Whisky Watch: Michter's 10 Year Old Rye, Barrell Cask Strength, Bardstown's Mars Blend & More

American whiskey lovers will be pleased with this week’s avalanche of new releases, anchored by well-aged, highly regarded bourbons and ryes. Leading the list are fresh batches of Michter’s 10 year single barrel rye and Barrell Cask Strength bourbon, two popular expressions that have won impressive scores with our panel and always generate excitement. Elsewhere, Garrison Brothers has a pair of sherry cask finished bourbons, New Riff drops a 10 year old bourbon and rye for its whiskey club, Bardstown blends bourbon with Japanese single malt, and First West unveils its first black corn bourbon. In scotch, Macallan has a new trio of vintage-dated bottles that celebrate its historic Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old expression, while Nc’nean has a pair of new malts, including a new Huntress expression and a moscatel-finished single cask. Plus, E.H. Taylor is back with two of its rare and limited releases.

Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Rye

ABV: 46.4%
SRP: $210
Availability: Limited

A new edition of Michter’s 10 year old single barrel rye has arrived! As with all of Michter’s ryes, it features a Kentucky-style rye mashbill, meaning the rye content, while at least 51%, is relatively low. This imbues the whiskey with a richer sweetness that coexists alongside more traditional rye spice notes.

Barrell Cask Strength Bourbon (Batch 038)

ABV: 58.48%
SRP: $85
Availability: Nationwide

For fans of Kentucky blending house Barrell Craft Spirits, one of the most awaited moments each year is the release of its Barrell Cask Strength bourbon—an annual expression that often combines well-aged bourbons from around the country. This year’s version blends a 12 year old from Kentucky, an 8 year old from Maryland, two from Tennessee (12 and 15 year olds), and two from Indiana (9 and 10 years). It has a derived mashbill of 79% corn, 17% rye, and 4% malted barley.

Garrison Brothers Ranch Reserve Series: Pedro Ximénez Cask Finished Bourbon

ABV: 54.5%
SRP: $150
Availability: 6,000 bottles

Garrison Brothers Ranch Reserve Series: Oloroso Sherry Cask Finished Bourbon

ABV: 55%
SRP: $150
Availability: 6,000 bottles

Texas distillery Garrison Bros. has introduced its Ranch Reserve Series, kicking things off with a bang with two new cask-finished bourbons. The first is aged for 4 years, then finished for 4 years in 59-gallon Pedro Ximénez barrels; the second is also aged for 4 years but finished in 59-gallon oloroso casks. Each new expression will be available at the distillery in Hye, Texas, online, and eventually in select markets.

First West Explorer Bourbon

ABV: 47.5%
SRP: $50
Availability: Nationwide

This new release in the First West line from Kentucky blender 15 Stars is the company’s first whiskey created by the founders, rather than simply being sourced. The whiskey’s mashbill features a proprietary black corn varietal that founders Rick and Ricky Johnson first fell in love with through their Black Jewell Popcorn business, which they custom-distilled at Bardstown Bourbon Co. This expression has a mashbill that includes baby black corn, yellow corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley and was aged for at least 5 years. It follows three previous First West expressions that debuted last August, and featured the heirloom corn-led Small Batch, finishing-focused Toasted Oak, and 8 year old Extra Aged.

Bardstown Distillery Reserve Mars Blend

ABV: 54.9%
SRP: $100/375 ml
Availability: Distillery exclusive

Bardstown Bourbon Co. is no stranger to borrowing from different whisky cultures. A few years ago, it released Collaborative Series Amrut, an American whiskey (a bourbon and rye blend) that was finished in single malt casks from India’s Amrut Distilleries. Bardstown’s latest effort takes the cross-cultural approach a step further by blending bourbon and Japanese whisky. The new release, Distillery Reserve Mars, combines 10 and 16 year old Kentucky bourbons with two single malts sourced from separate Mars distilleries in Japan. The first component comes from Mars Komagatake and was aged in umeshu plum liqueur barrels. The other is from Mars Tsunuki, and was aged in sakura casks.

New Riff 10 Year Old High Note Series Bourbon

ABV: 58.45%
SRP: $90
Availability: New Riff Whiskey Club exclusive

New Riff 10 Year Old High Note Series Rye

ABV: 59.4%

SRP: $90
Availability: New Riff Whiskey Club exclusive

A year after releasing its first 10 year old American single malt, New Riff has debuted a decade-old bourbon and rye. The bourbon is made with the distillery’s standard bourbon mashbill—65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley—and the same goes for the rye, which is made from a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted rye. Part of New Riff’s High Note series, which features one-off releases and limited editions, they’re exclusive to New Riff Whiskey Club members. The club is free to join and only requires an email address. Both the bourbon and rye will be available at the distillery in Newport, Kentucky starting June 4th.

Nc’nean Organic Huntress Malted Teacake Highland Single Malt Scotch

ABV: 48.5%
SRP: $120
Availability: 4,500 bottles, 630 for the U.S.; imported by ImpEx Beverages Inc.

The fifth release in Nc’nean’s Huntress series is a fermentation experiment that includes Belgian ale yeast. The result is creamy, malted flavors reminiscent of a buttered slice of malt loaf. The cask mix consisted of 50% shave-toast-rechar (STR) red wine, 48% bourbon, and 2% oloroso sherry casks. The Nc’nean Huntress series launched in 2022, with recent releases scoring highly, including the 93-point Lemon Meadow, which used champagne yeast, and the 92-point Orchard Cobbler.

Nc’nean Huntress Malted Teacake leans into the growing fondness for dessert-inspired whiskies, joining expressions such as Compass Box Brûlée Royale and Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake in turning bake shop indulgences into a whisky lovers’ trend.

Nc’nean Organic AON Moscatel Single Cask (No. 17–165) Highland Single Malt Scotch

ABV: 54.8%
SRP: $130
Availability: U.S. single cask of 240 bottles imported by ImpEx Beverages Inc.

At over 8 years old, this is the oldest Nc’nean whisky released in the U.S. to date. Distilled from 100% organic Scottish barley in 2017 and initially matured in a first-fill bourbon cask, it was finished for 31 months in a Moscatel de Setúbal cask. As it’s Nc’nean, you can count on the whisky being made sustainably, using 100% organic Scottish barley distilled in copper pot stills that are powered by 100% renewable energy, and bottled in 100% recycled glass.

Macallan The Romantica Collection Scotch Single Malt

ABV: 48.6%
SRP: N/A
Availability: 258 bottles

Back in 2023, a single bottle of Macallan—the Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old—sold for $2.7 million at Sotheby’s in London; in doing so, it set a new world record for the most expensive bottle of whisky ever sold at auction. The Speyside distillery is now celebrating that bottle with an exclusive new series: The Romantica Collection.

The new bottling comes from a single sherry-seasoned 40 year old European oak cask that was filled in 1986 (the same year the record-breaking Macallan was bottled). The release is notable for its hint of peat smoke—no modern Macallan is peated. Just 258 bottles of the whisky are available worldwide.

The unique, signed artworks accompanying the bottles and adorning their labels are by the same three artists who contributed original art for the 1926 Macallan: Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami, and Michael Dillon. The Romantica Collection is being offered in sets of three (so buyers will have each artist’s work) directly from the distillery starting on July 30th. Interested parties can inquire with Macallan’s client services team.