a dash of salt, marzipan, and brandy-soaked apple and pear orchards.
Finish: The rich and boozy holiday cake fades on the finish as deep earthiness — think firewood bark and smudging sage — drives the end toward a big Kentucky hug of warmth that’s just right.
Bottom Line:
This was one of the first times that I really loved a Stagg release from first nose and sip to last. It truly balanced the high-proof and deeply delicious bourbon profile perfectly. Pour it over a big rock and go with it.
14. Booker’s “Charlie’s Batch” 2023-01 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 63.3%
Average Price: $97
The Whiskey:
This first Booker’s Small Batch of 2023 has arrived! This release is an hommage to Charlie Hutchens — the woodworker who makes Booker’s boxes the whiskey comes in and a long-time family friend to the Noe family who makes Beam whiskeys. The whiskey is a blend of mid to high-floor barrels from five warehouses. Those whiskeys were batched and bottled 100% as-is at cask strength after just north of seven years of aging.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Toasted almonds and walnuts lead the way on the nose with a deep and rich vanilla cake lightly dusted with cacao, dry cherry, and cinnamon with a touch of old oak cellars and black-mold-encrusted old deck furniture.
Palate: The soft caramel and vanilla open the palate before a rush of woody and sharp spices — clove, anise, allspice, red chili pepper — arrive with a sense of old wood chips on a workshop floor leads to salted toffee dipped in roasted almonds and dark salted chocolate with a whisper of cherry cordial backing it all up.
Finish: That soft sweetness counters the hot spices for a while on the slow finish as the spices take on an orange/cherry/vanilla Christmas cake vibe with plenty of nuts and ABV heat.
Bottom Line:
There’ll be more Booker’s releases this year (there already have been in fact). But this is the one to beat for 2023. All that you need is a big rock and you’ll be set.
13. Barrell Bourbon Cask Strength Batch# 034 A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys
ABV: 57.31%
Average Price: $84
The Whiskey:
The latest Batch from Barrell Bourbon is a blend of bourbons from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. The barrels in the mix are between six and 15 years old. Those barrels are masterfully blended and bottled 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a dry apple cider vibe that leans into orange marmalade, dried apricot, and moist almond cake dipped in luxurious eggnog on the nose.
Palate: There’s a woody huckleberry jam vibe on the front of the palate that leads to old-fashioned cinnamon apple fritter, pecan waffles, more orange marmalade, and nutty almond cookies dusted in powdered sugar and nutmeg.
Finish: There’s a hint of dry sweetgrass and dried pear chips with a hint of sasparilla root, sea salt flakes, and this fleeting sense of cold slate on a rainy day balanced by rich yet dry chili spice and dark and burnt orange and espresso beans.
Bottom Line:
This is another one that’ll be hard to beat for 2023. It’s just really f*cking good whiskey.
12. Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Bottled-In-Bond Double Oaked Bourbon Whiskey Toasted Series
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $79
The Whiskey:
This starts off with Starlight’s high-corn bourbons that are four to six years old. Once batched, the whiskey is refilled into new toasted oak from France for an additional six to eight months.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of soft apricot leather next to dark fruit layered with dry spice barks and berries, toasted oakiness, and fluttering moments of woody tobacco imbued with red chili pepper spice.
Palate: A clear dry cedar kindling vibe leads to creamy eggnog, plenty of moist winter spice cakes, and black tea cut with creamed honey on the palate.
Finish: The dark fruit darkens on the finish as dry kindling, sweet oak, and rich chewing tobacco dance with dates, figs, and plums with a distinct almond shell nutty/woody feel that ends on a warm hug of a fireplace on a cold fall day next to a fallow orchard.
Bottom Line:
This is another whiskey that just slaps. Pour it over a little ice and enjoy. That’s all you need to do.
11. Lost Lantern Single Distillery Series Soaring Spice Frey Ranch Distillery Nevada Straight Bourbon Whiskey
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.
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.
Bottom Line:
There have been so many great Lost Lantern releases this year. This one holds the top spot for the bourbons they’ve released. It’s balanced, deep, and delectable.
10. Rabbit Hole Dareringer Founder’s Collection Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in PX Sherry Casks Limited Edition
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 that was 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.
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.
