Whisky Watch: Four Roses Anthology, Sazerac's Tennessee Entry, A Frey Ranch 10 Year Old & More

There are some true milestone releases in this week's crop of of new whiskies. From Four Roses comes the new Anthology series, with its first release comprised of the distillery's oldest-ever bourbon. Elsewhere in bourbon, Nevada grain-to-glass producer Frey Ranch is out with a 10 year old (it's oldest age statement to date), and Koopers has a cigar blend bourbon in time for Father's Day. After purchasing a distillery in Newport, Tennessee a decade ago, Sazerac is finally introducing its first Tennessee whiskey from AJ Bond. There's also a new The Prisoner's Share blend from High West, as well as a rye from Iowa's Revelton. And from north of the border comes a 25 year old blended Canaian whisky courtesy of Orphan Barrel.

Four Roses Anthology Chapter One: Origin Bourbon

ABV: 62.45%
SRP: $500
Availability: 1,200 bottles

With the first release in its new Anthology series, which will be an annual release of highly limited whiskeys that delve into the brand’s heritage, Four Roses is going big, debuting its oldest whiskey ever. The new 21 year old bourbon was crafted from the distillery’s OBSF recipe—one of 10 distinct recipes the distillery uses, this one comprised of its 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley mashbill and herbaceous yeast strain F—and bottled at 124.9 proof.

Origin pays homage to Four Roses founder Paul Jones Jr., highlighting the lore that gave the brand its name. The story goes that Jones proposed to a woman; she told him he’d know her answer was “yes” if she showed up at the upcoming ball with a corsage of four red roses. Lo and behold, she arrived with the corsage in tow, and that’s how the Four Roses name came to be! (In actuality, Jones never married.)

The first chapter of Four Roses Anthology will be available at the Four Roses visitor center on July 10^th, as well as at the brand’s original headquarters on Whiskey Row (118 E. Main Street in Louisville) as part of a pop-up experience on July 11^th.

AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey

ABV: 47.5%
SRP: $40
Availability: Tennessee, with nationwide distribution following

While we covered word of Sazerac’s first Tennessee whiskey earlier this spring, AJ Bond is finally hitting retailers’ shelves. In typical Sazerac fashion, mashbill details are scant, but there’s plenty else we do know about the whiskey: it’s a blend of both pot and column still distillates, some as old as 9, though there’s no age statement; it underwent charcoal filtration; and it aged in Tennessee oak. AJ Bond will initially be limited to Tennessee, with national distribution coming later in the year.

High West The Prisoner’s Share Blend (2026 Release)

ABV: 50.5%
SRP: $175
Availability: Limited

High West is back with the fifth iteration of The Prisoner’s Share, its collaboration with The Prisoner Wine Co. This year’s release is a blend of bourbons and ryes. On the bourbon side, there’s an MGP-sourced 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley; a Bardstown Bourbon Co. 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley; and High West own-make comprised of 80% corn and 20% malted barley. For the ryes, one is a 95% rye, 5% malted barley from MGP, and the other is an 80% rye, 20% malted rye distilled in-house. The whiskeys are 4 to 12 years in age, and finished in The Prisoner red wine barrels. While it is available nationwide, the release is limited.

Orphan Barrel 25 year old Night Sage Blended Canadian

ABV: 45%
SRP: $225
Availability: Limited

Orphan Barrel has released its 25th batch, which carries a 25-year age statement. This is only the second blended Canadian whisky in the series, which usually focuses on scotch and American whiskey. Night Sage taps liquid from two undisclosed distilleries in Manitoba (almost certainly the Crown Royal distillery in Gimli) and Ontario. It was aged in a mix of first-fill oak casks and long-used Canadian whisky barrels. The other Canadian Orphan Barrel was a 25 year old named Entrapment, a 2017 release that was distilled at Crown Royal.

Frey Ranch 10 Year Old Bourbon (Batch 1)

ABV: 51%
SRP: $99
Availability: Online lottery and Frey Ranch tasting room

Frey Ranch has reached a milestone: its bourbon is now 10 years old. This is the oldest age statement whiskey to date from the Fallon, Nevada-based farm distillery, which grows all of its own grains on the 2,500-acre Frey family farm. The new bourbon features the distillery’s flagship four-grain mashbill of 66.6% corn, 11.4% Canadian winter rye, 10% soft winter wheat, and 12% two-row malted barley. The batches that went into the final product were distilled between January 2015 and April 2016, and spent their maturation in char no. 4 barrels with char no. 3 barrel heads.

The first batch of the 10 year old bourbon will be available at the distillery’s tasting room starting Saturday, June 13^th; for those of us who can’t make it out to Fallon, there will be an online lottery running from Monday, June 15^th at 10 a.m. PST through Monday, June 22^nd at midnight. A total of 500 bottles will be up for grabs online, with winners announced on June 23^rd.

Revelton Simple Majority Rye

ABV: 50%
SRP: $50
Availability: Limited

Iowa craft producer Revelton Distilling Co. has released a limited edition rye in honor of founder and master distiller Rob Taylor’s former tenure in the Iowa state legislature. The name is taken from the mashbill’s “simple majority” recipe of 51% rye and 49% corn. Stylistically it’s a bit different from Revelton’s flagship rye mashbill, which follows the modern style of 95% rye and 5% corn mashbill.

Koopers Father’s 8 year old Office Cigar Blend Bourbon

ABV: 57%
SRP: $84
Availability: Currently online, and launching at the tasting room June 13th

Texas blending house Koopers Whiskey has launched a new cigar-inspired expression just for Father’s Day. It’s a bourbon that was sourced from Indiana and has a mashbill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. The whiskey was aged for a total of 8 years, having been purchased at 2 years old and brought over to Texas for an additional 6 years of aging and blending. It was finished with two different exotic woods, first with Brazilian amburana staves for 7 weeks and then with Japanese mizunara oak staves for 12 weeks. The batch was pulled from just two barrels, yielding only 378 bottles.