A Highland Park 16 Year Old, Chinquapin Oak Aged Whiskey From Heaven Hill, And More New Releases

This week’s new releases include three scotch whiskies—a 16 year old from Highland Park, and 12 year olds from Bunnahabhain and Glenlivet. On the American side, Heaven Hill has three new extensions to its Grain to Glass Series: a bourbon, rye, and wheated bourbon aged 6 years in chinquapin oak. Old Overholt rye has a new cask strength 12 year old, while Whisky del Bac continues to branch out from its single malt roots with a new bourbon, this one with mesquite-smoke staves inserted into the barrels. Elsewhere, we have two new whiskeys from Barrell, the oldest whiskey yet from Pinhook, a stout cask-finished expression from Virginia Distillery Co., and much more.

Bunnahabhain 12 year old Cask Strength (2025 Edition) scotch single malt

ABV: 56.4%
SRP: $149
Availability: Limited

The 2025 edition of Bunnahabhain 12 year old cask strength is an unpeated Islay whisky created by Bunnahabhain master blender Julieann Fernandez. The series was launched in 2021, and aside from 2024, has had an edition released annually. The whisky picks up subtle saline notes from the maritime environment inside Bunnahabhain’s coastal warehouses on the northeast side of the island. The 2025 edition is based around a core of Bunnahabhain matured in second-fill oloroso sherry casks, complemented by first-fill and refill sherry casks, which results in a layered, nuanced expression without an overly sweet, heavily sherried profile. The ABV is 22% higher than the standard 12 year old (bottled at 46.3% and rated 90 points), but at a price that’s 82% higher.

Highland Park Between You and I 16 year old Scotch Single Malt

ABV: 48%
SRP: $180
Availability: Limited

Few and far between are Highland Park collaborations. Now, however, the distillery has released a new series that will highlight partnerships moving forward. The first is a 16 year old whisky made with Michelin-starred chef Björn Frantzén, who puts emphasis not on traditional tasting notes, but rather on personal memories and emotions that emerged as he drank the whisky. Each bottle of Between You and I comes in a box created by Frantzén, who included a booklet of prompts that invite the drinker to consider the memories, sounds, places, and music that the whisky evokes.

The whisky aged 16 years in a combination of virgin Swedish oak—another first for this Orkney distillery—sherry-seasoned European and American oak, and bourbon barrels. The distillery uses heather-infused peat to smoke all of its whiskies, which imbues them with subtly smoky aromatics and flavor.

Glenlivet 12 year old Jamaica Edition scotch single malt

ABV: 40%
SRP: $55
Availability: Nationwide

For its new Beyond Speyside series, The Glenlivet is taking inspiration from destinations around the globe. The first release in the range looks to Jamaica, finishing the distillery’s core 12 year old single malt in Jamaican rum casks. Alongside the whisky’s debut is a new marketing campaign featuring Scottish actor and Glenlivet brand ambassador Thomas Doherty, who went on a deep dive into Jamaican culture with Miss Universe Jamaica Miqueal-Symone Williams.

Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Specialty Barrel Series 2025

Bourbon

ABV: 52.5%
SRP: $130
Availability: Nationwide

Wheated Bourbon

ABV: 52.5%
SRP: $130
Availability: Nationwide

Rye

ABV: 53.5%
SRP: $130
Availability: Nationwide

Heaven Hill has announced the first line extension for its high-scoring Grain to Glass series. While the collection as a whole will continue to focus on hybrid grains, the Specialty Barrel Series will explore interesting maturation vessels. This year’s lineup focuses on chinquapin, an oak species native to the northeastern U.S. that’s known for its higher-than-normal vanillin content. Each of these whiskeys was fully aged for 6 years in chinquapin oak barrels from Independent Stave Company. All three were distilled using a hybrid corn variety named Beck’s 6225, which was grown by Peterson Farms in fields across the road from Heaven Hill’s campus in Bardstown.

Old Overholt Extra Aged Cask Strength 12 year old Rye

ABV: 53%-65%
SRP: $110
Availability: Limited

The latest age statement release from Old Overholt was distilled and barreled in the spring of 2013. After aging for 12 years within four of its parent company James B. Beam’s Clermont, Kentucky-based warehouses, the rye was bottled at cask-strength, which varies bottle to bottle.

This is Old Overholt’s second Extra Aged expression, coming after the 2023 release of the 10 year old rye. It represents a higher-end focus for the bargain-oriented rye, whose core expression is typically priced in the low-$20s.

High West Midwinter Night’s Dram rye

SRP: $150
ABV: 48.3%
Availability: Limited; nationwide

This year’s edition of the Midwinter Night’s Dram is High West’s 13^th since its launch in 2013. It's a straight rye that combines MGP and High West distillate, with the exact ratio between the two undisclosed. It's aged from 4-10 years and finished in ruby and tawny port barrels, with the timing of its release tapping into its winter-themed identity. Midwinter’s has always been a high performer with our panel, having consistently scored above 90 and even notching 95 in 2016.

