The 10 Best Whiskeys of 2026 So Far, From Bourbon to Scotch
Jefferson’s Bourbon
Each year, I try a few hundred different whiskeys in all categories, including single malt scotch, American rye, Japanese blends, Irish single malts, and well-aged single barrel bourbons. It’s a lot.
For my weekly Taste Test column I cover all whiskey categories and styles, from major brands and small craft distilleries both here in America and abroad, to critique the most interesting expressions. Sometimes they can be very good, like the selections below, or sometimes they can be pretty bad (please no more Amburana wood finishes, and maybe rethink that hazmat proof release). These are the 10 best whiskeys of the first half of this year that received my highest ratings on a scale of one to 100. My top picks range from some expensive unicorns to some much more readily available bottles. Check it out and catch up on something you missed, or discover something new—and happy bottle hunting.
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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye A126
Image Credit: Heaven Hill Elijah Craig introduced its barrel-proof rye whiskey as a companion to its barrel-proof bourbon in September of 2025, and it was great. The second release, from January of this year, was even better. A126 (meaning the first release, January of 2026) was bottled at 120.4 proof, a higher strength than the first that actually helped and not hindered the whiskey. Aged for 11 years and 11 months, it has notes of vanilla, maple, honey, black pepper, dried fruit, cinnamon, and some grape Jolly Rancher, and is great to sip on its own or use in a high-proof Manhattan.
Read the full review.
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Very Olde St. Nick
Image Credit: Preservation Distillery The Very Olde St. Nick brand has been around since 1986, but its current producer, Preservation Distillery, was founded in 2015. The 2026 release is a blend of just three casks: 10-year-old and 19-year-old bourbon, both of which were distilled at an unnamed distillery, and 8.5-year-old wheated bourbon distilled at Preservation on its pot stills. The final blend was bottled at 118.2 proof so there’s some heat as you sip, but nothing that burns or overpowers. Look for notes of toasted nuts, dark roast espresso, crème brûlée, Maraschino cherry syrup, dried blueberries, pipe tobacco, and praline on the palate, and a finish that lingers and tingles.
Read the full review.
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Eagle Rare 30
Image Credit: Buffalo Trace A couple of years after releasing Eagle Rare 25, Buffalo Trace dropped an even older 30-year-old version of this beloved bourbon. It was initially matured in the distillery’s regular warehouses before going into Warehouse P for a time, an experimental, climate-controlled environment. The result is a stunner of an ultra-aged bourbon, with soft notes of fruit, spice, vanilla, tobacco, leather, and toasted wood in the mix, but never careening into the harsh, bitter, tannic notes that you might expect. And at 101 proof, there’s a touch of heat but nothing that your palate can’t handle.
Read the full review.
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Jefferson’s Founder’s Reserve
Image Credit: Jefferson’s Bourbon A 20-year-old bourbon is pretty old. That being said, the new Jefferson’s new Founder’s Reserve is a very successful two-decade-old bourbon with a surprising wine cask finish that is an absolute treat to drink. This is a deeply flavorful bourbon with rich notes of cherry syrup, dark chocolate-covered almonds, vanilla pudding, leather, tobacco, Concord grapes, and barrel-aged maple syrup on the palate, along with some bitter licorice and light tannins to balance things out. The effects of the wine cask finish, a risky move for a bourbon this old, are notable but not overwhelming, and it clearly does not seem to have been used to mask any off notes that could pop up after so long inside a barrel.
Read the full review.
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Glenallachie 1990
Image Credit: The GlenAllachie This 35-year-old, cask-strength whisky from Speyside distillery the GlenAllachie might be hard to find here in the U.S., but is absolutely worth tracking down. It was aged for about three decades in ex-bourbon barrels, and then finished in four different cask types for three to six years—virgin Japanese mizunara oak, American virgin oak, Oloroso sherry, and Pedro Ximénez sherry. The palate ranges from soft baking spice to floral incense to assertive oaky tannins, with a touch of tropical fruit and notes of dark chocolate, coconut custard, vanilla bean, red berries, prune, raisin, and deeply toasted almonds.
Read the full review.
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Glengoyne Mizunara Oak
Image Credit: Glengoyne This new release from Glengoyne is a sherry bomb of a scotch that spent an impressive six years aging in Japanese mizunara oak, and the result is a high-proof whisky that is absolutely worth hunting down. It’s a 16-year-old single malt that was aged for 10 years in first-fill and refill sherry casks, and then another six years in virgin mizunara—something that the distillery claims to be a first in scotch whisky. Look for notes of incense, baked apple, cinnamon, and toasted nuts on the palate, along with heaps of dried fruit and spice from the lengthy sherry cask maturation.
Read the full review.
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Elijah Craig Single Barrel 15 Year
Image Credit: Elijah Craig Elijah Craig introduced its first 15-year-old single barrel bourbon just a few months ago, and it’s stunning. This 108-proof whiskey will, of course, vary in terms of flavor depending on which barrel you taste (my sample was barrel 10 bottled on January 16, 2026), but there is likely not going to be a huge amount of varation. I picked up deep notes of chocolate, cherry, grape soda, yellow cake with vanilla frosting, apple, brown sugar, and a bit of black pepper and cinnamon on the palate. There is some pleasant heat on the back end, followed by a warming finish that lingers for a few minutes, along with some tannic oak. Definitely give this bourbon a try.
Read the full review.
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Barrell Bourbon Finished in French Oak
Image Credit: Barrell Craft Spirits This blend of bourbons from Barrell Craft Spirits was finished in French oak, a fairly simple secondary maturation, and it’s one of its very best. The liquid is sourced from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Wyoming, with some components finished in French oak for 26 months. The final blend was bottled with a 12-year age statement at 108.5 proof, and the palate leads with bright citrus notes followed by cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and a bit of coriander. Overall, this is a very well balanced whiskey that you should add to your collection.
Read the full review.
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New Riff Balboa Rye
Image Credit: New Riff New Riff’s rye whiskey is made from a mashbill of 95 percent rye and 5 percent malted rye, kind of a twist on the classic MGP formula of 95 percent rye and 5 percent malted barley. In 2019, the distillery released its first Balboa Rye, made from a grain that it says was popular in the 1940s. This bottled-in-bond whiskey stands out from the distillery’s flagship expression, and is one that you should keep on your home bar. There is plenty of spice present on the palate, but it doesn’t veer into extremely herbaceous territory. Instead, there are rich notes of cinnamon, black pepper, and nutmeg balanced out by bright fruit flavors like red berries, baked apple, and Concord grapes. Definitely use this in a cocktail, it works particularly well in a Manhattan.
Read the full review.
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Michter’s Celebration
Image Credit: Michter’s One of the priciest American whiskeys that you can find turned out to be the top-rated bottle of the year so far. This edition of Michter’s Celebration is a blend of seven barrels—four of which contained Kentucky straight rye whiskey, three of which contained Kentucky straight bourbon—ranging in age between 12 and more than 30 years, and bottled at 115.2 proof. The whiskey has a deeply layered palate that is vibrant even with mature notes of oak and tannin, along with flavors like dark chocolate, cherry syrup, black pepper, cinnamon, hot honey, and tobacco. Overall, this is a complex, multi-layered, fascinating, and delicious blend—well worth the splurge if you can afford it.
Read the full review.
