Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series: BEP, Kentucky Peerless High Rye Bourbon, & More [New Releases]

Spring is here and with it comes our latest issue, which is now on the newsstands. The issue offers an in-depth insight into the world of single barrel whiskeys, a guide to making the most of the upcoming Derby Weekend in Louisville, over 100 whisky reviews, and more—pick up your copy today and dig in.

Elsewhere, Stranahan's has debuted a new après ski experience in Vail Valley that’s perfect for whisky-loving skiers, snowboarders, and mountain-goers. A collaboration between the distillery and The Westin Riverfront, the Stranahan’s Après Ski Lounge features four life-size, heated whiskey barrels made for dramming and dining. It runs until April 2, and you can make reservations here.

New whisky this week comes from all over the U.S. and Scotland. Maker’s Mark has introduced the fifth and final installment of its Wood Finishing Series, Kentucky Peerless is making its high-rye bourbon a permanent fixture, and Bruchladdich is back with the first Port Charlotte release of the year. Read on for full details.

Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series: BEP
Style: Finished bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
ABV: 55.35%
Price: $70
Release: March 2023
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
This is the fifth and final release within the Maker’s Wood Finishing Series, which launched in 2019. As with its predecessors, this whiskey highlights an element of the production process that’s quintessential to Maker’s Mark—this one being the barrel entry proof, or BEP. The signature Maker’s Mark BEP is 110, which is quite a bit lower than the maximum BEP of 125 proof. Ten virgin toasted American oak staves were added to the barrel to enhance the sweet notes of vanilla and baking spice that occur at this lower BEP.

Whisky Advocate says:
Maker’s Mark is one of the only distilleries that uses a BEP of 110 proof—a practice that began when it rolled out its first whiskeys in 1958, as 110 was the legal limit for barrel entry proof back then. But when the legal BEP was raised to 125 proof in 1962, Maker’s chose to continue using 110 proof and hasn’t deviated since. The exception is its DNA Series, which explores variations in barrel entry proof, fermentation, and distillation, featuring bourbons with BEPs up to 125. Putting whiskey in a barrel at a lower proof can amplify softer, sweeter flavors; that’s why other distilleries (including Michter’s, which barrels its whiskeys at 103 proof) also abide by lower BEPs.

Kentucky Peerless High Rye Bourbon
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
ABV: Varies
Price: $159
Release: April 15, 2023
Availability: Nationwide

Need to know:
Kentucky Peerless is adding this high-rye bourbon to its permanent lineup. It’s the first new Peerless mashbill since the launches of its rye in 2017 and bourbon in 2019. The whiskey will be available nationwide in limited quantities, with ABVs varying from batch to batch. To celebrate, Peerless will be holding a bottle-signing event at its downtown Louisville distillery on Saturday, April 15. A limited number of bottles will be available, and the first 200 sold will be specially labeled and hand numbered.

Whisky Advocate says:
Kentucky Peerless dates back to 1880, when it was founded in Henderson, Kentucky. Prohibition brought a halt to production, and the distillery was actually dismantled in 1925. Nearly a century later in 2015, Peerless was revived by descendants of its original owner, and a new distillery was built in downtown Louisville. By 2017 Peerless whiskey was back on shelves, with its 2 year old rye earning the No. 15 spot on our 2017 Top 20 list. Peerless produces small batch whiskey at higher price points, but there’s no denying the quality. Double Oak Bourbon scored 93 points with Whisky Advocate’s tasting panel, finishing at No. 8 on the 2021 Top 20 list.

Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2014
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Islay)
Age: 7 year old
ABV: 50%
Price: $85
Release: February 2023
Availability: Widely available

Need to know:
This first Bruichladdich release of the year is a 2014 vintage of Port Charlotte Islay Barley. The barley used was peated to 40 phenol parts per million, with 84% matured in first-fill bourbon casks, 8% in second-fill virgin oak (new casks that have held Bruichladdich single malt once before), and 8% in second-fill Bordeaux wine casks. The barley was grown on eight Islay farms, all within 15 miles of the distillery. This is also the first new release from Bruichladdich without any secondary packaging, as the distillery has ditched its traditional tin tube.

Whisky Advocate says:
Bruichladdich has long made a commitment to showcase Islay-grown barley, with 50% of the grains used for all of its single malts coming from 20 local farmer partnerships. The distillery also offers a Bruichladdich Islay Barley expression each year, with the 2013 vintage scoring 93 points and landing at No. 9 on our Top 20 list for 2022.

Glen Grant 21 year old
Style: Single malt
Origin: Scotland (Speyside)
Age: 21 year old
ABV: 46%
Price: $360
Release: March 2023
Availability: Nationwide

Need to know:
Glen Grant is adding this 21 year old expression to its core range, making it the oldest permanently available whisky in the lineup. It’s aged in a combination of oloroso sherry butts, hogsheads, and bourbon barrels from Warehouse No. 4, a traditional stone dunnage warehouse that is the distillery’s oldest. The 21 year old joins 10, 12, 15, and 18 year old whiskies in the Glen Grant range.

Whisky Advocate says:
This 21 year old is inspired by the legacy of “The Major” James Grant, the visionary behind Glen Grant, who would bring different fruits and plants from his travels back to Scotland, where he displayed them in glasshouses, and later, a garden at the distillery. As a result, master distiller Dennis Malcolm has crafted this new whisky to show intense fruity character. We have previously placed a spotlight on other great 21 year old whiskies, many of them single malt scotch. If you want to learn more about dunnage-style warehouses, which are made with earthen floors and stone walls, you can read more in our guide to warehouses and barrel storage.

