The Absolute Best Bourbon Whiskeys From This Year’s New York World Wine & Spirits Competition

NYWSC 2022 Bourbons — iStockphoto/UPROXX

The New York World Wine & Spirits Competition just dropped their list of “Best in Class” spirits. While we love a good vodka and tequila around these parts, but today we’re going to call out the 14 bourbons that not only won big medals but made it to the finals of the competition.

For context, the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition (NYWSC) is the East Coast division of The Tasting Alliance. That group oversees the famed San Francisco World Spirits Competition, The Tasting Alliance Beer Competition, Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, and the Singapore World Spirits Competition. The medals — bronze, silver, gold, and double gold (and eliminated) — are handed out by panels of judges tasting the pours double-blind. If a pour gets a double gold — that means all the judges unanimously and anonymously gave that pour a gold medal — then those judges decide whether or not that pour is good enough to go to the finals (or sweeps as they call it) for the “Best in Show” round. Those whiskeys that made it to the finals/sweeps are the bourbons I’m listing below.

Before we dive in, I was a head judge at this year’s competition. That means I’ve personally tasted each of these whiskeys (double-blind while judging them). Now that I know which whiskey was which, I can provide my own tasting notes with each of the best-in-class bourbon whiskeys from this year’s competition in New York. It’s also worth noting that these are all winners, there’s not a bad whiskey in the bunch.

Let’s dive in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

Best Straight Bourbon

Joseph Magnus Murray Hill Club Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend

ABV: 51.5%

Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

This is a masterfully sourced whiskey. The juice is a mix of 18 and eleven-year-old bourbon with a nine-year-old light whiskey (a high-proof whiskey aged in lightly toasted, uncharted barrels). That blend is then just touched with water before bottling without any fussing.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a rich sense of buttery toffee on the nose with plenty of cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice next to a hint of savory fig and some vanilla cream. The palate merges the spices into a lush eggnog vibe as hints of old cedar planks mix with a black peppercorn sharpness. The end mixes the spices into a buttery cookie with hints of singed cinnamon bark, old pine, and soft vanilla tobacco leaves.

Bottom Line:

This was solid all around. It felt like the perfect cool weather drinker thanks to all that wintry spice. That also means this would make a hell of a Manhattan.

15 STARS First West Bourbon Batch 1

ABV: 52.5%

Average Price: Coming Soon

The Whiskey:

The father/son team at 15 STARS is hitting it out of the park with their amazing sourced blends. This new release is a mix of 15, nine, and six-year-old bourbons from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. The marriage of whiskeys is just touched with water before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this one meanders through soft winter spices before hitting a vanilla wafer with a hint of nougat before getting into a woody bramble of orchard trees and firewood bark. The palate leads off with the woody edge before diving into holiday spices with a hint of raisin and date next to creamed vanilla butter and a touch of brown sugar. There’s a hint of apple/cherry pie filling before the woodiness takes over on the backend with a spicy tobacco edge with a hint of sweet cedar.

Bottom Line:

This has a nice complexity that leans woody but not overly so. Overall, this felt like a nice sipper that’d benefit from a few rocks.

Best Special Barrel-Finished Bourbon

Trail’s End 8-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Apple Brandy Barrels

ABV: 52.5%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This sourced eight-year-old Kentucky bourbon is sent out to Hood River, Oregon for a little tinkering. The juice is vatted and then re-barreled in Clear Creek apple brandy barrels for a final touch of aging.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a rush of falling dead leaves on the nose that leads to an old cafe cherry pie with a hint of lard crust next to RC Cola (kind of flat) and a whisper of dry sweetgrass. The palate has a sense of black tea cut with floral honey and a dash of oats before a hint of cardamon and nutmeg kick in. The end arrives with a woody spiciness and hint of barrel char next to espresso bean bitterness and a light whisper of cherry-infused honey tobacco wrapped around dry cedar bark.

Bottom Line:

This is one of those local whiskeys (to Oregon mostly) that should get a lot more love. It’s unique yet very deeply nostalgic. It also feels like it’d made a killer Sazerac.

Garrison Brothers Guadalupe Whiskey

ABV: 53.5%

Average Price: $130

The Whiskey:

This whiskey is hewn from 90 30-gallon barrels of four-year-old bourbon that were transferred into 26 59-gallon Tawny Port casks for a final maturation of nearly two years. That juice was then bottled as-is after a touch of water was added.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this bursts with raspberry, blackberry, redcurrant, and blueberry all stewed with plenty of holiday spices and folded into a cobbler topped with dense buttery buttermilk biscuits. The palate leans into the spice with a focus on clove, nutmeg, and a very small whisper of anise as the berry turns more towards a fresh strawberry with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans chiming in on the mid-palate. That chocolate-bitter vibe drives towards a finish full of cinnamon-spiked dark chocolate tobacco leaves, stewed plums, and a dollop of floral honey.

