The Best New Whiskeys to Drink This July 

Bourbon | 53.9% ABV | Aged 6 Years
Each year, Heaven Hill’s master distiller works with the team at Beck’s Hybrids to identify the ideal non-GMO corn seed varietal that will grow best in Central Kentucky. For the third edition of this special release, they’re using one called Beck’s 6269. Distilled in 2019 and aged in #3 char barrels, the 2026 release is bottled non-chill filtered at barrel proof (107.8 proof) and features a mash bill of 52% corn, 35% wheat and 13% malt. Sweet and a bit smoky on the nose, the liquid is full of citrus, sandalwood, tobacco, white pepper and a hint of apple. It’s delicious. Note: This bottling is actually part of a trio of limited-release wheated bourbons, which also includes a grain-to-glass expression aged in French oak barrels and an extra-aged (nine-year) bottling.

Bourbon | 62.2% ABV | Aged 7 Years
Booker’s is always barrel-strength, uncut and unfiltered bourbon, and the brand puts as much emphasis on the location of the barrels in their warehouses as anything else. Seventh-generation Master Distiller Fred Noe oversees the whiskey. For the second edition, the distillery named this new release after a malted chocolate milkshake-and-bourbon combo that distiller Booker Noe used to love. Just don’t expect that flavor profile in your glass (unless you add the ice cream yourself). While there are hints of milk chocolate, the flavors lean more toward caramel, baking spices, lemon/citrus, cinnamon and a nice wood spice. It would probably work well in a milkshake, though.

Single Malt | 55.85% ABV | Aged 7 Years
Six mash bills and five different cask types intersect in the fourth edition of New Riff’s ambitious Single Malt Whiskey series. The malted barley mash bill includes 12% Chevaillier, a British heirloom barley popularized by the 19th century brewing scene. The five casks the malt whiskeys matured in include new charred oak, de-charred toasted oak, used bourbon barrels, Spanish Oloroso sherry casks and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. It offers a surprise smokiness on the nose with hints of butterscotch and cherry, and those flavors continue on the palate, joined by hints of tobacco, orange zest and dark chocolate.

Bourbon | 61.3% ABV | Aged 4+ Years
Little Book is an annual James B. Beam Distilling limited-release series featuring unique blends crafted and blended by eighth-generation Master Distiller Freddie Noe, always bottled uncut and unfiltered. This blend is particularly experimental, as it incorporates whiskeys that range from a 14-year-old Basil Hayden to a four-year Jim Beam expression finished in sherry and toasted bourbon casks (along with some Knob Creek, Booker’s and Baker’s — an explainer on each brand is here). It has a nice jammy fig note that elevates the classic bourbon flavors of caramel, oak spice, cloves, molasses and vanilla.

Bourbon | 54.5% ABV | No Age Statement
Hailing from MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery, Remus Lou Gehrig Reserve is a limited-edition follow-up to the distillery’s Babe Ruth Reserve Bourbons of 2024 and 2025. To honor the Yankees’ first baseman (some proceeds will benefit Live Like Lou, supporting families affected by ALS and advancing research), the bourbon features four mash bills (a tribute to Gehrig’s No. 4 jersey), a 109 proof to honor Gehrig’s 109 RBI season in 1926, a release of 9,665 bottles to commemorate each of Gehrig’s plate appearances, and a QR code so you can find out which plate appearance coincides with your bottle and what happened during that at-bat. None of that matters unless the liquid is good, and thankfully, it’s is full of cinnamon, vanilla, oak spice, cloves, a rye herbaceousness, a hint of citrus and brown sugar.

Bourbon | 57.5% ABV | Aged 8 Years
Rye | 60.5% ABV | Aged 7 Years
President’s Choice is a limited-edition annual release, serving as a tribute to the private single barrels selected by Old Forester president George Garvin Brown II in 1964. The rye expression returns for a second year, but both releases are available in very limited quantities (it’s already sold out online). The single-barrel bourbon offers hints of cinnamon, cloves, caramel corn, grapefruit peel and oolong tea. The rye is herbaceous, minty and features hints of molasses, caramel and cherry.

Bourbon | 58.48% ABV | Aged 8 Years
Yep, another semiquintenntial celebration (notice the red, white and blue label). This limited release is a blend of straight bourbon whiskeys distilled in Kentucky (12 years), Indiana (nine and 10 years), Tennessee (12 and 15 years) and Maryland (eight years) with a derived mash bill of 79% corn, 17% rye and 4% malted barley. It’s an interesting one. The brown sugar, citrus and tropical fruit notes on the nose and front of the palate evolve into soft herbal and bitter notes, with hints of black tea, cinnamon, oak spice and a slight bitterness.

Bourbon | 60.6% ABV | Aged 13 Years
Master Distiller Eddie Russell is celebrating his 45th anniversary with Wild Turkey Distilling Co., so he gets a twofold celebration: a documentary (His Own Way: The Eddie Russell Story) and the latest release of Russell’s 13-year-old expression. It’s a classic Russell’s profile: vanilla, oak, allspice, orange zest and maybe a bit more coffee and cherry than usual.

Rye | 56% ABV | Aged 13 Years
Developed in partnership with the James Dean Estate, this high-proof rye “reflects the enduring cultural imprint of James Dean through a distinctly modern rye.” The limited-release features a mash bill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley, aged 13 years in Indiana and coming in at 112 proof. On the nose, you’ll find apple and pear, while the palate features an herbal and sweet mix of toasted rye, candied cinnamon, mint, cherry wood and vanilla. It’s an ideal (though decadent) base for a Manhattan.

Bourbon | 57.55% ABV | Aged 8 Years
A recent Double Gold winner at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Green River’s latest was aged eight years before a six-month finish in new American toasted oak. A distillery and tasting room exclusive (and also Green River’s oldest liquid to date), this might be their finest release. There’s a lovely sweetness and a sandalwood note that rounds out the fruity/jammy character of Green River, with hints of caramel, vanilla and toasted coconut.

Bourbon | 47 Proof | Aged 21 Years
A reintroduction of a 21-year-old expression originally released in 2013, this extra-aged bourbon is exclusively available at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience, with a highly limited nationwide distribution coming later this year (1,789 bottles, to be exact, honoring the year Elijah Craig first made bourbon). I’m not usually a fan of bourbons past a certain maturation point — eight to 12 years is ideal — but this is a nice surprise. It’s full of citrus, burnt sugar, leather, baking spices, caramel and barrel notes without being overly tannic or oaky.

Blended Whiskey | 51% ABV | Aged 4+ Years
First introduced in 2022, the Utah distillery’s annual release now features High West’s own straight bourbon and straight rye (along with whiskeys from Bardstown Bourbon Company and MGP). The blend is finished in The Prisoner Red Blend wine barrels, which lends a juiciness to the rye spice, with additional hints of cinnamon, apple, raspberry, butterscotch, milk chocolate and cloves.