Pinhook Vertical Series Rye 7 year
Style: Straight rye
Origin: Indiana
Age: 7 year old
ABV: 52.56%
Price: $78
Release: March 2023
Availability: Limited; 5,970 bottles

Need to know:
The latest release in Pinhook’s Vertical series is a 7 year old rye distilled at MGP from a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley. It’s a blend of 28 barrels. The series tracks the same whiskey at different ages, from 4 to 12 years old, but age is not the only difference between these whiskeys. The Pinhook production team tastes each release at cask strength, and then determines the best proof for bottling, generally finding that the ABV will increase as the age does. For previous rye releases in the Vertical Series, the ABV has in fact increased each year, starting at 48.5% for the 4 year, 51.5% for the 5 year, and 54% for the 6 year, with the 7 year receiving a slight dip. The casks used for this series are aged and blended at Castle & Key in Frankfort, Kentucky, with whom Pinhook has held a distilling partnership since 2017.

Whisky Advocate says:
The MGP 95% rye recipe is a popular mashbill with craft brands that rely on sourced whiskey. Being able to taste that same whiskey at so many different age points is an unusual approach, and enjoying any of the releases in the Vertical Series side-by-side is a great way to expand your palate and decide what age you prefer. Have a friend set up a blind tasting—you may be surprised, as most believe age is synonymous with quality, but that is not always the case.

Wolves Whiskey Lot One
Style: American single malt
Origin: California
Age: 7 year old
ABV: 55%
Price: $289
Release: April 2023
Availability: Limited; 2,250 bottles

Need to know:
Wolves Lot One comes from a batch of whiskey distilled in 2015. Twelve barrels were yielded, and of those, 11 were blended together for this release and bottled at 55% ABV. The whiskey was aged in virgin American oak charred to levels ranging from just a light toast to char No.-3. If you’re eager to get a taste of Lot One, you can sign up for the Wolves Allocation List—it’s free and gives you priority access to the brand’s releases—beginning March 30, or try your luck at retail come April.

Wolves Whiskey Lot One: The 12th Barrel
Style: American single malt
Origin: California
Age: 7 year old
ABV: $62.5%
Price: $350
Release: April 2023
Availability: Limited; 228 bottles

Need to know:
The 12th barrel from Lot One, was selected as the sole single barrel release. It aged within a heavy-toast barrel and was bottled at 125 proof. Just 228 bottles of the 12th barrel are available, and they’ll be offered exclusively to members of Wolves’ Allocation List.

Whisky Advocate says:
These are the first single malts from Wolves Whiskey, a California-based brand founded by James Bond (not that James Bond—this Bond is the co-founder of sneaker and apparel boutique Undefeated) and Jon Buscemi, an American streetwear designer. The whiskey is distilled in Sonoma by Marko Karakasevic, a 13th-generation master distiller who owns Charbay Distillery in California's Mendocino County. Karakasevic distilled Lot One in an alembic pot still from Cognac, France that was imported back in 1983. Wolves should have more ASMs in the future, given that it acquired a limited supply of single malt and malted barley whiskeys that were laid down in 8 to 12 barrel lots as far back as 2011.

Nomad Outland Reserve
Style: Blend
Origin: Scotland and Spain
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 43.1%
Price: $80/700 ml.
Release: March 2023
Availability: 480 bottles in Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas

Need to Know:
This whisky was distilled in Scotland, where it spent its first 6 years maturing in sherry-seasoned American oak barrels. After that, the blend was shipped to Jerez, Spain where it aged for 2 years in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks and then 2 more years in oloroso casks. During its time in Scotland, the whisky was under the care of Richard Paterson, the man behind the Dalmore’s rise to prominence in the scotch world. In Spain, the barrels were monitored by brandy distiller Rocio Trillo.

Whisky Advocate says:
Nomad’s latest limited release takes sherry-cask finishing to another level by spending part of its aging time in Jerez. While the whisky’s international passage makes it quite unique but no longer technically scotch whisky, it retains a strong pedigree, as it was blended in Scotland by Richard Paterson. The blender knows how to blend a whisky for sherry cask finishing, as it’s a hallmark of the Dalmore family of whiskies. While the initial release for Nomad Outland is quite small, the whisky will become more widely available during the 2023 holiday season.

Ragged Branch Secretariat Reserve
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Virginia
Age: 5 year old
ABV: 50%
Price: $100
Release: April 2023
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
This bourbon is named for Secretariat, the American thoroughbred who won horse racing’s Triple Crown, and still holds the record for the fastest time in all three races. Secretariat was from Virginia, which Ragged Branch also calls home. The whiskey is aged for over 5 years and is bottled in bond, meaning it was produced in a single distillation season by a single distillery, matured in a U.S. bonded warehouse, and bottled at 50% ABV.

Whisky Advocate says:
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown season. While the horse’s name, Ragged Branch has gone a step further by using corn grown on the farm where Secretariat was born. The bottle also features a painting of Secretariat mid-race by New York-based artist Eric Helvie. The whiskey will be available starting April 22nd in Virginia ABC stores and at Ragged Branch Distillery in Charlottesville, with some availability in mid-Atlantic markets and online retailers soon thereafter.