There’s a wintry feel in this latest round of new releases, led by New Riff’s latest Winter Whisky offering, as well as two new stout cask finished expressions—one from Nelson’s Green Brier in Nashville and the other from distiller-brewer Town Branch in Lexington, Kentucky. Then we have a honey barrel-finished bourbon from North Carolina distiller Southern Star, inaugural releases from Distillery of Modern Art, based in Chamblee, Georgia, another shot to get your hands on World Whiskey Society's 13 year old Wyatt Earp Hazmat Edition, and whiskey-based liqueurs. Plenty to add to your Black Friday shopping list!
New Riff Winter Whiskey Kentucky Straight Bourbon
ABV: 50%
SRP: $55
Availability: Limited
A seasonal release first introduced in 2020, New Riff Winter Wheat is made from a mashbill of 65% corn, 20% malted oats, 7% pale ale malt, 5% steel-cut raw oats, and 3% chocolate malt. As with many of New Riff’s whiskeys, this one is bottled in bond, and it’s also made without chill filtration. The recipe’s varied grains imbue the whiskey with delicately dry notes of chocolate fudge, coffee ice cream, tobacco smoke, and orange marmalade.
While this is a limited release, it will be available for shipping and at retailers nationwide. Winter Wheat launches in New Riff’s Newport, Kentucky-based gift shop beginning this Friday, November 29th, at 11 a.m.
Nelson Brothers Black Brier Stout Cask Finished Bourbon (2024 Release)
ABV: 58%
SRP: $95
Availability: Distillery exclusive starting November 29th
Nashville-based Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery has announced the return of its distillery-exclusive Black Brier bourbon, which will be available starting next Friday. It sees the flagship Nelson Bros. blend of straight high-rye bourbons undergo a finish in casks that previously held imperial stout beer from the neighboring Blackstone Brewing Co.
Stout cask finishes are becoming more popular with distillers, who value the chocolatey and coffee-forward notes the barrels can contribute. The practice is most popular with single malt makers—particularly those in the American sector—but a few bourbon players are also in the game. Examples include Bardstown Bourbon Co., which has tapped stout casks from three breweries over the years; New Holland, which uses its own Dragon’s Milk stout casks; and Lonerider Spirits, which uses its own branded Deadwood Russian nitro stout.
Town Branch Maple Barrel Stout Finished Bourbon (2024)
ABV: 47%
SRP: $70
Availability: Limited; nationwide
Kentucky-based Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. has released a new batch of its Town Branch Maple Barrel Stout Finished bourbon, which has been an annual release since 2022. This expression sees Town Branch bourbon (72% corn, 15% rye, 13% malted barley) finished in the brewery’s own Maple Stout beer barrels for an undisclosed period. This year’s batch is the smallest one yet, producing only 300 cases.
This whiskey is an extension of the brewery’s barrel-aged beer program, which pairs porters, stouts, ales, and wheat beer with different maturation vessels. The stout used to finish this bourbon is Lexington’s winter seasonal offering, and it was aged for 18 months in bourbon barrels that were used to age maple syrup. A new batch of the stout has been released alongside the bourbon, and it goes for $20 a 4-pack.
DoMa Bourbon
ABV: 45%
SRP: $50/700 ml
Availability: online and at the distillery
DoMa Rye
ABV: 50%
SRP: $50/700 ml
Availability: online and at the distillery
Joining the Distillery of Modern Art’s (DoMa) lineup of amaro, gin, vodka, and corn whiskey are inaugural releases of a bourbon and a rye. Both are sweet mashed, fermented, distilled, and aged on-site for 2 years and 5 months. Non-GMO corn, Wrens Abruzzi rye—an early winter rye native to Georgia—and malted barley from Riverbend Malt in Ashville, North Carolina are featured in each expression’s mashbill: 67% corn, 21% rye, and 12% malted barley for the bourbon and the rye is made from 70% rye, 15% corn, and 15% malted barley.
Founded in 2022 and located in Chamblee, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, the Distillery of Modern Art lives up to its name. Aside from the spirits that are crafted on-site, DoMa celebrates local artists through rotating exhibits and murals throughout the distillery and cocktail lounge.
