Looking for a Father’s Day gift for a KY dad? Here are 20 new bourbon releases
Father’s Day is coming up, and if your dad is a bourbon enthusiast, you have plenty of gift options.
Some are annual events that are highly sought by collectors, while others are one-offs.
Here’s where you can find and buy these releases online and in person.
Old Forester President’s Choice Bourbon, Rye
For the first time ever, Old Forester is releasing nationally one of its most coveted and rarest single barrel whiskys, President’s Choice.
Previously available only at the Old Forester Distillery in Louisville, both President’s Choice Bourbon and the new expression President’s Choice Rye will be offered at select retailers nationwide.
And beginning at 10 a.m. June 14, the distillery will have a limited number of bottles for in-person purchase and purchase online at shop.oldforester.com for shipping to Washington D.C., Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire and North Dakota.
Suggested retail price is $225 each.
“President’s Choice has always been an incredibly rare and cherished bottle, and most consumers have never seen it, let alone tasted the whisky,” master taster Melissa Rift said in a statement. “We are honored to bring it to a wider audience.”
Kentucky Senator Huey P. Long
For this one, you’ll have to give Dad a promise: Kentucky Senator Spirits is releasing a new collection and moving into a new market in July with Louisiana Senator Bourbon beginning with The Huey P. Long Release, available July 3.
It will be the first of a three-part series featuring an 8-year, 9-year and 10-year bourbon over the next two years. The new line is a collaboration with Denny Potter and Jane Bowie of Potter Jane Distillery in Springfield.
If you can’t wait until July, you can look for the latest in the Kentucky Senator Bourbon collection, the John Edwards Release, named for Kentucky’s second-ever U.S. Senator and a pioneer of Bourbon County.
Price was not immediately available for either release.
Castle & Key Chapter 4
Castle & Key Distillery is releasing in partnership with the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild The Untold Story of Kentucky Whiskey Chapter 4. As with previous releases, all proceeds will be donated to scholarship funds that support diversity, inclusion and equity in the distilling industry.
This 104-proof limited release has a suggested retail price of $175. Only 204 bottles are available online at castleandkey.com, with a limited number available at the Castle & Key 502 retail store in Louisville.
Castle & Key will debut this release at a ticketed dinner kicking off SoulFeast Week, a week-long celebration of culture, cuisine and community that shines a spotlight on Lexington. The Chitlin’ Circuit Farm to Table Dinner will be 5 to 9 p.m. on June 19 at Coleman Crest Farm. Reservations are required; tickets are $120 and include the opportunity to purchase a bottle on site.
It’s 107 proof, and according to the tasting notes, has a nose of baked brown sugar, snickerdoodle, marcona almond, dried almond, dried apple, date, grape must and nutmeg. On the palate, it’s dark honey, fig jam, assam tea, thyme, black cardamom and cracked black pepper and a finish that starts sweet and finishes with toasted brown bread.
Blue Run Flight Series
Blue Run Spirits is releasing the latest collection of the Blue Run Flight Series III, a collection of “micro batch” whiskeys that contrast bourbon and rye types.
Crafted by Coors Spirits Co. head of whiskey development and innovation Shaylyn Gammon, these six micro-batch whiskey expressions that make up each “Flight” use no more than four barrels and mashbills, according to the news release. There are six variations in the flight, varying from Beach & Blooms to Sun & Salt; suggested retail price for each is $124.99.
Flight Series III is the first Blue Run Flight Series to blend both Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Kentucky Straight Rye. Contract distilleries include Castle & Key, Bardstown Bourbon Company and another undisclosed facility.
Woodford Reserve Tawny Port Finish
Woodford Reserve has released the latest in its Distillery Series, Tawny Port Finish. It combines a rye and a bourbon blend and bourbon finished in Tawny Port barrels, which accentuates the fruit character, according to the news release.
It’s bottled at 90.4 proof, with a suggested retail price of $64.99.
