The Best New Whiskeys to Drink This January 

Rye |  50-56.3% ABV | Aged 7-9 Years 

The Maryland distillery recently released its two oldest age-statement rye whiskeys. The nine-year offers a higher ABV and features notes of graham cracker, vanilla, orange zest and toasted rye. The seven-year, meanwhile, comes in at 100-proof and was distilled, aged and bottled in Maryland. It follows the distillery’s MO of blending high- and low-rye mashbills. It has a more classic herbal/dill rye note, though tempered with notes of ginger, orange and brown sugar.

Bourbon | 56.05% ABV | 5-15 Years Old

An annual release, the 2023 edition made our best bourbons list for the year. The most recent year’s compendium features bourbons from eight states ranging from five to 15 years old. The derived mash bill (75% corn, 20% rye, 4% malted barley and 1% wheat) doesn’t really hint at the final product, which is fruity, tropical and full of vanilla, coconut, caramel, white chocolate and ginger.

Bourbon | 53.7% ABV | 19 Years Old

“There are very few bottles of 20-year-old bourbon out there,” says Raj Bhakta, the founder of his namesake, Vermont-based vintage spirits brand. “And a lot of those can be overcooked. I wanted to try a different aging process and slow it down.” So coming in a tad under two decades, this 2005 bourbon was initially aged in Tennessee, then transferred to Indiana and finally to a Rolls Royce factory in Glasgow, where it spent five years in ex-Scotch (non-peated) casks. And after all that, it underwent a finishing in a 1975 ex-Armagnac cask in Vermont. Only 555 bottles of this special release are available, and if you’re a fan of extra-aged bourbon, it’s worth checking out. While leather, boiled peanuts, chamomile tea, tobacco and oak spice initially dominate the senses, a really nice fruity undertone comes out with a little water (and particularly when paired with a dessert). 

As part of The Macallan’s 200th anniversary, the distillery just released two new expressions in its collaborative Harmony Collection — and both bottles are partnerships with Cirque du Soleil (there’s a whole crafted story behind it). Vibrant Oak (the retail release) is matured in a combination of first-fill, sherry-seasoned American oak casks and refill sherry casks. And the American oak really shines through here, delivering a rich experience full of vanilla, citrus, apple and caramel. Guardian Oak, meanwhile, is aged in a combination of first-fill, sherry-seasoned European oak casks and refill sherry casks — we didn’t get a chance to try this one (it’s a travel retail exclusive), but it supposedly delivers more of the classic European oak flavors of dried fruit, chocolate, cherry and sweet spices. 

Part of the Dublin distillery’s Vintage Reserve Collection — which previously topped out at 37 years — was distilled back in 1983. Limited to just 140 bottles, aged exclusively in ex-bourbon oak barrels and bottled at natural cask strength with no chill filtration, it’s surprisingly not overcooked. You’ll actually get hints of blueberry on the nose, along with some tropical fruit on the palate, candied orange and coconut. For those who don’t want to spend five figures on a bottle, Teeling also recently released a 24-year-old whiskey finished in Rivesaltes (sweet red dessert wine) casks that’s extremely fruity and even offers a hint of bubblegum. It also honors Notre Dame football and that school’s 1924 championship. 

The final Booker’s release of 2024 honors Wild Turkey Master Distiller Jimmy Russell, who Fred Noe saw as a “second father” after his dad, Booker Noe, passed away. As usual, this is barrel-strength, uncut and unfiltered and comes with a detailed breakdown of where the barrels were located (e.g. 46% from the third floor of 7-story warehouse 3).  It’s full of vanilla, caramel, allspice and a hint of cherry.

Bourbon | 50.5% ABV | Aged 8 Years

Wild Turkey celebrated Jimmy Russell’s 70th anniversary with the distillery with a special bottle. Russell first stepped foot in the distillery on September 10, 1954, at the age of 18, sweeping floors. Today, he’s one of the most revered master distillers in bourbon history. This is an 8-year-old, 101-proof bourbon with an additional blend of 8- to 9-year-old whiskeys that were hand-selected by Russell from a few of his favorite rickhouses. If you like Wild Turkey, consider this an elevated take on 101, with notes of oak spice, butterscotch, tobacco, black tea and cherry cola.

American Whiskey | 50% ABV | Various Age Range

Launched this past fall, Lasso Motel is offering sourced whiskey (from distilleries including MGP, Barton and Green River) and interesting cask-finished varietals from barrels sourced around the globe — including Le Stave, Sherry, Rose, Port Cask, Tokaji, Naranja, Cognac, Mizunara and Amburana casks. There’s an aesthetic appeal to these heavy-grade glass decanters and the throwback designs here, but how do they taste? We were able to test four of these; the Amburana and Sherry Cask finishes are going to appeal to fans of those maturations (read: not me so much, but you do you!), but our standout pick is the 8-Year Kentucky Straight Whiskey, which offers a bold and spicy experience of cherry, butterscotch and tobacco.

Bourbon | 50% ABV | Aged 11 Years

A little distillery backstory: Old Fitzgerald, first registered in 1884, was eventually sold to “Pappy” Van Winkle during Prohibition and was later acquired by Heaven Hill in 1999. The fourteenth national release in this whiskey series from Heaven Hill, the fall 2024 bottle was produced in the fall of 2013 and bottled this past autumn. As usual, this biannual release comes in an ornate decanter and features a wheated bourbon mashbill. I get a lot of butterscotch, oak spice and even maple notes here, along with underlying bright citrus, graham cracker and vanilla.

Blackwood Distilling was created in 2020 after co-founder Guinness McFadden won the 2019 Kentucky Derby (with Country House at 65:1 odds). From there, McFadden parlayed his Blackwood Stables into Blackwood Distilling Co with the help of the Justins (of Justins’ House of Bourbon). I recently tried the barrel-strength Toasted Bourbon and Toasted Rye releases, both of which are finished in a trio of new toasted barrels from Kelvin Cooperage (a medium-toast, no-char barrel, a Char 4 with toasted heads and a Char 2 with toasted heads). Both are tasty, though I give a slight nod to the spiciness of the rye, nicely tempered by sweeter notes of graham cracker and vanilla.