Southern Star Honey Barrel Finished Bourbon
ABV: 53.4%
SRP: $60
Availability: Distillery-exclusive, starting December 14th
This is a new limited-edition offering from Statesville, North Carolina’s Southern Distilling Co. It sees the label’s trademark Southern Star bourbon undergo a year-long finish in ex-whiskey barrels that previously held wildflower honey. It will be available at the distillery starting on December 14th, coinciding with a holiday celebration party that will include whiskey tastings, live music, cocktails, a food truck, and complimentary bottle engravings.
As is typically the case with other honey cask finishes, this project is the result of a cask exchange between the distillery and an apiary. A few years ago, a local honey producer contacted Southern Distillery co-founder Pete Barger to secure some bourbon barrels in order to make barrel-aged honey. After the honey was ready, the barrels were emptied and sent back to the distillery to be used as finishing vessels.
World Whiskey Society 13 year old Wyatt Earp Hazmat Edition American
ABV: 80%
SRP: $249
Availability: Sold out; to be available online and at select retailers next week
Independent bottler World Whiskey Society has added a new whiskey to its recently launched Wyatt Earp label. Unlike its two predecessors, which were American single malts, the newcomer has a fairly unconventional mashbill of 73% malted barley, 14.9% malted rye, and 12.1% malted wheat. After aging for 13 years in charred American oak barrels, it was bottled at the astonishingly high 160 proof—making it one of the highest-proof whiskeys we’ve seen this year.
The first shipment of this whiskey sold out quickly online last week, but the brand confirmed that a second shipment has already arrived. Those bottles are expected to become available for purchase on the World Whiskey Society website sometime soon. In the meantime, some bottles may still be found in select retailers.
Casey Jones Distillery Founder’s 10th Anniversary Blend
ABV: 51.65%
SRP: $100
Availability: Limited
Hopkinsville, Kentucky-based Casey Jones Distillery obtained its license on November 1, 2014. Ten years later, its resume includes a variety of American whiskeys as well as moonshine, and it’s now celebrating the milestone with a limited-edition blend.
The new offering is a blend of one barrel of Kentucky straight bourbon (made from a mashbill of 96% corn, 3% rye, and 1% malted barley) and two barrels of Barrel Cut, Casey Jones’ proprietary spirit distilled from 50% corn and 50% sugar cane. While the release celebrates the distillery’s 10th anniversary, the spirit is actually half that age, coming in at 5 years old. It’ll be available exclusively at the Casey Jones distillery starting November 29th.
Casey Jones is named in honor of Kentucky moonshiner Alfred “Casey” Jones, who designed stills in Golden Pond, Kentucky in the mid-1900s. Jones used only copper for the three-piece stills he made, which he then sold to people around Golden Pond for $20 (and a few gallons of whatever they made). Today, Casey Jones’ grandson, Arlon “AJ” Jones, carries on the family legacy as head distiller at Casey Jones Distillery.
Chattanooga Experimental Batch 041: Persimmon Infused Bourbon Liqueur
ABV: 45.2%
SRP: $55
Availability: Distillery exclusive
Tennessee-based Chattanooga Whiskey’s newest expression is a bourbon liqueur, made using a blend of five different high-malt mashbills—which include grains like blue corn, honey-malted barley, and aromatic malted barley, and pale malted rye among others. After aging for at least 3 years in charred and toasted barrels, the base bourbon was infused with persimmons, dates, fenugreek seeds, gentian, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, orange peel, and cane sugar.
Known for its sweet and sometimes tart flavor profile, persimmons are a fruit that comes into season in late fall and early winter. Though they’re sometimes turned into jams or used in baking recipes, persimmons are also a great ingredient for making cocktails. Bucky Barnes is one example that uses Eagle Rare 10, Nonino amaro, and a simple syrup made from persimmons, brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. While Experimental 041 can be sipped, Chattanooga recommends using it to make a Whiskey Sour with lemon juice and maple syrup.