Bottom Line:
If you don’t like this, you might not like bourbon full top.
9. Jim Beam Lineage Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey A Father And Son Collaboration
ABV: 55%
Average Price: $250
The Whiskey:
This whiskey was released for the struggling travel retail market late last year. The whiskey in the bespoke bottle is a 15-year-old classic Beam bourbon that was aged on specific ricks in Warehouse K (the most famed warehouse on the Clermont, Kentucky campus). Father and son Fred and Freddie Noe both selected the barrels to make this blend and released it almost completely as-is with just a drop of that soft Kentucky limestone water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is classic from the jump with a soft caramel candy with vanilla buttercream frosting over spiced choco-cherry cake, a touch of clove-studded burnt orange rind, and soft marzipan with a hint of old oak cellars.
Palate: The palate is lush with a sense of Black Forest cake — stewed cherries, vanilla cream, moist chocolate cake, dry dark chocolate shavings — next to a bunch of woody and barky winter spices with a hint of hazelnut and burnt orange.
Finish: The end leans ever-so-slightly into old cedar bark and rich spiced cherry tobacco layered with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans and a hint of sharp mint and maybe some more of that clove.
Bottom Line:
This is an incredible Jim Beam bourbon. It’s so good that it’ll give you a new respect for the old-school brand.
8. Old Forester 2023 Birthday Bourbon
ABV: 48%
Average Price: $169 (Sweepstakes Only)
The Whiskey:
This year’s Birthday Bourbon is a subtle masterpiece expression from Lousiville’s oldest distillery. The whiskey in the bottle is hewn from 103 barrels that were filled on May 5th, 2011. Those barrels were housed on the 5th floor of Warehouse I in Louisville for 12 years for batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Candied orange peels draw you in on the nose as molasses and rum raisin lead to salted dark chocolate-covered coffee beans, old cedar bark, and dry orchard barks layered with soft winter spice barks and dark cherry.
Palate: That candied orange drives the palate with a sense of Luxardo cherries, old rickhouse dirt floors, and oak staves before rummy molasses and dark fruits — think dates, figs, and prunes — lead to a cedar tobacco vibe.
Finish: The end sweetens at first with a honeyed orange caramel before swinging back toward the coffee beans and cedar tobacco with a soft sense of old orchards in late fall.
Bottom Line:
I love this year’s Birthday Bourbon from Old Forester. It has a deep balance to it that hits so well while delivering a truly lovely bourbon profile.
7. Bardstown Bourbon Company Discovery Series #10 A Blend Of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys
ABV: 57.12%
Average Price: $139
The Whiskey:
This brand-new Discovery Series edition from Bardstown Bourbon Company is a masterful blend. The whiskey is a mix of three Kentucky bourbon, one Georgia bourbon, and one Tennessee whiskey all with rye and wheated bourbon mash bills. The barrels were six to 13 years old when batched and bottled as-is without filtering or proofing water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Caramelized pecan pie slathered in maple syrup runs deep with Black Forest Cake and soft winter spice next to a hint of old boot leather and cedar humidors with a touch of hazelnut with a deep earthiness.
Palate: That hazelnut turns into Nutella on the luxurious palate as buttercream and vanilla cake mingle with woody spices and a hint of candied cherry and orange peels.
Finish: The end is pure silk with a sense of those dry winter spice countered by soft nutty creamed vanilla custard and a light note of wild smudging sage.
Bottom Line:
This does everything a great bourbon does while still feeling approachable and unpretentious. From the first sip, this feels like sitting down with an old friend.
6. Four Roses 2023 135th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch Select
ABV: 54%
Average Price: $199 (Lottery Only)
The Whiskey:
This year’s Four Roses LE Small Batch is only 15,060 bottles. In those bottles, you’ll find a blend of 12, 14, 16, and 25-year-old barrels of whiskey. Those barrels are perfectly balanced to bring deep flavors to the batch before proofing and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich winter spice cakes with roasted nuts, rum raisin, and soft vanilla oils vibe with old cedar kindling, hints of dill, and a faint touch of marshmallow that’s spent too much time in the fire.
Palate: The palate is all sticky toffee pudding and honey cake with a rush of red huckleberry and tart raspberry next to pear cider cut with clove, cinnamon, and allspice and a faint touch of brandied marzipan.
