Review: Angel's Envy's 2026 Cask Strength Batches Are Here

For fans of Angel’s Envy, one of the year’s most anticipated releases is Cask Strength. The first edition, back in 2012, had a very limited run of 600 bottles, taken from the best port cask-finished bourbon stocks in the warehouse. The series has since continued to expand, with Angel’s Envy using more of its own-make distillate each year, and a rye joining the fold in 2023. This year’s release includes a bourbon and a rye, the latter being the distillery’s first age-stated rye.

The Bourbon: Blending In The Spotlight

The 2026 bourbon contains 75%-80% of Angel’s Envy’s own distillate. Like some previous Cask Strength bourbon batches released by master distiller Owen Martin, this version is a “solera-inspired” blend, with 37% of the total coming from previous releases. Of that portion, 9% is from the 2023 batch, 20% is from 2024, and 8% is from last year. The release includes bourbons ranging in age from 6 years and 11 months to 12 years and 3 months. The finishing in port casks ranges from 4 months to 3 years.

Martin is quick to note that the bourbon isn’t made using a true solera system—there aren’t any barrel pyramids or foeders involved. Instead, he simply adds around 20% more volume than needed for each release to save some for the future. That extra liquid is then re-casked in either their original barrels or port casks to marry for an extended period until it’s needed.

The Rye: Caribbean Rum Finishing

The new cask-strength rye, which carries a 10 year age statement, has a simpler makeup. Some 69% of this one is composed of 10 year old rye, initially aged 6 years in new charred oak and then finished 4 years in Caribbean rum barrels. The other portion (31%) is a slightly older rye aged for 12 years and finished in Caribbean rum barrels for 4 months. It has the distinction of being the second Angel’s Envy release to carry an age statement—following last year’s “X” Cask Strength batch—and its first-ever age-stated rye.

While the bourbon had an almost scientific blending process, Martin says the rye was conceived through a fortunate mishap. Angel’s Envy initially matures all its whiskeys in traditional rickhouses, but the finishing casks are stored separately in palletized warehouses. The palletized system is designed to conserve space while making it easier to take barrels down for sampling. During a routine inventory check, Martin found some barrels on the back pallets that were originally earmarked for the brand’s core-range Caribbean Rum Cask rye. They had been left to finish for 2 years, nearly double the usual length. Martin let them sit for an additional two years: unsurprisingly, he found that the whiskey had gained a lot of rum-heavy notes and lost some of its original rye character—qualities that don’t necessarily make for a great whiskey on its own, but are attractive as a blending component. The 12 year old portion, rum-finished only four months, was meant to sharpen some of the original rye flavors.

Longtime fans of Angel’s Envy have probably noticed that this is an odd release window for the Cask Strength batches, which historically drop in the fall. Martin confirms that the distillery has slightly rejigged its release schedule, and Cask Strength will now be released in the spring, while the Angel’s Envy Cellar Collection (previously a springtime release) now moves to fall.

How Do They Taste?

94 points - Angel’s Envy Port Cask Finished Cask Strength Bourbon (2026 Release)

ABV: 58.9%
SRP: $250
Availability: 20,640 bottles nationwide

This has an evocative nose of ground cinnamon, strawberry cheesecake, mellow baking spices, and more red berries, with water unearthing fruit tarts and saltwater taffy. The palate is similarly sweet and fruity, comprising cherry gelato, vanilla, and concord grapes, all underscored by nutmeg, barrel spice, and a bit of gingerbread. The finish adds blackberry jam, cloves, spiced cherry preserves, and strawberry drizzle. Though on the stronger side, the port cask flavors are nicely balanced.

93 points - Angel’s Envy 10 year old Rum Cask Finished Cask Strength Rye (2026 Release)

ABV: 55.8%
SRP: $270
Availability: U.S. exclusive, with 10,800 bottles nationwide

The cask influence is unmistakable on the nose, which offers tropical melons, kiwis, guava, sweet vanilla, dill, and black pepper. Rye is in the spotlight on the well-textured and prickly palate, leading with dill pickles, deli brown mustard, rye toast, allspice, gingersnaps, cinnamon chewing gum, and dried citrus peels. The finish brings sweetness back into focus with molasses and cassia bark, plus ground black pepper. This isn’t merely the flagship rye turned up to eleven—it’s a completely different whiskey, with more depth and much better integration.