According to the tasting notes, it’s “brown sugar, semi-sweet chocolates, nutmeg and clove layered over notes of overripe bananas and dried dark fruits.”
Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Cask Strength
Knob Creek has released Single Barrel Select Cask Strength, available in both bourbon and rye whiskeys.
The uncut, unfiltered Knob Creek is bottled directly from the barrel and ranges in proof from 110-130 in bourbon, 100-120 in rye, according to the news release.
This version of Knob Creek also is available as part of the single barrel experience and includes a visit to the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, where participants get a behind-the-scenes distillery experience including selecting their barrel in historic warehouse K.
Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Cask Strength will be available at participating retailers with a suggested retail price of $69.99.
Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Spring 2025
Heaven Hill has released the Spring 2025 edition of its Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series, a 9-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Comprised of barrels produced in the spring of 2016 and bottled in the spring of 2025, this is the 15th national release of the series.
It comes, as always, in an ornate decanter with a green label for spring and the retro tax strip on top.
It’s 100 proof, with a suggested retail price of $129.99.
According to the tasting notes, it has a nose of apple pie, especially the crust. On the palate, it has classic bourbon notes of vanilla and butterscotch, toasted cereal with apple pie spices, and a finish that is creamy and viscous with baked apples fading to oak and cinnamon spices.
Pursuit Spirits United Bourbon, Rye
Pursuit Spirits, the brand founded by Ryan Cecil and Kenny Coleman, the people behind the Bourbon Pursuit podcast, has added two new versions to its Pursuit United portfolio.
One is an accessible 88 proof, and the other robust barrel proof. They will be available at the new Whiskey Row location at 722 W. Main St., opening soon in Louisville.
Pursuit United Bourbon and Pursuit United Rye have a suggested retail price of $39.99.
Tasting notes for the bourbon say it has a nose of sweet fried dough, kettle corn, and warm mulling spices. On the palate, it’s almond croissants, baked apricots, warm cinnamon sugar, cola fizz and black pepper.
Tasting notes for the rye say it has a nose of vanilla lemon cake, citrus herbal tea and cardamom. On the palate, it’s brown sugar, fresh pastries and lemon frosting with a finish of ginger candy, baking spices and chamomile tea.
The Pursuit United Barrel Proof Bourbon, which is 119.8 proof, and the Pursuit United Barrel Proof Rye, which is 121.2 proof, have a suggested retail price of $79.99 each.
Tasting notes for the bourbon say it has a nose of fresh pastries, caramelized pears and cured tobacco. On the palate, it’s candied pecans, chocolate-covered strawberries, raspberries in cocoa powder with a finish of amaretto, toasted oak and allspice.
Tasting notes for the rye say it has a nose of toasted marshmallow, demerara sugar and citrus marmalade. On the palate, it’s marshmallow fluff, creme brulee crust and blueberry lemon pie with a finish of lemon zest, cardamom and sweet nutmeg.
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass
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Heaven Hill Distillery, the largest family-owned and operated distillery in the U.S., has launched Family Farms First, dedicated to supporting family-owned farms in partnership with the non-profit Farm Rescue.
And now they’ve released the second edition of Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a small-batch bourbon featuring a unique corn varietal, Beck’s 6225.
The corn was grown on family-owned Peterson Farms in Nelson County. The mashbill used 52% corn, 35% rye and 13% malt, was distilled in 2018 and was aged for six years at Heaven Hill’s Cox’s Creek rickhouse site. Non-chill filtered and bottled at barrel strength, this release is 105 proof. Price is $99.99.
According to the tasting notes, it has a nose of toasted pecans and peanuts with warm oak. On the palate, it’s butterscotch, caramel and cardamom-spiced apple pie with a rich and viscous mouthfeel. The finish is vanilla ice cream on top of warm apple pie.
A portion of the proceeds will support family farms in need; Heaven Hill is committed up to $300,000 to the initiative through 2028.
This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 8:09 AM.
