It's an American whiskey-heavy week for new releases, kicking off with the latest batch of Booker's. Joining it is a wheater from New Riff, two new bourbons from Iron Smoke, and a high-rye bourbon from Liberty Pole. Elsewhere, Jack Daniel's has debuted another Single Barrel Special Release rye, Pursuit United has a new double oak rye, Chattanooga Whiskey has its first-ever Tennessee whiskeys, and Penelope has the fifth iteration of its collaborative blend with FCancer. Overseas, Bowmore has partnered with a New York-based design firm on two new single malts.
Booker’s 2026 Batch No. 3 The Southern Thunder Batch Bourbon
ABV: 63.65%
SRP: $100
Availability: Limited
The third Booker’s batch of the year has arrived. It comprises five different production dates, with the youngest at 7 years old, stored throughout five seven-story warehouses. The barrel breakdown is as follows:
- 23% matured on the 5th floor of warehouse 3
- 21% matured on the 3rd floor of warehouse G
- 22% matured on the 6th floor of warehouse 6
- 20% matured on the 4th floor of warehouse 4
- 14% matured on the 4th floor of warehouse M
As with every new batch of Booker’s, this one comes with a story about its namesake, late master distiller Booker Noe. Many who knew Booker described him as “Southern thunder,” because of his deep, booming voice.
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Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Special Release Coy Hill Rye (2026 Release)
ABV: 64.35%–74.25%
SRP: $90
Availability: Nationwide
Jack Daniel’s latest Single Barrel Special Release has arrived. This year’s edition is another rye, following in the footsteps of last year’s debut of Tanyard Hill. These barrels were distilled in 2016 and aged for 10 years on Coy Hill—the highest point of elevation at the distillery—in Barrelhouses 1–13. It uses Jack’s signature rye mashbill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley, and it underwent the Lincoln County process.
Chattanooga Whiskey Bad Chattanoogan Tennessee Whiskey
ABV: 50%
SRP: $65
Availability: Limited
For its first Tennessee whiskey, Chattanooga Whiskey stayed true to its experimental roots, finishing it with toasted maple wood records (yes, you read that right). The straight Tennessee whiskey is made from three high-malt mashbills, maple charcoal mellowed, and aged 4 years in oak. After this initial maturation, the whiskey was transferred to barrels along with records cut from solid sugar maple; they were toasted for a day and laser-engraved with two original tribute songs about the distillery written by Chattanooga Whiskey creative director Rich Abercrombie, who also fronts the Dollars Family band. The whiskey was finished for 30 days.
Bad Chattanoogan comes in two editions: Side A, “Bad Chattanoogan,” and Side B, “City I Love.” Each bottle comes with a playable four-inch Tiny Vinyl hangtag featuring both original songs. The whiskeys are available at seelbachs.com and at Tennessee retailers.
Given that Chattanooga is a Tennessee-based distillery, it may come as a surprise that this is its first Tennessee whiskey; until now, it had forgone the Lincoln County Process, the hallmark of Tennessee whiskey.
New Riff 6 Year Old Bottled in Bond Wheated Bourbon
ABV: 50%
SRP: $60
Availability: Limited
Newport, Kentucky-based New Riff has unveiled a new wheated bourbon. The mashbill—65% corn, 18% floor-malted wheat, 10% unmalted wheat, and 7% dark wheat—is likened to a beer recipe, drawing on the distilling team's brewing background. The use of floor-malted wheat, a labor-intensive process, is intended to lend the bourbon greater depth and a more robust character. Bottled in bond without chill filtration, the release is available exclusively to New Riff's Whiskey Club members, with pickup at the distillery.
