Following our coverage of 2024’s best US-made whiskeys across American single malts, ryes, double-barrel expressions and a category dedicated to innovation, our fifth and final chapter looks at our country’s spirit king: bourbon. With the holiday season in full swing, feel free to liven up your celebrations with one of this year’s 11 best bourbons, beginning with our pick of the greatest pour of the year:
Best Bourbon Of 2024: King of Kentucky ‘2024 16-Year-Old’ Bourbon
Holy moly this is some ridiculous juice. Tasting King of Kentucky for the first time is one of those Old School Frank the Tank epiphanies—you know it’s magic the moment it touches your lips. Grab a tumbler, sneak downstairs, lock the den door and shut out the world while you ascend into bourbon bliss.
While the resurrection of the label is only seven years old, the original King of Kentucky was founded in 1881, so its legacy runs deep. Brown-Forman acquired the brand in 1936 and soon converted it to a blended whiskey; the experiment eventually failed and the label shut down in 1968. Brown-Forman’s concept for this new reanimated King of Kentucky chapter was to capture the best single barrels in their warehouses and sell them in highly limited runs.
Now for the seventh edition in the new life of King of Kentucky, Brown-Forman Master Distiller Chris Morris chose 63 barrels from two sets of bourbon distilled in July and November of 2007, which then meditated in warehouses G and J at the Brown-Forman Distillery for 16 years. Those years treated this high-rye bourbon—79 percent corn, 11 percent rye and 10 percent malted barley—like a Disney spell, apparently with the bourbon Dionysus blessing the barrels nightly to create a stunningly deep, luscious bomb of caramelized apple, sweet cacao and vanilla with so much substance, it’s like gnawing fatty meat straight off the bone.
Because of the small runs of this reasonably new annual release, which will always come from single barrels bottled at cask-strength, King of Kentucky is not widely known. But if they keep dropping bottles like this, the King could gain the sort of crazed hysteria saved for the rarefied Buffalo Trace Antique and Heritage Collections of this world.
“Reputation alone justifies King of Kentucky’s status as one of the most sought-after Kentucky straight bourbons on the market,” Morris explains. “But reputations must not only be earned but defended—and this year’s release is sure to please the palate of every Bourbon aficionado.”
Each bottle of King of Kentucky is wax dipped and labeled with info like serial, lot and barrel number, along with warehouse location, age statement and ABV. Of the 63 barrels used, our sample came from barrel No. 10, with a proof of 130.4 (proofs range from 125 to 135 for the 2024 edition). True to its name, most of the roughly 5,100 bottles of King of Kentucky were made available only in the Bluegrass State—but a handful of others were blessed with an allocation. King of Kentucky 2024 is a bourbon that will likely be remembered for years to come. Find it while you can. $350 SRP
Heaven Hill ‘Heritage Collection 2024 18-Year Old’ Straight Bourbon
Only the third edition of the Heritage Collection started life with 133 barrels of Heaven Hill’s signature bourbon mashbill (78 percent corn/12 percent malted barley/10 percent rye), produced in December of 2005, which then rested in Rickhouse 1I’s third floor to mature for no less than 18 years.
“The Heaven Hill Heritage Collection is our opportunity to showcase some of the oldest stock in Heaven Hill’s incredible inventory of aging whiskey,” Heaven Hill’s Conor O’Driscoll tells Maxim. “We have an innovation team which monitors some of our oldest barrels in inventory. The team also tastes things for lines like Old Fitzgerald which can run the range of 10-20+ years aged.”
Like most venerable whiskey-makers who cherrypick super-aged bourbons from their rickhouses, the prestige trick comes from discerning that grey area where a barrel at, say, 17 years might not be quite ready, but yet recognize that with only one more year they could over-ripen.
“Our first goal is always to have the best quality whiskeys,” promises Kate Shapira, Heaven Hill’s Co-President and granddaughter of founder Ed Shapira. “We think over the last eight decades we’ve done a good job of putting quality first and managing to keep our whiskey accessible for the quality consumers are receiving. Our distilling lineage is a testament to our commitment to craft, quality and innovation at each step of the way.”
Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 2024 18-Year Old Straight Bourbon comes packaged in a sturdy Heaven Hill blue box highlighting specs like particular warehouse, barrel location, production date and mashbill. Expect to pay much higher than its suggested price if you can find it. $300 SRP
Widow Jane ‘Black Opal 20 Year Old’ Bourbon
Widow Jane cut its teeth blending sourced bourbons from Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana but finally released its own bourbon this year, which was distilled in their Red Hook, Brooklyn distillery dubbed Baby Jane. Up till this year their oldest blends were bottled under their Vaults label, such as their recent 15-year-old blend, finished in Amburana wood. Now they break that agist glass ceiling with Black Opal, a superb marriage of 20-year-old bourbons finished in mizunara casks.