Midwinter is one of three annual releases from Wanship, Utah-based High West, the others being High Country American single malt and High West bottled in bond bourbon. This limited release group once also included the very popular Yippee Kay-Yay, a rye finished vermouth and syrah casks. But Yippee Kay-Yay was discontinued in 2020, much to the disappointment of many High West fans.

The permanent High West whiskeys are its Double Rye!, American Prairie bourbon, Rendezvous rye, and Campfire, a blend of rye, bourbon, and blended malt scotch.

Whiskey Del Bac Sentinel of the Desert Bourbon

ABV: 46%
SRP: $40
Availability: Nationwide

Tucson, Arizona-based American single malt distillery Whiskey Del Bac has branched out from single malt in recent years through its Sentinel of the Desert line, which first launched with a rye in 2022. It’s now expanded that range to include a bourbon, a blend of 2 and 3 year old bourbons, both distilled and aged in Ohio. Together, the whiskeys have a mashbill of 60% yellow corn, 35% pumpernickel rye, and 5% heritage malt. Del Bac’s twist on the whiskey comes on the finish: “mesquited" barrel staves were added to the barrels, and after being dumped, the liquid was filtered across mesquite charcoal, in what Del Bac is calling the Pima County Process (a play on Tennessee’s charcoal mellowing Lincoln County Process).

While it’s exploring other whiskey styles, Whiskey Del Bac has no plans to actually make bourbon or rye in-house, with master distiller and blender Mark Vierthaler noting that the distillery’s production is built specifically for single malt.

Barrell Hazmat Triple Rum Cask Blend

ABV: 71.12%
SRP: $200
Availability: 2,700 bottles

At a rip-roaring 142.24 proof, this Barrell blend lives up to its name. A marriage of whiskeys sourced from Indiana, Tennessee, and Canada. The components were finished in rum barrels from Jamaica, Barbados, or St. Lucia before blending. Some of the whiskey within the blend is as old as 25 years.

Barrell Infinity Barrel Blend of Straight Bourbons

ABV: 56.6%
SRP: $100
Availability: 450 bottles

Since 2018, Barrell has bottled an Infinity Barrel whiskey, pulling from a wide variety of their favorite barrels to create a unique blend. The latest release is a selection of bourbons aged 8 to 20 years.

The name “Infinity Barrel” is a play on the “infinity bottle,” in which the last ounces of each whisky bottle in a collection are poured into the same bottle, creating a fun, if not perfectly flavored, blend. With each new Infinity Barrel bottling, Barrell removes a portion of the previous whiskey, replacing it with that year’s new blend. So far, the blender has come out with 19 variations of Infinite Barrel whiskey.

Virginia Distilling Co. Brewer’s Coalition: Central Waters Brewing Co. Black Gold Imperial Stout Cask Finished American Single Malt

ABV: 50%
SRP: $55
Availability: Nationwide

Virginia Distillery Co. has just unveiled the latest entry in its Brewer’s Coalition series, a collection of single malts finished in craft beer barrels from various brewers around the country. It was first aged in bourbon barrels for 5 years before being transferred into barrels that previously held Black Gold, a seasonal barrel–aged imperial stout from Central Waters Brewing Co. in Wisconsin. The whiskey is available nationwide, but the distillery is also releasing a single barrel version exclusively for retailers in the Midwest.

Pinhook Vertical Series 10 year old bourbon

ABV: 58%
SRP: $100
Availability: Limited

Pinhook embarked on its Vertical Series in 2015, though the first whiskey wouldn’t hit shelves until four years later, in 2019. This year marks the seventh release in the collection, and, of course, its oldest whiskey yet, blended from just 75 barrels and bottled unfiltered at cask strength.

According to Pinhook co-founder and master blender Sean Josephs, the Vertical Series was initially intended to go to 12 years at most; upon tasting the barrels that were still aging at Castle & Key (the Kentucky distillery where Pinhook matures its whiskeys), however, the brand decided to keep the experiment going until the 16-year mark, following a total of 1,350 sourced MGP barrels to that ripe old age.

Templeton Hidden Stash 13 year old rye

ABV: 54%
SRP: $170
Availability: Limited

Templeton has revealed the first whiskey in its Hidden Stash collection, a line of its oldest, rarest releases. The new rye is sourced, made from a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley, and matured in heavily charred American oak barrels. Though it wasn’t distilled at Templeton, it spent over a decade aging in the brand’s home state of Iowa.

The name Hidden Stash comes from Templeton’s history; when the stock market crashed in 1929, the distillery’s hidden stash of rye supported the local bank through the lowest points of the economic downturn. While Templeton has expanded outside of rye in recent years, debuting a bourbon distilled in-house just last year, Hidden Stash releases will focus on its oldest sourced whiskeys.