Penelope FCancer 6 Year Old Blend of Straight Whiskeys (Batch 5)
ABV: 50.5%
SRP: $80
Availability: Nationwide
Now in its fifth year of collaboration with FCancer, Penelope Bourbon has released its annual limited-edition whiskey, this year a 6 year old blend of straight bourbon and American malt whiskeys. Distilled at parent company MGP's distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the whiskey features a four-grain mashbill of 64% corn, 20% rye, 1% malted rye, and 15% malted barley. Previous releases have featured blends of straight whiskeys, while last year's Batch 4 also included a cask-strength iteration. The brand has pledged $250,000 to the nonprofit that advocates for cancer prevention and early detection.
Pursuit United Extra Special Double Oak Rye
ABV: 63.1%
SRP: $150
Availability: Limited
Louisville-based Pursuit Spirits has debuted Pursuit United XS Double Oak, a new series featuring extended secondary maturation in custom-built barrels. The inaugural release is a barrel proof rye, blending straight rye whiskeys from Bardstown Bourbon Company and Sagamore Spirit before undergoing almost 2 years of additional maturation in American oak barrels from Seguin Moreau's Napa cooperage. The barrels feature a no.-3 char and toasted heads, a combination previously used in its single barrel release, Episode 063. This release is just 720 bottles, with 92% allocated to existing Pursuit’s club (P. Club) members and the remainder reserved for new members who join in person at the brand's Whiskey Row location in Louisville.
Iron Smoke Barrelhouse Collection: 5 year old Maple Barrel Finished Bourbon
ABV: 50%
SRP: $75
Availability: Limited
Iron Smoke Barrelhouse Collection: 10 year old Bourbon
ABV: 57.5%
SRP: $130
Availability: Limited
Fairport, New York distillery Iron Smoke is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a trio of new whiskeys. The first two whiskeys have just been released, including a 5 year old bourbon that finished in maple syrup barrels, and an ultra-aged 10 year old bourbon. The third whiskey, an 8 year old double-oaked bourbon, is expected to launch next month.
Alongside the anniversary, Iron Smoke is celebrating another milestone. Last month, the brand purchased its longtime 20,000-square-foot production space in Fairport. The deal was part of a larger $3 million investment, which aims to upgrade the distillery while increasing its production capacity.
Liberty Pole Spirits High Rye Bourbon
ABV: 50%
SRP: $55
Availability: Limited
Pennsylvania-based Liberty Pole Spirits has introduced a new bourbon to its core range. This one has a “barely legal” mashbill of 51% Bloody Butcher red corn, 40% rye, and 9% malted barley. Co-founder Jim Hough says the goal was to give the rye grain a larger role in the whiskey’s flavor profile, and he recommends tasting it alongside the brand’s wheated bourbon, which uses substantially more corn. Similar to that whiskey, the newcomer was aged 4.5 years.
Bowmore Captivo Oak Voyage scotch single malt
ABV: 50.8%
SRP: $350
Availability: Limited
Bowmore Captivo Sherry Cask Pursuit scotch single malt
ABV: 51.8%
SRP: N/A
Availability: Global Travel Retail exclusive
The Bowmore Captivo Collection, comprised of two limited edition single malts, is rooted in collaboration. In creating the new whiskies, the Islay distillery partnered with New York-based design studio Snarkitecture—a somewhat unlikely pairing for a whisky distillery, but chosen for what Bowmore refers to as like-minded “craftsmanship, creativity, and pursuit of discovery.”
The 20 year old Oak Voyage spent two decades in bourbon barrels before being finished in American oak oloroso sherry butts. It’s a U.S. exclusive and will be available starting in November. Sherry Cask Pursuit features a heavier sherry influence; it matured first in Spanish oak oloroso sherry casks and bourbon barrels, and was finished in oloroso hogsheads. As a Global Travel Retail exclusive, it will be available in Taipei and Hong Kong later this year, and in international markets slated for further down the road.
Snarkitecture’s influence is in the whisky’s packaging; co-founder Alex Mustonen visited Islay, drew inspiration from the island’s terrain and the distillery, and created a multilayered portal design for both the box and the label.