Recently promoted Head Distiller and Blender Sienna Jevremov—earning the title in 2022 when she took over for longtime Master Distiller Lisa Wicker, although Jevremov has been with Widow Jane since 2012—worked her way tasting through 100 barrels of two-decade-old Kentucky and Tennessee bourbon to find the perfect blend for Black Opal. A heavy assignment given this is by far the oldest expression ever released by Widow Jane.
After Jevremov chose the blend, the juice was then poured into mizunara wood that was air-dried for 12 months and then medium toasted with a light char. Finally, like all Widow Jane, the juice was proofed down with their limestone water from upstate New York’s Rosendale Mines.
Thanks to age, ABV (49.5 percent /99-proof) and mineral-rich spring water, the resulting whiskey boasts a viscous mouthfeel, dark amber color and surprising floral notes of lavender and rose petals overlapping with nut-forward hints of roasted almonds and peanut butter. Enjoy the long finish of vanilla, molasses and baking spice. Those 100 barrels supplied only 5,000 bottles of Widow Jane’s latest halo offering, although Widow Jane says Black Opal will become an annual release. Widow Jane Black Opal comes packaged in a hefty industrial-looking black metal box that nods to Red Hook’s manufacturing past. $500 SRP
Bookers ‘The Reserves 2024’ Bourbon
High up on the Mount Rushmore of bourbon families sits the Noe clan. The backbone of the Jim Beam heritage, they’re considered by many among the greatest innovators in bourbon history. Chief among them is the iconic Booker Noe, the sixth-generation Master Distiller who led Jim Beam to great new heights during his tenure from 1965 to 2007—when, under his direction, Beam production skyrocketed 1,200 percent .
Among Booker’s many innovations was the creation of the Small Batch Bourbon Collection, which now has grown almost into its own category, imitated by every distillery from Kentucky to Seattle. These include the labels Bookers, Bakers, Basil Hayden and Knob Creek. His eponymous label Bookers puts out a quartet of small-batch releases every year—and now, for the first time since its creation, is coming up with a fifth even smaller-batch nameplate dubbed The Reserves. It will be an annual release that uses even fewer barrels than the quarterly Bookers.
The Reserves is current eighth-gen Master Distiller Freddie Noe’s invention, created in homage to his granddaddy Booker. And since it’s an homage, Freddie’s using a formula which he believes Booker would’ve used: always bottled at cask strength, uncut and unfiltered, and always pulling barrels only from the central sweet spot of the warehouse, just like has granpappy favored.
For the inaugural 2024 edition of Bookers The Reserves, Freddie selected only eight barrels pulled from eight different warehouses. Three aged 8 years, three aged 9 years, one 10 years and the oldest aged 14 years—this one from the sixth floor of Warehouse I. Like other Bookers, expect rich waves of vanilla, caramel and barrels of brown sugar sweetness. For Bookers The Reserves 2024 we also noticed more cinnamon and raisin, with even fuller body then previous Bookers. Bottled at 62.95 percent ABV (125.9-proof). $130 SRP
J. Mattingly 1845 ‘6-Year Small Batch’ Bourbon
The Mattingly family have been involved with Kentucky moonshine for more than 200 years, reportedly contributing to the creation and development of more than nine different distilleries in the Bluegrass State. This includes John Grave Mattingly’s first distillery in 1845, which some historians argue was the first registered distillery in Kentucky (it is registered No. 2).
In 2010 descendent Jeff Mattingly took the name and started his own whiskey-making endeavor, J. Mattingly 1845, to create custom blends for special guests, retailers and causes using what they dub a “double stave process.” Like Distillery 291, Broken Barrel and others, this means they toss wood staves into the filled whiskey barrels to seep like tea—in this case charred white oak. With added exposure to the wood in the wild climate of Kentucky, this process accelerates the aging process.
This August J. Mattingly 1845 released their first flagship whiskey on what would’ve been John Graves Mattingly’s 200th birthday: a 6.5-year-old blend bottled at 119-proof. J. Mattingly 1845 6-Year Small Batch Bourbon’s advanced age and double-stave process creates a delicious whiskey more mature than its years, a blend rich in red cherry, black cracked pepper, oak and tannins—although the char isn’t as strong as feared from the special aging. $110 SRP.
Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2024 George T. Stagg Bourbon
As we noted earlier this week with the best ryes chapter, the annual arrival of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection to our stoop is akin to a visit from a whiskey laden St. Nick. The package is ripped open with a wild junkie rush of childlike giddiness, sweaty palms and thirsty palate. Every year the collection varies a bit, sometimes not including certain bottles if the Buffalo Trace brain trust doesn’t believe one hits BTAC’s stratospheric standards. This year contains all five regular entries: Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon, George T. Stagg Bourbon, Thomas H. Handy Rye, Sazerac 18-Year-Old Rye and William Larue Weller Bourbon. And while Buffalo Trace seems keen to highlight the William Larue Weller this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their acquiring the brand in 1999, our pick leans slightly towards the George T. Stagg entry.
Using the Frankfort, Kentucky distillery’s famed mashbill No. 1 that makes up their eponymous Buffalo Trace Bourbon, what separates George T. Stagg is both punch and age. Meaning it’s bottled at full cask strength, this year an eye-watering 68 percent ABV (136.1-proof), and allowed to age even longer than last year’s version, this time a full 15 years and two months.
That potency and age adds layers of caramel and oak to a strong backbone of Cherry Vanilla Coke, paired with fried dough heavy on the powdered sugar, butter and cinnamon. Last year’s expression claimed Best Bourbon at the International Whisky Competition last year, and 2024’s offering may be even better. Good luck finding it at it’s suggested retail price. $200 SRP
Garrison Brothers ‘Guadalupe’ Bourbon
We’ve grown fast fans of Garrison Brothers and their seemingly unstoppable quest to craft the best Lone Star whiskey. Texas’ first legal bourbon distillery seems to have new competition popping up every year in their state, yet the Hye distillery outside of Austin keeps knocking the hits out the park like an unleashed Freddie Freeman. Founder Dan Garrison and team succeed with both core portfolio offerings, like their Small Batch bourbon, as well as annual LTOs such as the Balmorhea, Laguna Madre, HoneyDew and Lady Bird expressions—but we genuflect most to Guadalupe.
Now in its fourth year of existence, the formula is simple: start with Garrison Bros’ signature bourbon (a sweet mash of human-grade corn, local soft red-winter wheat and two-row barley), aged four years in toasted and charred white American oak, and then second-finished in 30-gallon Portuguese port casks for another couple long years. These casks are the brainchild of (and sourced by) Garrison Bros Master Distiller Donnis Todd, who thought the wood, common in single malts but once rare in bourbon, would add cinnamon, cocoa and raspberry layers to his whiskey. His instincts proved accurate, and now Guadalupe has grown into one of Garrison Bros’ most beloved annual LTOs, each year changing ever so slightly from the last.
Bottled at 53.5 percent ABV (107-proof), 1,000 of the 10,500 available bottles of Guadalupe were initially available at their central Texas distillery in January, with the rest rolling out across America by early March. $150 SRP
15 Stars ’13-Year-Old Timeless Reserve’ Fine-Aged Bourbon
Among the first whiskeys father-son duo Rick and Ricky Johnson put out under their 15 Stars banner when launching in 2022 was their Timeless Reserve expression, which has since turned into its own vertical for the Kentucky label. The Johnson co-founders are so proudly Kentuckian that the name itself is an homage to the Bluegrass State, as Kentucky was the 15th State…hence the 15th star on the flag.
Their latest Timeless Reserve for 2024 holds the oldest bourbon ever bottled in a Timeless Reserve expression for the young label. A bit confusingly last year’s 14 Year Old Timeless Reserve—a Best in Class finalist at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and one of Fred Minnick’s Top 100 Whiskeys—sounds older, but only because the this new 2024 edition also contains 13-year-old bourbon, necessitating the labeling announcing the youngest juice in the blend.
The secret of 15 Stars’ success is quite simply the use of superb sourced whiskey, complemented by the Johnsons’ aptitude for blending these different juices—and their latest Timeless Reserve is no exception. This luxurious dessert blend lands in the creme brûlée family of bourbons, oozing with vanilla bean, caramel and brown sugar crisp, but also robust with unique ripe banana, molasses and cherry preserves. Bottled at 51.5 percent ABV (103-proof). $280 SRP
Maker’s Mark ‘The Heart Release’ Wood Finishing Series Bourbon
There are many things the staunchly purist Maker’s Mark swear to never change. Unlike many distilleries, they only mess with one single mash bill. They’ll only ever use first-fill virgin American white oak to age. They’ll only ever proof with the limestone filtered water from their own springs on campus. And they’ll always hand-dip their bottles in wax, and machine print and tear labels by hand. Lucky for those who love to drink good bourbon and not overthink, however, they recently ditched their complicated naming tree to bid farewell to obtusely titled LTO’s like FAE-01, FAE-02, and BEP for infinitely more memorable monikers.
