Eastern Light Distilling is celebrating a milestone in the creation of its new distillery, with the company’s goal to bring significant new investment, jobs, and tourism opportunities to the Kentucky bourbon industry. The project was first announced in June of 2023 and has made significant progress over the past year.  Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, local elected officials and others were welcomed today to commemorate the official groundbreaking of the new Rowan County distillery, which is expected to open in late 2025. Lead by seasoned bourbon industry veterans Caleb Kilburn and Cordell ..read more

Kentucky’s Michter’s Distillery has announced the July release of its Legacy Series. The series pays homage to the distillery’s heritage through two expressions: Shenk’s Homestead Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey and Bomberger’s Declaration Kentucky Straight Bourbon. Michter’s origins date back to 1753, when John Shenk founded Shenk’s Distillery in Pennsylvania. The distillery was renamed Bomberger’s Distillery in the 1800s, before finally becoming Michter’s Distillery in the 20th century. Each year, the Legacy Series’ Shenk’s and Bomberger’s expressions differ slightly, and are vintage dated with t ..read more

Kentucky-based Maker’s Mark has announced the latest in its wood finishing series with The Heart Release. This latest expression will be available beginning in July 2024. The brand’s Wood Finish Series features a collection of expressions that use an innovative wood stave-finishing technique to enhance distinctive characteristics already present in the brand’s bourbon. This expression will be the first in the second series, which is dedicated to shining a light on the taste vision inspired by the distillery team. The previous first series emphasized the production process. The producers have d ..read more

Heaven Hill Distillery has announced the launch of Heaven Hill Grain to Glass, the latest addition to its collection of whiskeys highlighting the brand’s long-standing commitment to quality, sustainability and craft. The new release features three new mashbills which include a bourbon, a wheated bourbon and rye expression. The idea for the line began eight years ago as the brainchild of Heaven Hill executive chairman Max Shapira, and a partnership with seed company Beck’s Hybrids. The bourbon and wheated bourbon whiskeys feature mashbills with higher secondary grain content than Heaven Hill’s ..read more

The West End School, a tuition-free, all-boys school located in Louisville, has launched an ambitious bourbon raffle in an effort to fundraise. Up to $200,000 worth of vintage and ultra-rare bourbons are to be raffled off nationwide. There are a total of 22 lots to be won. All proceeds from the raffle will support underprivileged kids at the West End School, and include the soon-to-be-built West End Girls School, expected to be finished in fall 2025. The live raffle drawing for the lots will take place at 11am EDT on 20 June. Tickets are priced at $100, and winners do not need to be present to ..read more

Old Forester has announced a new Father’s Day release of its rarest expression, President’s Choice. In 1964 former Brown-Forman President George Garvin Brown II offered the first private single barrels to customers, creating the tradition of President’s Choice. Old Forester has continued this tradition with a surprise summer release of President’s Choice. “President’s Choice is our most sought-after product – and most people never get the chance to buy a bottle,” said master taster Melissa Rift. “We’re excited to announce this special President’s Choice release just in time for Father’s Day ..read more

Widow Jane Distillery has announced its newest, small-batch hand-assembled blend of bourbons – Baby Jane Bourbon by Widow Jane. The release has been created using the brand’s own unique “Baby Jane” corn, claimed by the producers to be the first nationally-available bourbon made using a proprietary heirloom corn. The release has been aged between four and six years, and is proofed at 91 (45.5% ABV). The producers have described the expression as having aromas of honeycomb, cream soda and salty air, with notes of Strawberries n’ Creme Taffy, Café au Lait and salted caramel on the palate. Around ..read more

Wyoming Whiskey has announced the latest bottling of its Outryder Straight American Whiskey. An ‘in-between’ whiskey, neither truly bourbon nor truly rye, Wyoming describes Outryder as “hard to brand but easy to drink”. The whiskey was first released in 2016, born of a creative difference between the distillery’s co-founder and distiller. As the story goes, co-founder David DeFazio wanted then-distiller Steve Nally to make a rye for Wyoming. Nally didn’t want to make a rye, the grain being notoriously challenging to work with. Ultimately, Nally conceded and in 2011 casks of “rye” and more of b ..read more

Bear Fight, a whiskey brand from Next Century Spirits, has extended its whiskey portfolio with the launch of Bear Fight Kentucky Reserve – a bourbon finished in Reposado Tequila barrels. The Whiskey is aged for a minimum of three years before it is finished in ex-reposado tequila casks. Anthony Moniello, co-CEO of Next Century Spirits, commented: “Coming off the success of our initial brand launch with Bear Fight American Single Malt, we wanted to push the boundaries of what a bourbon can be. We wanted to craft an innovative bourbon that allowed us to tap into two growing liquor categorie ..read more

Augusta Distillery will officially launch Buckner’s 17, the newest bourbon in its Buckner’s series. The release will be available for guests to purchase at the distillery’s Buckner’s, BBQ and Bluegrass event on 15 June. The event will also feature catering provided by Rescue BBQ and live music performed by Slippery Creek. In addition, Alex Castle, Augusta Distillery’s first master distiller, will guide an exclusive tasting experience and distillery tour a day in advance of the official Buckner’s 17 release on 14 June. She will lead two tastings, at 3:30 pm and 5:00 pm Both events will include ..read more