Jack Daniel’s, Buffalo Trace and More Released New Whiskeys You May Have Missed

If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more September is National Bourbon Heritage Month (sorry, I forgot to get you a card), and the last few weeks have already been chock-full of new releases from some of the biggest names in the country. And for good measure, some non-bourbon brands have gotten in on the action as well. Some of our favorite new revelations have been Basil Hayden’s first new expression in three years, the first-ever straight rye from Remus and the final US availability of Jack Daniel’s Single Malt, among others. Of course, we also got the announcement of Pappy’s 2026 lineup and the annual return of Old Forester’s coveted Birthday Bourbon. On the Scotch side of things, we also got a cool new whisky from The Macallan, as well as the oldest single malt, possibly ever. Check out the most notable recent drops below. The Maven Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey A decade in the making, The Maven finally launches as a brand-new premium bourbon from Shelbyville, Kentucky. It’s a 94-proof blend of six whiskeys drawn from what the brand calls the most diverse privately owned bourbon library in America. Master Blender Steve Hughes layers whiskeys aged in toasted American oak alongside expressions finished in Chinkapin, Garryana, French and Mizunara oak to build unusual depth. The result already earned a 99-point score and Double Gold at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Knob Creek 12 Year Old Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey Six years after its original limited run made waves, Knob Creek brings back its 12-year-old cask strength expression to its current lineup for a limited time. This is a significant move for a brand long associated with approachable, lower-proof pours. Bottled at a punishing 60.6% ABV, this straight bourbon delivers the concentrated oak, caramel and spice character that only extended aging and zero dilution can produce. For enthusiasts who missed the 2020 debut, this is the second chance worth taking. MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows Straight Bourbon Whiskey For decades, MGP quietly supplied whiskey to some of the most recognizable names in American bourbon — Bulleit, Angel’s Envy, High West and more. Now the Indiana distillery steps into the spotlight with its first branded release. Chapter One: Out of the Shadows is a 10-year-old straight bourbon, a fitting debut from a producer whose liquid has shaped countless shelves without ever carrying its own name. Chicken Cock’s history reads like a great American whiskey yarn: A Paris, Kentucky bourbon beloved in Prohibition-era speakeasies, reportedly the house pour at Harlem’s Cotton Club, then gone for decades until its 2017 revival. To mark 170 years, the brand is celebrating with a ceramic rooster decanter holding its 8-year-old barrel-strength straight bourbon at 115 proof drawn from the very first barrels it laid down after coming back. Limited to 1,200 units, it also marks the first time founder James A. Miller’s name has appeared on a bottle since Prohibition. Few people have shaped modern bourbon more quietly — or more profoundly — than Chris Morris. To mark his 50 years at Brown-Forman, Woodford Reserve master distiller Elizabeth McCall and Old Forester assistant master distiller Caleb Trigo, both Morris protégés, collaborated on this one-time whiskey release. Bottled at 100 proof and drawing inspiration from Woodford Double Oaked, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and King of Kentucky, it opens with chocolate, Luxardo cherry and toasted hazelnut before landing on charred oak and warming baking spices. Four Roses Experimental Series No. 002 Honey Cask Finish Four Roses continues its Experimental Series with a bourbon finished in casks that previously held honey aged in the distillery’s own oak barrels — a partnership with Bohman Bee Company that comes full circle here. A blend of six-, seven- and eight-year bourbons spent nine months inside those honey casks, emerging at 104 proof with natural honey notes, warm baking spice and floral undertones. The result reads nothing like a flavored liqueur because the sweetness is earned, not added. Available in 375mL bottles. Four Roses 2026 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon The 19th edition of Four Roses’s annual Limited Edition Small Batch arrives as one of the more age-forward entries in the series. Bottled at barrel strength — 109.2 proof — and non-chill filtered, the bourbon blends four hand-selected batches spanning 14 to 23 years: a 14-year OBSK, a 14-year OESK, a 15-year OESV and a 23-year OESK. Tasting notes run from apricot and oak on thee nose to baking spice, fruit, vanilla and caramel on the palate. Four Roses plans roughly 16,800 bottles nationwide when this lands October 10. Each year, Old Forester releases its Birthday Bourbon to mark the September 2 birthday of founder George Garvin Brown, and the 2026 edition breaks from convention in a meaningful way. Rather than using “setback” during fermentation — the standard practice of carrying over a portion of spent mash to control consistency — the distillery opted for a sweet mash process, relying entirely on freshly propagated yeast. The result is a 700ml, 46% ABV Kentucky straight bourbon that should appeal to collectors and serious drinkers alike. Ten years into the Repeal Reserve series, Ross & Squibb Distillery marks the milestone with its first-ever rye whiskey. This limited-edition straight rye draws from 2015 and 2016 reserves of Remus’s signature 95% rye mash bill, bottled at 111 proof. The nose opens on butterscotch, caramel, French oak and cardamom, while the palate brings mint, star anise, toffee and