Talisker 30, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, Michter's U.S. 1, Remus Repeal, and more [New Releases]

This year’s annual Birthday Bourbon release from Old Forester is a 12 year old whiskey at a robust 53.5% ABV, which will please fans hungry for more proof, as the last two years have seen it at a mere 48%. The 12 year old age statement will also be reassuring, as some recent releases have seen it slip to 11 years. This year’s expression again will be sold via national lottery—the ritual of lining up the distillery ended after 2021, as the crowds were becoming too big to handle. (Old Forester owner Brown-Forman also saw the lottery as a better way to keep tabs on the secondary market.) This year’s lottery will be held on September 2: register by August 21, and you’re in with a chance.

In scotch whisky, Talisker is out with the annual release of its 30 year old, while Royal Salute has expanded its 62 Gun Salute with the addition of two more expressions, making it a three-part collection. Back in America, Remus Repeal Reserve is offering its eighth annual expression, while Whiskey Del Bac, star of the American single malt scene, has a new rye expression. Michter’s has its latest US*1 Toasted Barrel Finish bourbon, while Penelope is back with the Cooper Series Valencia bourbon. FEW Spirits, not to be overlooked, has an intriguing new smokey expression, a malt whiskey called Chicago Smokeworks. And there's much more.

Talisker 30 year old (2024 Release)

ABV: 49.5%
SRP: $1,100
Availability: Global release of 2,610 bottles available in select retailers, reservebar.com and malts.com, imported by Diageo North America.

This year’s annual release of Talisker 30 year old release is the smallest to date with fewer than 3,000 bottles available worldwide. Bottled in 700 ml format at natural cask strength, Talisker 30 year old is matured in American oak and released in single vintages. It is the oldest and most expensive expression in the Talisker core range that includes age-stated versions at 10, 18, and 25 years old in addition to a number of non-age statement single malts and the Distillers Edition. Talisker 30 year old was first released in 2006 as part of the Diageo Special Releases. In 2022, our tasting panel rated that year’s Talisker 30 year old 93 points. Made by the sea on the Isle of Skye, Talisker is also frequently included in the annual Diageo Special Releases and Prima & Ultima Collections. Last year, Talisker concluded its series of experimental older whiskies with the 96 point Talisker Glacial Edge 45 year old.

Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Collection

Royal Salute has expanded its 62 Gun Salute whisky into a collection of three scotch blends, adding two whiskies to mark the new Carolean era following the coronation of King Charles III. The two new expressions, which represent the pinnacle of Chivas Brothers’ Royal Salute permanent range through its selection of precious stocks of aged casks, include Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute The American Oak Reserve and Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute The Peated Reserve. They join Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute The Original Reserve, the new name for the classic expression. Here are the details of the three expressions:

Original Reserve: 43%, $3,000, permanent global release available at select retailers

American Oak Reserve: 43%, $3,300, permanent global release available at select retailers

Peated Reserve: 43%, $3,300, permanent release initially available in Travel Retail, with a subsequent rollout planned to select retailers

Royal Salute master blender Sandy Hyslop created each blend using over 50 rare, aged single malt and grain whiskies. The American Oak Reserve includes a higher proportion of whiskies aged in American oak. The Peated Reserve was inspired by drifting canon fire smoke and includes peated whiskies from the closed Caperdonich Distillery. The 62 Gun Salute ceremony is one of the British Monarchy’s highest forms of ceremonial honor, fired on State occasions from the Tower of London.

Old Forester 2024 Birthday Bourbon

ABV: 53.5%
SRP: $200
Availability: Online through a sweepstakes

The highly allocated annual release of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon will soon be available for purchase via an online sweepstakes. A 12 year old, the 2024 Birthday Bourbon was selected by Old Forester master distiller emeritus Chris Morris, master taster Melissa Rift, and assistant master distiller Caleb Trigo. The trio chose whiskey from 209 barrels in Old Forester’s warehouses G and L for this year’s release, which is packaged in a vintage-dated bottle.

The 24^th Birthday Bourbon released by Old Forester, this year’s bottling is available only through a national online sweepstakes. Interested buyers must register by August 21 and will be notified by September 2 if they’ve been selected. Those who win must claim and purchase their limited-edition bottle by December 14 at the Old Forester Distillery in Louisville. Purchases are limited to one bottle per customer.

Old Forester releases its Birthday Bourbon annually on September 2 to honor the birthday of brand founder George Garvin Brown, who launched the label in 1870.

