Parker's Heritage, Peerless Cognac Cask, New Riff & Pursuit United [New Releases]

This year's release of Parker's Heritage is out, and as we've seen so often with this series, it's yet another interesting one—a 14 year old malt whiskey. A Parker's malt whiskey expression hasn't been seen in nearly a decade, as the last such release was in 2015. In general, malt whiskey expressions are unusual in Kentucky, although Woodford Reserve has a well-known malt expression. Elsewhere, Kentucky Peerless continues its finishing work with a new cognac barrel-finished bourbon—this one a limited, Kentucky-only release. New Riff returns with this year's edition of its Sour Mash single malt, which offers some new twists, while Pursuit United has a new Double Oaked Rye to join its Double-Oaked Bourbon expression.

Parker’s Heritage Collection 14 year old Malt Whiskey (2024 Release)

ABV: 53.5%
SRP: $170
Availability: Limited

The 18^th release of Heaven Hill’s Parker’s Heritage Collection is a malt whiskey that has a mashbill of 65% malted barley and 35% rye. It was aged for a total of 14 years, spending most of that time on the fourth floor of Rickhouse O before being transferred to Rickhouse H1 where it was finished for 4 months in heavily toasted cognac barrels.

The Parker’s Heritage Collection is a special annual release that pays tribute to Heaven Hill’s longtime master distiller Parker Beam, who passed away from ALS in 2017. The series was launched by Parker himself in 2007, three years prior to his ALS diagnosis, with a trio of 1996 vintage bourbons bottled at 61.3%, 63.7%, and 64.8% ABV. Since 2013 Heaven Hill has contributed portions of the collection’s sales to ALS research, raising upward of $1.3 million.

The new expression also represents a rare opportunity to taste a malt whiskey from Heaven Hill. Bourbon makes up the majority of the distillery’s releases, though its ryes have also garnered acclaim in recent years. By contrast, malt whiskey is largely something of an untrodden path for the distillery: The last notable release was Parker’s Heritage 9th Edition, which came nearly a decade ago. That one wasn’t cask finished and, at 8 years old, was much younger than the new edition.

Kentucky Peerless Cognac Barrel-Finished Bourbon

ABV: 53.5%
SRP: $189
Availability: Limited; KY exclusive

The latest limited release from Kentucky Peerless starts as the distillery’s Small Batch bourbon but undergoes a flavor transformation as a result of a finish in cognac casks for an undisclosed amount of time. According to head taster John Wadell, the cognac casks imbue the bourbon with an additional layer of complexity, bringing in notes of dried fruit, figs, citrus, honey, and a slight nuttiness. When it officially releases on September 7, the whiskey will be a Kentucky exclusive, available first at the distillery in Louisville, and then in select retailers across the state. Given the limited nature of the barrels (which, the distillery notes, come from a premium cognac producer, though it’s not naming names), this particular bourbon is much more limited than other Peerless one-offs and comes with a higher price tag.

Last year, Peerless made headlines with the announcement that its master distiller and COO were both departing to launch a new distillery in Eastern Kentucky; while no new master distiller has been formally named, Wadell heads up the current distilling team. The distillery remains run by the Taylor family, with fifth-generation Carson Taylor currently serving as president. Carson and his father, Corky, re-launched Kentucky Peerless in 2013; it had first opened in 1889 and was shuttered just before Prohibition.­

New Riff Sour Mash Single Malt (2024 Edition)

ABV: 57.25%
SRP: $70
Availability: Limited

The 2024 edition of New Riff’s Sour Mash single malt takes the same base components as its predecessor—a blend of five different mashbills, ranging from 7 to 8 years old—and ups the ante by introducing 9 year old madeira cask-finished malt. Among the five malts used are Golden Promise, Maris Otter, peated Scottish malt, and two beer-inspired malts, one a twist on Barleywine, the other on a Belgian Quadruple. As with the inaugural release of the single malt, this one is bottled at cask strength, without chill filtration.

The whiskey will be available at New Riff’s gift shop in Newport, Kentucky (just a stone’s throw from Cincinnati) beginning today (August 30), and nationwide thereafter. In tandem with the release, New Riff’s monthly whiskey education series—WHSKY NRD—will put a spotlight on single malt, with single malt seminars taking place on Friday, September 6, and Friday, November 8; guests will have the chance to learn about New Riff’s single malt origin story and taste through the whiskeys with their makers, including blender and co-founder Jay Erisman.

Pursuit United Double Oaked Rye

ABV: 96%
SRP: $70
Availability: Pursuit Spirits tasting room and seelbachs.com

For Pursuit Spirits’ latest United whiskey, the independent bottler played around with the effects of oak on rye, culminating in a straight rye finished with lightly toasted, heavily charred French oak staves. According to company co-founder Kenny Coleman, the team conducted some 40 different oak experiments on their flagship United Rye (which is a blend of straight ryes produced in partnership with Bardstown Bourbon Co. and Sagamore Spirit) ahead of landing on the French oak used for secondary maturation.

The new whiskey joins a Double Oaked Bourbon already in the lineup, that one finished with custom medium-toast French oak staves. Single barrel fans will be pleased to know that Double Oaked Rye is also joining Pursuit’s Private Select program; retailers, distributors, and whisky clubs will be able to pick their own single barrel iterations of the whiskey, with a wider variety of oak stave finishes on offer for these private barrel selections.