The Best New Whiskeys to Drink This January 

Rye | 55.5% ABV | Aged 25 Years
Hailing from the independent spirits producer Cooper Spirits Co. (St-Germain, Slow & Low), LS&B’s latest is the oldest rye currently available on the market, according to the brand. It’s already won a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition — joining its 13-Year, 16-Year, 18-Year and 20-Year releases in achieving that honor — and it’s easy to see why. Aged in barrels personally selected by the late Rob Cooper from Alberta Distillers’ rickhouses (they know their rye), this 100% rye mash bill release is full of toffee, cocoa, cherry, oak spice and black tea notes. It’s good stuff, but only 250 bottles are available starting this month.

Scotch | 40-43% ABV | Aged 12+ Years
Islay’s oldest licensed distillery just released a new permanent collection of single malts aged in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks (with some aging in ex-bourbon barrels). The 12- and 15-year-old releases are out now, with 18- and 21-year-old expressions coming shortly. “This is more similar to what you would have found historically in the early 1800s when the casks were coming up from Spain,” Simon Brooking, national ambassador of Scotch at Suntory Global Spirits, told us during a recent tasting. The 15 in particular offers a lovely fruitiness, some chocolate notes and some hints of smoke and minerality.

Rye | 57.87% ABV | Aged 8+ Years
A collaboration between whiskey maker Ari Sussman, entrepreneur Raj Alva and musician Eric Church, Whiskey JYPSI — yes, the name may raise eyebrows — offers limited-edition, cross-category blends. Take The Declaration, a “tribute to America’s revolutionary spirit” that seeks to reconstruct a Maryland-style rye mash bill. In this case, it’s a rye from Indiana blended with a 20 to 25-year-old Canadian corn whisky (rebarreled in new American oak for a couple of years) and 10% American Single Malt from Virginia. Sounds like a lot, but the result is a harmonious blend of cherry, biscuit, butterscotch, caramel, toasted rye and oak spice.

Bourbon | 55.2% ABV | Aged 6 Years
This rather young (13-year-old) Kentucky distillery just launched a trio of 6-Year-Old Private Barrel offerings. These single-barrel, cask-strength, non-chill-filtered expressions include a high-rye bourbon, a rye and a wheated bourbon, each crafted using both a proprietary sweet mash process and proprietary yeast strains. We were able to try the wheated bottle (note: given that these are single-barrel releases, the proofs will vary, but ours was 110.4), featuring a mash bill of 64% corn, 24% wheat and 12% malted barley. It’s a slightly softer bourbon with a rich mouthfeel and hints of vanilla, caramel, stone fruit and barrel char.

American Single Malt | 50% ABV | Aged 5 Years
If Goose Island can age its beers in ex-whiskey barrels, it only seems right that a distillery would want access to those casks. Virginia Distillery Co. (which has a whole Brewer’s Coalition collaborative lineup) first aged its single malt for more than five years in ex-bourbon barrels before finishing the liquid in casks that previously held Bourbon County Brand Stout. Chocolate biscuit is the primary note here, along with a lovely roasted malt finish. There’s also a 118-proof single-barrel version of this release.

Scotch | 40% ABV | Aged 12 Years
Launched in the fall as the first part of an ongoing travel series, this Speyside single malt distillery reimagined its 12-year-old expression, finished in casks that previously held Jamaican rum. They call it velvety smooth, and I agree — this is a crowd-pleasing mix of caramel, tropical fruit (mainly pineapple), vanilla, coconut and toffee.

American Whiskey | 45% ABV | Aged 5 Years
Woodson is a solid line of bourbons, American whiskeys and flavored whiskeys from former NFL and University of Michigan star Charles Woodson (and not kidding on the flavored bottles — the cinnamon Maize ‘N Blitz is a legit crowd-pleaser). There are also some limited-edition bottles that benefit Michigan student athletics. The standout is the All-American release, a five-year-old American whiskey that offers a nice mix of caramel, rye spice, vanilla and nutmeg, ideal for winter and for a reasonable price.

Bourbon | 52.1% ABV | Aged 14+ Years
We’ve been fans of Bardstown’s prior Distillery Reserve releases, which are extremely limited in quantity and only available in 375mL bottles. The third and final 2025 bottle is the result of filling a 59-gallon Calvados cask with a custom bourbon blend of stock aged between 12 and 13 years. After 28 months, the whiskey is placed into new, medium-toast American white oak. The final result is full of caramel, vanilla, baked apples, oak spice, cherry and brown sugar.

Bourbon | 53.75% ABV | Aged 6 Years
Not the usual Cigar Blend, Tanager employs the old-world Petites Eaux (“Small Waters”) blending technique common in Cognac and Armagnac. Here, that means the distillery combined a high-rye bourbon with Texas water, aged it at 50 proof for a year, and then added it to a base whiskey for final proofing. It’s also a combination of red, white and blue corn bourbon, along with a select rye and malted barley. And unlike most cigar blends, there are no finishing barrels here. The final result is creamy and full of caramel, orange blossom, walnut and cherry.

Bourbon | 43% ABV | Aged 4 Years
About that name: Founded by Autumn Nethery, the brand pays tribute to her family’s patriarch, Roy “PaPaw” Nethery. The mash bill on the brand’s initial release features yellow corn, rye and barley. Even at its relatively young age (four years), this is a solid, inexpensive bourbon with classic notes of caramel, butterscotch, apple and a bit of rye spice. For now, it’s only available in Florida.