Michter’s US*1 Toasted Barrel Finish Bourbon

ABV: 45.7%
SRP: $110
Availability: Limited

Ten years ago, Michter’s unveiled US*1 Toasted Barrel Finish bourbon, kicking off a trend that, while slow to take hold, is now a well-established part of the bourbon landscape, with toasted barrel-finished whiskeys popping up left and right. In honor of the 10-year anniversary of that inaugural release, the distillery is bringing its toasted barrel-finished bourbon back to shelves for the first time since 2021. As with past releases, the whiskey starts as fully matured US*1 Small Batch bourbon, but is then finished in barrels that were air-seasoned for 18 months and toasted to proprietary levels.

Michter’s Toasted Barrel bourbon has appeared intermittently since 2014, and this new release marks the end of a three-year drought. The distillery never left its toasted barrel finish fans out to dry, however, as it released a Toasted Barrel rye in 2017 that subsequently came out in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023.

FEW Chicago Smokeworks Malt Whiskey

ABV: 46.5%
SRP: $50
Availability: Nationwide

Illinois-based FEW Spirits is out with a new whiskey that commemorates the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. This one is a malt whiskey that’s distilled from cherrywood-smoked malted barley and rye grain. (Unlike the more popular American Single Malt style, malt whiskeys only need to include at least 51% malted barley in the mashbill.) The cherrywood smoking is meant to bring notes of cherry, charred caramel, and barbeque-y flavors.

FEW Spirits has a flair for the curious when it comes to making whiskey, and has released some fairly interesting expressions in recent years. While a smoked malt whiskey isn’t all too strange, some bolder experimentations have included Motor Oil which blends smoked wheat whiskey with bourbons finished in different casks, and whiskeys cut to proof using oolong tea and coffee. Recently, it partnered with rock band Smashing Pumpkins to release a bourbon proofed using black tea from a tea shop owned by frontman Billy Corgan’s wife.

Penelope Cooper Series Valencia Bourbon (2024)

ABV: 47.5%
SRP: $80
Availability: Nationwide

This year’s edition has a slightly different mashbill from previous batches (74% corn, 7% rye, 16% wheat, 3% malted barley), with slightly less corn and more wheat. It was finished in Spanish vino de naranja wine casks for 12 months. Some 30,000 bottles were produced, which are scheduled to be released sometime this month.

Valencia belongs to Penelope’s Cooper Series, a collection of annual-release whiskies that are finished in casks sourced from around the world. Other entries include Tokaji Rye (finished in Hungarian Tokaji wine casks), Rio Bourbon (finished in both honey barrels and Brazilian amburana barrels), and Rosé Cask Bourbon (rosé casks from France). Penelope teased that the series will soon be getting a new member named Havana, which taps rum casks sourced from Cuba.

Blue Note Honey Rye Cask

ABV: 58.6%
SRP: $65
Availability: Limited; online bluenotebourbon.com and seelbachs.com and at retail in CT, FL, GA, KS, MA, MO, NJ, NY, RI, TN, and TX

The latest limited release from Blue Note—one of two brands owned by Memphis, Tennessee-based B.R. Distilling Co.’s—is a straight rye finished in honey casks. Made from a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley, the rye first aged for three years before being emptied into honey-infused casks for a final stint of maturation. It was bottled at cask strength.

B.R. has the distinction of being the oldest licensed distillery in Memphis, though that’s not saying a whole lot, given that it opened in 2013. Since then, the distillery has built a portfolio of bourbons and ryes; the majority our panel has tasted have scored well, with one standout—Blue Note Juke Joint Uncut Bourbon—earning the No.-7 spot on our Top 20 list of 2022.

Chattanooga Whiskey Russian River Pinot Cask Finished Bourbon

ABV: 47.5%
SRP: $60
Availability: Limited; Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery, seelbachs.com, and at retail in AL, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, SC, TN, TX, and WI

On the heels of a new Experimental Batch release last week, Chattanooga has kept the innovations coming, debuting the fifth whiskey in its limited-edition Finishing Series. For the new whiskey, the distilling team traveled to California and picked out pinot noir casks from an undisclosed winery in the Russian River Valley. They then filled those casks with a blend made up of five high-malt bourbons, including its classic wheated and roasted bourbons; two one-off, higher-proof versions of its Barrel 91 bourbon; and a stout cask-finished bourbon. The 4 year old whiskey finished in the pinot noir casks for 6 months, and was ultimately bottled from a batch of 8 to 10 barrels.

Remus Repeal Reserve Series VIII Bourbon

ABV: 50.5%
SRP: $100
Availability: Limited

Ross & Squibb Distillery—the branded whisky arm of MGP—is back with another Remus Repeal Reserve Series release. The eighth expression in the range blends three different high-rye bourbons: 9% 17 year old (21% rye mashbill); 24% 10 year old (21% rye mashbill); and 67% 10 year old (36% rye mashbill). The new whiskey will be available starting in September.