Enter The Heart Release. This year saw the launch of the second collection in their Wood Finishing Series, dubbed Unsung Heroes, Series 2, and gratefully they’re keeping the expression’s name simple. The first of five volumes in the new series, The Heart Release refers only to their devotion to making the best bourbon possible, within the parameters that the Loretto, Kentucky team have set for themselves.
What separates The Heart Release from Maker’s Mark flagship bourbon is simply the inclusion of two custom French oak staves tossed into the barrels for finishing purposes, adding a unique twist to their coveted bourbon profile. Think black cherry and toasted hazelnut over Maker’s beloved brown sugar, caramel and vanilla bean base, bottled at a viscous and robust 55.85. percent ABV (111.7-proof). $75 SRP
Blade and Bow ’22 Year Old’ Bourbon
“We were in possession of some old barrels that were on-site upon our acquisition of Stitzel-Weller, and we didn’t have an intended use for them,” Andrew McKay, Whiskey Blender Manager at Diageo, tells Maxim of the genesis of the latest, and most pedigreed, Blade and Bow expression. “The bourbons found therein were rich, flavorful and complex, so when the idea of an exclusive version of Blade and Bow arose, it was just a question of carefully selecting each of these barrels for the final blend.”
The whiskey McKay speaks of holds almost religious importance for #bourbonheads everywhere, as the juice produced there before the Shively, Kentucky distillery’s shuttering in 1992 is akin to liquid gold. The master blender is referring to Blade and Bow 22 Year Old Whiskey. It was not produced at Stitzel-Weller, but it is a blending of two whiskeys from a duo of other historic distilleries in Kentucky which cannot be disclosed. They’d been aging in the rick houses of Stitzel-Weller, perhaps absorbing some of the legendary distillery’s magic via osmosis, much like similar releases from I.W. Harper and Orphan Barrel, which aged there as well.
McKay points out that the warehouses feature the same air flow-focused design Frederick Stitzel created and patented, so there is an actual uniqueness to the aging rooms. What makes Blade and Bow 22 Year Old a standout bottle is the whiskey inside, boasting the sort of smoothness, lavish flavor notes—think raisin bread, dried figs, boysenberry and vanilla—and super complexity that only two decades plus of mellowing can achieve. When first discovered, it was deliberated whether to use them as ingredients in a larger luxury blend or to isolate them into a smaller, ultra-lux apex bottle of “bespoke liquid.” Lucky for us the Blade and Bow team elected the latter.
“The high quality and complexity of these barrels, along with their connection to Stitzel-Weller Distillery, made them perfect for Blade and Bow,” McKay continues. “Older bourbons tend toward a rich and complex flavor, and with that as a base, it was just a question of how to get the top notes—targeting a fruity character—to express themselves within that matrix. These were selected based on their matured richness, and then combined so that the total was more than the sum of its parts.” Bottled at 46 percent ABV (92-proof). $550 SRP
Mary Dowling ‘Winter Wheat’ Bourbon
Last year the lauded Kentucky distillery Rabbit Hole unveiled their first offshoot label, Mary Dowling. Dubbed the “Mother of Bourbon,” Dowling was one of the matriarchal forces in pre-prohibition bourbon, raising her deceased husband’s Dowling Distillery to new heights and making her one of the richest women in America. Given how coveted Kaveh Zamanian’s whiskey had grown—its founder enshrined into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2022—Rabbit Hole’s price tag elevated along with its reputation. So the deal with Mary Dowling was to introduce a more affordable whiskey for enthusiasts at a lower price, while still keeping Rabbit Hole’s acclaimed quality control and attention to detail.
So last year they debuted with two expressions: Double Oak Barrel ($135) and a Tequila Barrel finish ($75), neither of which really quite qualifies as “affordable.” However, the former captured a Gold at both this year’s SFWSC and Ascot Awards. Meanwhile, the latter captured Silver at SFWSC and Platinum at Ascot.
The 2024 Mary Dowling finally delivers on their ethos with their Winter Wheat bottle at a much more approachable price. As the name suggests, the mash bill’s second major grain after corn is a locally grown winter wheat (65 percent corn/25 percent wheat/10 percent malted barley) that is aged for 4 years in new virgin oak barrels that are charred and No.3 wood-fired. Expect softer notes as you would from a wheated bourbon including caramel and vanilla, followed by a bit of cinnamon and roasted almonds. $55 SRP
Follow our Deputy Editor on Instagram at @nickstecher and @boozeoftheday.