Bear Fight Whiskey Orchard & Vine Calvados and Port Barrel Finished Kentucky Straight Bourbon

ABV: 45%
SRP: $45
Availability: Nationwide and online

Raleigh, N.C.-based Bear Fight Whiskey has a new bourbon made for fall, available for a limited time. The liquid was sourced from Kentucky and aged for an undisclosed period in barrels that previously held calvados (apple brandy) as well as port barrels. The finishes, alluded to in the bourbon’s namesake “Orchard and Vines,” are said to impart seasonal flavors of crisp fruit and spice. This expression joins a small but varied lineup, including an American single malt that scored 91 points with our tasting panel and a bourbon finished in reposado tequila barrels.

Bear Fight was launched in 2022 and is owned by North Carolina production and marketing company Next Century Spirits (NCS). Founded in 2018 as a tech firm focused on spirits, NCS has a portfolio that also includes Henderson Whiskey, Creek Water American Whiskey, and Numskull flavored whiskey, among other spirits. It’s backed by famous names, including Seth Macfarlane, the creator of “Family Guy,” and “Suits “actor Gabriel Macht.

Oaklore Story Series 6 Year Old Oloroso Finished Four Grain Bourbon

ABV: 47.5%
Price: $100
Availability: 750 bottles; North Carolina and online

Oaklore Distilling, located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, has unveiled the second release in its Story Series. The series launched this past spring with a port cask-finished version of the label’s core rye. This expression begins as the brand's core four-grain bourbon—70% corn, 10% rye, 10% wheat, and 10% barley—that’s a blend of 4-6 year old wheated and high-rye bourbons sourced from undisclosed distilleries in Kentucky and North Carolina. The whiskey was then finished for 12 to 18 months in oloroso casks in Oaklore’s non-temperature-controlled warehouses.

Copperworks 11 year old American single malt

ABV: 50%
SRP: $200
Availability: Limited; pre-order here for shipping or at its Seattle or Kenmore locations

Copper pot distilled from pale malted barley and aged 11 years in new American oak with a no.-3 char, this single barrel produced less than 200 bottles. Noted as “ultra-rare,” this is a bottling of the second barrel ever filled by Copperworks.

Founded in 2013, Seattle-based Copperworks founders Micah Nutt and Jason Parker are brewers turned distillers. The distillery produces American single malts, gin, and vodka. The whiskeys begin with a beer base—without the hops—made from locally grown barley. Copperworks is known for innovative expressions like its Peatsmith, made from barley smoked with peat from Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and Farmsmith distilled from single-variety barley, from a single farm that was grown in a single year, alongside its flagship Maltsmith, made from pale and caramelized malts.

Woodford Reserve 2025 Holiday Edition bourbon

ABV: 45.2%
SRP: $50/liter
Availability: Limited; nationwide

Gear up for the season, Woodford Reserve has unveiled its holiday-labeled standard core bourbon. This year’s design was created by luxury womenswear designer Alexandra O’Neill, founder of New York-based Markarian. After touring the distillery, she was inspired to create a label that would be like a beautifully wrapped gift, in her words. The sage background is accented by vertical stripes of winter berry garlands, stars, and candy cane colors.

Blue Run’s Chicago Bears Commemorative bourbon

ABV: 55.5%
SRP: $90
Availability: Illinois

While the bourbon isn’t new, this commemorative bottle will be of interest to Bears fans. Created to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the team’s 18-1 season in 1985, when it lost one regular season game to the Miami Dolphins, won all its playoffs, including Super Bowl XX. The label, created in partnership with the Bears, features Blue Run’s iconic butterfly with the team’s colors, “1985,” and the Bears’ logo on the neck. The whiskey is the Molson Coors-owned brand’s flagship high-rye bourbon—65% yellow corn, 30% rye, 5% malted barley—contract distilled at Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky under the direction of Blue Run’s Jim Rutledge and Shaylyn Gammon.

Penelope Apple Cinnamon Old Fashioned Cocktail

ABV: 40%
SRP: $30
Availability: IL, MA, MI, MO, NJ, NY, OR, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, nationwide in January 2026

MGP-owned Penelope Bourbon is back with another flavored Old Fashioned as its third addition to its ready-to-drink (RTD) line. This pre-mixed cocktail is made with a base of rye and bourbon. This combination of whiskeys is the foundation of Penelope’s other two RTD offerings: a maple-sweetened peach version and a black walnut iteration, both released earlier this year.

While natural fruit juices and extracts are common in RTDs, the label opts to use bitters as the driving force of layered flavors across all of its Old Fashioned cocktails, making for minimal dilution and higher ABVs. This one sits at a robust 40%, similar to its other Old Fashioneds. The apple cinnamon flavor, according to master blender Danny Polise, is responsible for adding a touch of seasonal warmth and spice.