This marks a slight departure from previous Reserve Series bourbons, which hovered at 50% ABV; by upping the ABV by 0.5%, there’s heightened viscosity and mouthfeel, according to master distiller Ian Stirsman. The whiskey also sees a return to non-chill filtration, which the distillery had stopped using for recent editions. Remus Repeal is one of two brands that Ross & Squibb produces, the other being Rossville Union. Most of MGP’s activity remains on the contract distilling side, although the company has clear ambitions to grow its branded portfolio. Those ambitions were evidenced by its $475 million acquisition of Luxco, makers of whiskey brands Ezra Brooks, Rebel, Davies County, and Yellowstone, back in 2021. (Those brands are not produced at MGP, but rather at Luxco’s Lux Row Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, as well as at Limestone Branch, in which MGP Luxco has a 50% stake.)

Milam & Greene Roadrunner Single Barrel Bourbon

ABV: 65.05%
SRP: $150
Availability: Limited, at the distillery and milamandgreenewhiskey.com

The fourth release in Milam & Greene’s 2024 Wildlife Collection, Roadrunner debuts Wednesday, August 21 online and at the brand’s Blanco, Texas distillery. The whiskey, which was pulled from Milam & Greene’s cask No. 507, has a mashbill of 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley. It was barreled in Tennessee in March 2016 and aged for six years and seven months there, before being moved to the south side of Milam & Greene’s Rickhouse 1 in Texas for an additional year, six months, and 20 days, making it 8 years, 1 month, and 20 days old. There are 143 bottles of the cask-strength expression available.

Milam & Greene’s Wildlife Collection aims to shed light on the impact of Texas heat in developing whiskey flavors in the Texas Hill Country, as the distillery’s rickhouses are not temperature controlled and face varying weather patterns throughout the year. Roadrunner Single Barrel endured one of the hottest and driest summers in Texas.

The 2024 Wildlife Collection is themed around intriguing birds of Texas, with proceeds from sales benefiting the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Roadrunner Single Barrel joins previous 2024 single barrel releases Cardinal, Mockingbird, and Golden Eagle; a fifth, called Owl, will be available before year-end. The brand also released five whiskeys in its 2023 Wildlife Collection, all of which sold out.

Jack Daniel’s Heroes Selection Barrel Proof Single Barrel Rye (2024)

ABV: Varies
SRP: $70
Availability: Available at select military retail locations

Jack Daniel’s has released this year’s Heroes Selection, a single barrel rye that commemorates the military. It has a mashbill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley, and was bottled at cask strength between 62.5% and 70% ABV. This year’s batch was picked by Melvin Keebler, Jack Daniel’s SVP general manager who also served in the U.S. Navy.

While not nearly as popular as its flagship Old No. 7 Tennessee whiskey, Jack Daniel Distillery has been doing quite well for itself in the rye space in recent years. Last year’s Bottled in Bond Rye—the counterpart to our 2022 Whisky of the Year—earned 90 points from our tasting panel. Other single barrel rye batches have scored between 90 and 92 points. The uncrowned king among Jack Daniel’s ryes is Twice Barreled Heritage Barrel, a wildly impressive cask-finished single barrel bottling that scored 94 points.

Buzzard’s Roost Founders 7 year old Bourbon

ABV: 54.6%
SRP: $125
Availability: Limited, Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Row Experience and website

Buzzard’s Roost Founders 11 year old Bourbon

ABV: 56.9%
SRP: $150
Availability: Limited, Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Row Experience and website

Buzzard’s Roost, which made its debut with rye labels and now offers ryes, bourbons, and American whiskey made with different barrel-aging and char techniques, adds two age-statement whiskeys with the release of Founders 7 year old and 11 year old straight bourbons. Both have the same mashbill—75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley—and each is double-oaked. As is signature to the Buzzard’s Roost brand, the whiskeys undergo finishing in new char No.-1 oak barrels crafted from staves that were seasoned for 18 months. The brand also utilizes specific toast profiles for its barrels to coax out particular flavors from the oak.

Founded in 2019 as a non-distiller producer, Buzzard’s Roost opened a microdistillery on Whiskey Row last year. It has the capacity to produce up to seven barrels per week. The liquid for these new additions was sourced when Buzzard’s Roost was founded. Its co-founders, Judy Hollis Jones and Jason Brauner, purchased several barrels of aged bourbon at the time, and are now releasing them at 7 and 11 years old to celebrate the brand’s fifth anniversary. A limited number of bottles are available for sale online starting Friday, August 16, and at the brand’s Whiskey Row Experience in downtown Louisville on Saturday, August 17.