The Best New Whiskeys to Drink This February 

Bourbon | 53.26% ABV | Aged 5+ Years 

The fourth offering in Barrell’s Cask Finish Series is a blend of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Wyoming bourbons, featuring multiple mash bills that are blended and then further matured in ice wine casks (a sweet, dessert-style wine with a nice acidity produced from grapes that were frozen on the vine). Bottled at cask strength with a blend of five- to 15-year-old whiskeys, there’s plenty of caramel, a juicy fruit note (almost bubblegum), ginger, lemon custard and coconut.

Bourbon | 60.58% ABV | Aged 12+ Years 

Bob Dylan’s collection of American whiskeys — we’re fans — offers up another limited release with the sixth installment of its Bootleg Series. Here, a blend of 12-, 13- and 14-year-old wheated bourbons is finished in air-dried, lightly-toasted Limousin cigar barrels, reminiscent of those traditionally used for Brazilian aged spirits (we should note that cigar barrels are named for their elongated, cigar-like shape, which provides more whiskey-to-wood contact). The project draws its inspiration from Dylan’s art piece “Favela Villa Candido,” which is featured on the bottle and part of his “Brazil Series” of works. As for the taste, there’s a surprising amount of fruit (cherry, orange, apple, peach) with caramel, baking spices and toasted oak, along with a slightly syrupy and thick mouthfeel.

Bourbon | 59.1% ABV | Aged 10 Years

The Elijah Craig barrel-proof releases tend to win accolades. So we were excited for the Heaven Hill brand’s first 2025 release, which comes in at 118.2 proof and, as always, is non-chill-filtered and uncut (and each bottle is hand-labeled with its unique proof and batch number; the bottle pictured above is not the current batch). Batch A125 has a nice, bold mouthfeel with notes of cinnamon gum, vanilla, cherry cola and creme brûlée.

Aggressively aged and a bit overproof, the real selling point of this Vermont distillery’s PiggyBank release is the 1L container; this year, the piggy is gold, but you still pour the liquid from the rear. But don’t let the liquid’s pour deter you from trying it — this is some of WhistlePig’s best stock, and the rye is herbal, full of baking spices, black pepper, a hint of apple and rounded out by a faint caramel sweetness. 

American Single Malt | 59.05% ABV | No Age Statement

The fourth in a series of limited-edition expressions from this Iowa distillery, Wine Club is handcrafted from 2-row pale malted barley first aged in Cedar Ridge ex-bourbon barrels, followed by a finish in a multitude of first-fill wine barrels (Amontillado sherry, Tokaji and Moscatel). It’s then blended with peated malt finished in a Pinot Noir cask. As you can expect, it’s fairly spicy and fruity, with bold hints of smoke, caramel, butterscotch, raspberry and oak spice.

Scotch | 46.9% ABV | 40 Years Old

The iconic, two-century-old Speyside distillery just introduced its oldest permanent expression (they had a limited-edition, 55-year-old single malt come out last year). The four-decade expression was finished in a blend of Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, and this one is full of fruit (cherry, apple), toasted oak spice, cinnamon and dark cocoa. Befitting its price, the 40-year-old’s elongated bottle is inspired by The Glenlivet’s original, 200-year-old glass silhouette and housed inside a copper-colored presentation container (inspired by the copper stills used at the distillery).

Straight Whiskey Blend | 55.5% ABV | Aged 5+ Years

The limited-edition Barrel Finishing Series from this Tennessee distillery continues with an expression that’s all about the peat — here, they take three peated whiskeys made with three unique peated malts and finish them in Islay Scotch barrels from three different distilleries. It’s certainly smoke-forward, with underlying hints of apple, honey and malt (with, no joke, a bit of a burnt bacon vibe on the finish). If you like a sweet campfire, this is your jam.

Bourbon | 60% ABV | Aged 9 Years

A single barrel bourbon picked by…Eli Manning? As a Super Bowl tie-in, that’s a winning combo (at least if you’re playing the Patriots). Selected by Manning and eighth-generation Master Distiller Freddie Noe, this limited-edition is only available in stores in New Orleans, NYC and Los Angeles (there’s also a tie-in sweepstakes in case you want to win a trip to the distillery). So, does Eli know whiskey as well as his brother? It’s a good and unsurprisingly aggressive (120-proof) take on classic Knob Creek, full of vanilla, caramel and baking spices with a hint of leather and citrus.

Bourbon | 48% ABV | Aged 5+ Years

We wrote about this Lancaster, KY-based distiller earlier this month, as they differentiate themselves by not having a master distiller at all (instead, they utilize a panel of four whiskey experts). The distillery’s flagship bourbon All Nations was named after a poster that hung in bars during Carrie (later changed to Carry) Nation’s temperance crusade in the late 1800s, smashing saloons with her infamous hatchet. The tongue-in-cheek posters read: “All Nations Welcome Except Carrie” (Carry’s ancestral home now sits on the distillery property and is open for tours). At just $40, you’re getting a pretty classic bourbon here for a great price, with notes of leather, vanilla, cloves, oak spice, black tea and a hint of citrus.

Rye | 50.5% ABV | No Age Statement
This Danish distillery recently offered up a rather unique U.S. exclusive — its locally-made rye whisky finished in a parcel of hand-selected Pedro Ximénez PX and Palo Cortado sherry casks from Jerez, Spain. That’s a lot of cross-border collaboration, but the final result is full of candied ginger, toffee, orange and cardamom.