Finish: The finish turns into a luscious masterpiece of soft pear brandy-soaked marzipan with creamy dark chocolate and spiced Christmas nut cakes next to a soft chili tobacco dipped in molasses.
Bottom Line:
This is another home run from Four Roses. It’s just great bourbon that deserves slow sipping on a slow night at home.
5. Augusta Distillery Buckner’s Aged 13 Years Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 60% (varies)
Average Price: $199
The Whiskey:
This is a very niche brand out in rural Kentucky that’s sourcing old barrels. The whiskey in the bottle is a Kentucky straight bourbon that rested for 13 years before it was bottled completely as-is both unfiltered and at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of old barrel houses full of sweet and spice bourbon next to a gentle moment of creamy vanilla honey with old corn husks stuffed in the honey which is poured over spiced winter nut breads with a hint of butteriness and earthy nutshells.
Palate: The clove, allspice, and anise of the nut bread amp up the buttery palate with a sense of Earl Grey tea leaves, salted caramel, and mocha-heavy espresso beans next to a light marzipan moistness and hints of burnt orange next to old dry black cherry bark.
Finish: The end lingers for a while as the marzipan and orchard barks fade toward sharp eggnog spices and soft creaminess before the vanilla creamed honey slathers old oak staves with a good dose of earthy fall vibes kind of like a forest floor on a frosty day.
Bottom Line:
This was named the best bourbon in the world in San Francisco this year. I was there and I can attest that it lives up to that accolade.
4. Old Fitzgerald Bottled-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 10 Years “Spring 2023” Decanter
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $139
The Whiskey:
Old Fitzgerald Botted-In-Bond Decanters always holds Heaven Hill’s wheated bourbon, which is made with a mash of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. That recipe harkens back to before the brand was part of the Pappy Van Winkle line at the old Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville. In this case, the bourbon went into the barrel in the spring of 2013 and was left for 10 years. In the spring of 2023, those barrels were batched and just proofed with that soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling in Heaven Hill’s bespoke decanters for the official 11th Old Fitz release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with lemon cake with a whisper of meringue next to honey Graham Crackers, winter spiced Nutella cut with orange oils, soft vanilla sheet cake, and this fleeting sense of Double Mint gum by way of a vanilla malt milkshake.
Palate: The palate is luscious and sweet with a sense of rum-soaked raisins covered in dark salted chocolate next to toffee rolled in almond and dipped in eggnog with a light moment of stewed cherry compote with whole clove, allspice, and cinnamon bark.
Finish: Those woody winter spices amp up through the finish with a deep dark cherry jam over lemon-kissed shortbread with plenty of real vanilla before a light sense of tobacco rolled with molasses softens the very end.
Bottom Line:
We got a surprise Old Fitz Decanter this year and it’s another stellar Heaven Hill wheated bourbon. Seriously, this is good goddamn whiskey.
3. 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 juice 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 will completely change any preconceived notion that you might have about Jack Daniel’s This is a world-class pour of whiskey from top to bottom.
2. Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof 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, nutty marzipan, and dark cherry all combining into chewy tobacco packed into an old pine box and wrapped up with worn leather thread.
Bottom Line:
I really like last year’s batch of Russell’s 13. This year’s batch was even better. This is one of the best Kentucky whiskeys there is right now.
1. Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 10 Years Old
ABV: 47.2%
Average Price: $185
The Whiskey:
The whiskey barrels sourced for these single-barrel expressions tend to be at least 10 years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel’s quality, naturally). Either way, the whiskey goes through Michter’s bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky’s iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a peppery sense of cedar bark and burnt orange next to salted caramel and tart red berries with a moist and spicy sticky toffee pudding with some brandy butter dancing on the nose.
Palate: The palate blends vanilla tobacco with salted dark chocolate-covered marzipan while espresso cream leads to new porch wicker and black peppercorns.
Finish: The end has a pecan waffle vibe with chocolate chips, maple syrup, blackberry jam, and minced meat pies next to old tobacco and cedar with a sweet yet toasted marshmallow on the very end.
Bottom Line:
Michter’s 10-Year Bourbon made a triumphant return this year. And the whiskey in the bottle was extraordinary. Just … extraordinary. Find it, drink it, love it.