fennel, finishing on candy-coated fennel seed. Plus, it comes in the brand’s signature Deco-inspired bottle. Basil Hayden’s first new expression since its Malted Rye milestone in 2023 is worth the wait. The Cognac Cask Reserve takes the brand’s signature high-rye mashbill and finishes it in oak barrels that previously held French Cognac aged 20 to 25 years. Bottled at 80 proof, the whiskey delivers a complex yet approachable profile of caramel, dried fruit, vanilla, oak and subtle spice. It’s elegant, layered and true to everything we’ve come to rely on from this brand. The Balvenie 88-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky Scotch whisky has a new elder statesman. The Balvenie’s oldest single malt ever spent 88 years inside a refilled Spanish sherry oak cask — first filled on March 5, 1931 — making it the oldest single malt we’ve seen from any distillery. Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie bottled the liquid in 2019, and the brand describes notes of honey, mint leaf and buttery fudge on the nose, with creamy toffee, warm spice and oak on the palate. Only 17 bottles exist, each housed in a hand-patinated bronze sculpture by artist Daniel Arsham. When the TTB made American Single Malt an official standard of identity last year, it validated a category that craft distillers had been building for years — and Jack Daniel’s had already beaten most of them to the punch. Its limited 2022 release marked the first time a legacy distillery entered the category. And after a stint in duty-free exclusivity, the Tennessee whiskey is now hitting retailers nationwide. The 1-liter bottle delivers a 100% malted barley mashbill aged four years in new American oak, then finished two more years in Oloroso sherry casks. It’s bottled at 90 proof with notes of dark chocolate, berries and a subtle sherry finish. WhistlePig’s annual Boss Hog series has always leaned into the unexpected, and the 13th edition is no different. Straight rye was finished in barrels seasoned with Egyptian black honey and tiger nuts (a wrinkly root vegetable, not a nut) inspired by a tiger nut cake recipe carved into an Egyptian tomb more than 3,000 years ago. Bottled at cask strength between 102.6 and 105.6 proof, it delivers brown sugar, cinnamon and toasted almond on the nose, with molasses, baking spice and black pepper on the palate. The pewter King Tut topper seals the deal. Named for a storied well on Islay, Ardbeg’s Trudernish is a 15-year-old single malt matured in bourbon, new charred oak and Oloroso sherry casks. It’s a trio that produces the distillery’s signature peat smoke wrapped in unusually silky, creamy texture. At 48.8% ABV and non-chill filtered, it opens with vanilla cream and fudge before moving through soft pine, dark liquorice and chocolate lime, closing on a long, ember-warm finish. Milam and Greene Unabridged Volume 5 Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskey The fifth entry in Milam and Greene’s Blender’s Reserve Collection draws from seven cask components sourced across Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas, then married through the distillery’s signature “Texification” process. Bottled at 121.6 proof and non-chill filtered, it’s the highest-proof Unabridged release to date. And with only 650 cases produced, availability won’t last. Expect mahogany color, a rich oily palate of fig and sticky toffee, and a medium-long finish with peach, marzipan and fresh mint. The third chapter in the Time : Space Collection, this 20-year-old Speyside single malt is the first Macallan expression influenced by sherry casks seasoned with the distillery’s own Valdespino sherry, produced at its bodega in Jerez de la Frontera. Maturation in traditional sherry oak casks gives way to a marrying period in the first 200 Valdespino-seasoned casks, delivering a palate of dried fruits, ginger cake and polished oak at 44.8% ABV. It arrives in the collection’s signature circular vessel. Booker’s second-ever rye whiskey arrives as the third annual entry in its limited Reserves collection, finished in apple brandy casks with cinnamon sticks added for character. Aged over six years and bottled uncut at 125.1 proof, it carries tasting notes of apple, barrel char, vanilla and warm apple pie on the finish. Master distiller Freddie Noe credits his grandfather Booker Noe’s homemade apple wine as the inspiration, which is a nod to legacy that rye fans with a taste for bold, fruit-forward whiskey will want to track down. Few annual whiskey drops generate the kind of obsessive attention that the Van Winkle collection does, and the 2026 release gives devoted hunters six reasons to start searching now. Produced by Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery and distilled at Buffalo Trace, the lineup spans five bourbons and one rye, aged ranging 10 to 23 years like usual. Buffalo Trace master distiller Harlen Wheatley and the Van Winkle family hand-select every barrel, meaning no two vintages taste exactly alike. The six expressions (Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon 10-Year-Old, Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12-Year-Old, Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 15-, 20- and 23-Year-Old, and Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13-Year-Old) represent four generations of wheat-forward tradition. Of course, quantities are highly limited, and secondary-market prices far exceed suggested retail. About the Author: Ethan Brehm is an associate editor at Gear Patrol writing about footwear, watches, spirits, EDC and more. When he’s not shopping for his next G-Shock, he spends his time watching movies and planning a future road trip with his family. He firmly believes CDs sound better than vinyl. 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