Bottom Line:

This is one of my favorite pours in general. It’s delicious neat or on a rock or two. It also makes one of the best Manhattans money can buy.

Best Small Batch Bourbon (Up to 10 Years Old)

George Dickel Bourbon

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $38

The Whiskey:

The whisky in the bottle is the same Dickel Tennessee whiskey but pulled from barrels that leaned more into classic bourbon flavor notes instead of Dickel’s iconic Tennessee whisky notes. The barrels are a minimum of eight years old before they’re vatted. The juice is then cut down to a manageable 90-proof and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

This nose is classic, with rich vanilla next to dry spicy tobacco leaves next to apple hand pies with sugar icing made with plenty of dark spices and butter. The palate has a bran vibe that hints at a white Necco Wafer with a ripe white peach fresh off the tree with a hint of ginger bite to it. The end circles back around to a vanilla wafer with nutmeg, orange zest, and a twinge of dark chocolate sauce leading to a dry and slightly molded wicker chair sitting in the sun.

Bottom Line:

This, to me, is the best value on the list. This is an accessible bourbon both in price and palate. This really is a hidden gem from Tennessee.

Fox & Oden Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch 5

ABV: 49.5%

Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

This sourced whiskey (from MGP of Indiana) is all about finding the best barrels and batching them to create something more. The juice in this small batch bourbon is rendered from MGP’s 21 percent and 36 percent rye bourbon mash bills. The barrels are between eight and 15 years old. Once vatted, the whiskey is just touched with water before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

A rich buttery note comes through on the nose with a hint of salted corn next to savory figs with a hint of honey and freshly ground nutmeg mixed with some vanilla cream. The palate turns that butteriness into salted caramel with a hint of sticky toffee pudding with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg next to a thin line of charred oak underneath it all. The end dries out with a sense of old leather wrapped around an old and dry tobacco leaf with a twinge of raisin.

Bottom Line:

This is just a well-made whiskey. It’s easy sipping and, well, that’s it.

The Frank August Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $73

The Whiskey:

The first whiskey from Frank August is a sourced bourbon. The juice is made in Kentucky, where it’s also aged. The team at Frank August then takes roughly ten to 15 barrels per batch and builds this bourbon painstakingly to fit their desired flavor profile. The whiskey is then lightly proofed down to 100 proof before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is pure classic bourbon with hints of salted caramel with a twinge of soft grains next to spicy cherry syrup, a whisper of sour apple, and a touch of aged oak staves soaked in mulled wine. The palate moves on from the soft grains towards rum-soaked raisins with a warm winter spice matrix — cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice — before a brown sugar/rock candy sweetness takes over on the mid-palate. The finish is long and sweet with a nice dose of sharp cinnamon and soft nutmeg that leads to a supple vanilla cream with a thin line of dry cedar and tobacco spice just touched with dark cherry on the very end.

Bottom Line:

Although only available in select (small) markets, this is slowly becoming the must-have bourbon release in the back half of 2022. The awards are coming in for both the juice and the bottle design (you can reuse the bottle as a decanter).

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey Uncle Nearest Master Blend Edition Batch 012

Uncle Nearest Masters Select — Uncle Nearest

ABV: 60.8%

Average Price: $150

The Whiskey:

While Uncle Nearest is distilling their own juice these days, this is still the work of Master Blender Victoria Eady Butler with carefully sourced Tennessee whiskey barrels. In this case, Eady Bulter hand-selected the best-of-the-best from their inventory to create the perfect whiskey to exemplify the brand and Tennessee whiskey traditions.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a lovely sense of sourdough old-fashioned doughnuts dusted in cinnamon on the nose with a hint of brown sugar, nutmeg, pecan, and cedar/tobacco with a warm edge. The palate layers those pecans into a waffle with plenty of butter and maple syrup next to dried sour cherries with old leather, dried corn cobs, and spiced cherry tobacco next to dry black dirt with a hint of sweetness to it. The end lessens the cherry and leads to peppery tobacco with a warm finish full of dry firewood, more of that woody maple syrup, and a dash of vanilla cream underneath it.

Bottom Line:

I really dig this. I’ve tried it again since the competition and it is great stuff. It also makes me really excited about what’s coming up next in this lineup. All of that said, you might want to pour this one over a single rock to cool it down and let the whiskey bloom a little.

Best Single Barrel Bourbon (Up to 10 Years Old)

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $350

The Whiskey:

Elmer T. Lee is another hugely popular release that’s very limited (and sought after). Where this differs from the other single barrels on this list is in the mash bill (this is a bit higher rye) and the placing of the barrel in the warehouse. It’s said that the barrels for Elmer T. Lee are stored where the master distiller himself used to store the barrels he kept for his own stash.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this is like a decadent breakfast of pancakes smothered in cinnamon butter, dripping with the best maple syrup, and topped with a hand-made scoop of vanilla ice cream. The palate holds onto the vanilla and spice but settles into more of floral honeyed sweetness with touches of cedar, old library book leather, and a hint of tobacco buzz. The end lingers for a while and leaves you with a dry pear tobacco warmth next to a cinnamon heat and maple bar sweetness.

Bottom Line:

This is, hands down, one of the most beloved single-barrel whiskeys on the market. If you can find one, buy one. You will not be disappointed.

W. L. Weller Single Barrel Wheated Bourbon

ABV: 48.5%

Average Price: $1,500

The Whiskey:

The whiskey is basically one step away from being a Pappy single barrel. The juice is the same wheated bourbon distillate that’s loaded into the same barrels. The main difference is the flavor profile these single barrels hit because they’re all under eight years old (Pappy is 10 years and older). These barrels are picked for their “Weller” flavor profile and then the juice is cut down very slightly with that famously soft Kentucky limestone water.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with a mix of fresh mint next to ripe red cherries with a vanilla backbone and a shaving of dry wood. The taste holds onto that vanilla while building towards eggnog spiciness with hints of dark chocolate, salted caramel corn balls, espresso bean bitterness, and this small flourish of white pepper. That powdery pepper lingers and warms as the sip slowly fades away, leaving you with those creamy eggnog spices, woody vanilla husks, and a mild tobacco buzz and warmth by way of a pine humidor.

Bottom Line:

This isn’t my favorite Weller (that’s the yearly BTAC release or the 12-year). My opinion aside, this is still world-class bourbon. If you can find this at closer to its MSRP ($60), then you’ll definitely be winning the bourbon hunting game!

Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr., Single Barrel Bourbon

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $280

The Whiskey:

These whiskeys for E.H. Taylor, Jr. are aged in the famed Warehouse C at Buffalo Trace from their mash bill no. 1. While the exact parameters of that bill are undisclosed, this is the same recipe as Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and Stagg. In this case, the barrels are picked for their Taylor flavor profile and bottled one at a time with a slight touch of water to bring them down to bottled-in-bond proof.

Tasting Notes:

Dried dark fruits and a hint of vanilla wafers mingle with fig fruit leather, a touch of orchard wood, and a deep caramel on the nose. The palate holds onto those notes while layering in dark berry tobacco with sharp winter spices, new leather, and a singed cotton candy next to a cedar box filled with that tobacco. The finish lingers on your senses a while and leaves the spice behind for that dark, almost savory fruit note with an echo of blackberry Hostess pies next to soft leather pouches that have held chewy tobacco for decades and a final hint of old porch wicker in the middle of summer.

Bottom Line:

This is another stone-cold classic bourbon. Luckily, these are a little more findable from the luxe Buffalo Trace lineups. You can also find pours of these in good whiskey bars for a fairly good price still.

Blanton’s Straight From the Barrel Single Barrel Bourbon

ABV: 65.9%

Average Price: $340

The Whiskey:

Blanton’s is “The Original Single Barrel” bourbon, and this expression is the purest form of that whiskey. The juice in this case is from the barrels that need no cutting with water and are perfect as-is, straight from the barrel. All the barrels will come from Warehouse H (where Elmer T. Lee stored his private stash of barrels back in the day) and arrive with varying proofs. The through-line is the excellent taste of that single, unadulterated barrel in each sip.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is full of very bespoke dark chocolate-covered salted hard caramel toffees encrusted with almonds and pecans — the kind you get from a chocolate shop that imports their goodies from somewhere like Belgium. The nutty toffee carries through into the taste as oily vanilla pods mingle with cedar boxes of dried tobacco leaves and a touch of floral honey. The end is very long and lingers in your senses, with a hot buzzing that subtly fades through all that sweetness.

Bottom Line:

This is an excellent example of Blanton’s that’s a tad hotter than you might expect. It’s still nuanced and welcoming, you just need a single rock for this one.

Red Line Cask Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon

ABV: 58%

Average Price: $70

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Red Line is sourced from hand-selected barrels from MGP of Indiana. The team at Red Line picked six-year-old barrels of MGP’s iconic high-rye bourbon mash of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and only four percent malted barley. Those barrels were vatted and then bottled as-is at cask strength.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a lovely sweetness that arrives on the nose with a hint of burnt sugars and brown butter just starting to coalesce into caramel with a flake of salt and a sense of rum-raisin and an echo of charred oak. The palate leans into a light apple compote with a hint of plum and plenty of wintry spices next to vanilla and wicker before the warmth of the ABVs peak on the mid-palate. The end is soft and supple with a sense of spiced prune jam, old porch wicker, and allspice berries.

Bottom Line:

This is just a nice sipping whiskey. It’s easy and deep. You can’t ask for more.

Best Overall Bourbon

Southern Star Paragon Cask Strength Single Barrel Wheated Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 58%

Average Price: $104

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 percent corn, 16 percent wheat, and 14 percent malted barley. The juice was left for around four years before the barrel was hand-pocked and bottled as-is at cask strength.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with a sense of orange blossoms and 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. 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. 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 was freakin’ delicious. If you can get your hand on a bottle, buy two.