What’s new in bourbon releases? Woodford Derby, Bulleit Mesquite, Senator Bunning
.jpg "Maker’s Mark’s new Wood Finishing Series release, The Stewards, will be released in two batches of different proofs, available in stores nationwide with a suggested price of $74.99.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky distilleries released several limited and experimental 2026 bourbons.
- Releases include special finishes, site-aged editions, and artist-designed Derby bottle.
- Selected limited bottles carry suggested prices ranging $49.99 to $199.99.
It finally feels like spring in Kentucky, and the new bourbons are blooming.
Whether you’re looking for a perennial favorite, such as the annual Kentucky Derby bottle from Woodford Reserve Distillery, or something completely new, there are plenty of new releases from the Bluegrass State.
Here are some of what will be coming to store shelves soon.
Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series: The Stewards
Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto has released the latest in its Wood Finishing Series. This version is a tribute to the stewards of the distillery, the operations team.
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According to the tasting notes, The Stewards Release 2026 opens with a nose of cherry pie and vanilla bean. On the palate, it’s honey, toasted marshmallow and candied ginger, with a finish of stone fruit and salted caramel.
This is the third installment in the second Wood Finishing Series, which will conclude in 2028. There will be two batches, one bottled at 109.6 proof, the other at 113.3 proof. Both will be available at U.S. retailers with a suggested price of $74.99.
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby bottle
Woodford Reserve has released its 2026 Kentucky Derby bottle. This year’s version features original artwork by Anna Murphy, a Chicago artist known for her signature “blue and white” porcelain-inspired style.
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“’Dress to Impress, 152’ is a radiant tribute to Derby fashion, where bold style, timeless tradition, and the spirit of celebration come to life,” Murphy said in a news release. “At the heart of my work is a simple mission: to create beauty that leaves people feeling uplifted and carrying a little more wonder into the world.”
The 1-liter bottle is available globally and at Woodford Reserve, outside Versailles, with a suggested retail price of $50.
Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning
Kentucky Senator Bourbon has released its seventh small batch whiskey, this one named for the late Jim Bunning, the only Major League Baseball player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and the U.S. Senate.
The Jim Bunning Release is aged 8.5 years and bottled at 107 proof. About 4,000 bottles will be available at selected Kentucky retails, bars and restaurants, as well as online at KySenatorBourbon.com, with a suggested price of $119.99.
Barrell Cigar Blend
Barrell Craft Spirits released Cigar Blend bourbon, highlighting a blend of straight bourbon whiskeys aged 7.5 to 18 years that was then finished in Madeira, Armagnac, rum and Hungarian oak casks.
It’s available online and in U.S. retail outlets with a suggested retail price of $84.99.
According to the tasting notes, it has a nose of sourdough, fruit, toffee, pipe tobacco and cedar chest, walnuts, pastries and pear, persimmon and grape soda. On the palate, it’s cola and cinnamon, burnt cornbread, pistachio ice cream and pungent vanilla, dried cherries and dates, oak, dried mushroom and soy sauce. The finish is said to have notes of oak, spice, fortified wine, clove, juniper berry and cocoa power with a mineral vein of slate and salt.
Heaven Hill Bernheim Wheat 20th Anniversary
Heaven Hill has released the Bernheim Original Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey 20th Anniversary Limited Edition, commemorating two decades since Bernheim launched the first new American Whiskey style introduced since Prohibition, made with wheat as the main grain.
The category-defining innovation marked a turning point for American whiskey, according to a news release.
Crafted from Bernheim’s signature soft winter wheat recipe, the 20th Anniversary Limited Edition features a special selection of barrels aged 10 years and is bottled at 115 proof. According to the tasting notes, it has a nose of cinnamon and baking spices layered with vanilla and oak. On the palate, it’s molasses and butterscotch with a peppery finish.
It’s available in limited quantities nationwide with a suggested price of $84.99.
Heaven Hill Deatsville
Heaven Hill has released Deatsville 13-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskey, a limited-edition expression from one of the most distinctive aging sites in the distillery’s 90-year history, according to a news release.
Bottled from just 17 barrels aged on the third floor of Rickhouse AA, it’s one of the final bourbons that was fully matured entirely at the Deatsville campus before the site transitions out of active aging over the next two years, the company said.
The Deatsville campus, originally home to the shuttered T.W. Samuels Distillery, has been an enduring part of Heaven Hill’s heritage since the early 1980s, according to Heaven Hill. Today, the site has nine Heaven Hill-owned rickhouses with capacity for aging a total of 167,000 barrels. It is the only Heaven Hill barrel-aging campus with tiered roof architecture, a distinctive design that promotes a natural stack effect, allowing warm air to rise and escape while drawing cooler air inward through lower openings, according to the news release.
Heaven Hill Deatsville 13-Year-Old has a suggested price of $199.99 and will have a limited release.
The distillery is also adding special tours of the Deatsville site, available through the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience website, that will offer early access to this special bourbon
Additional special Deatsville releases are planned through 2027.
Evan Williams Blackberry
Another new release from Heaven Hill: Evan Williams Blackberry, a new flavor extension, arrives in stores nationwide in March, just in time for spring cocktails.
The release combines Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon with ripe blackberry flavor, according to the news release. It’s 65 proof, with juicy fruit notes and subtle caramel in a rounded bourbon finish.
It has a suggested retail price of $14.99 for a 750mL bottle. Evan Williams flavored whiskeys also come in fire (cinnamon), honey, apple, peach, cherry and seasonal flavors.
Remus Wheat Bourbon
Lawrenceburg, Ind., distiller Ross & Squibb has released the second of its Remus Bourbon Master Distiller Experimental series, the brand’s first-ever straight wheat whiskey.
This was distilled in 2017 and finished in a blend of port and sherry cases. It’s 113 proof with notes of chocolate, malty sweetness and soft nuttiness, with a richer dessert-like profile than the typical rye-forward Remus whiskey.
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The limited release is available nationwide for a suggested price of $69.99.
Bulleit Mesquite Smoked Malt
Bulleit Frontier Whiskey has put out a bourbon made with malted barley smoked with mesquite wood.
The limited-release is made with an experimental mashbill — it’s the first time a Bulleit Bourbon has removed the rye from the recipe. Distilled in November 2018, it was aged for a minimum of six years and represents Bulleit’s first experimental new-make project, according to a news release.
According to the tasting notes, it has a nose of caramelized sugar and warm mesquite smoke. On the palate, it’s sweet vanilla and oak.
It’s 93 proof, with a suggested price of $49.99, with limited distribution nationwide.
Michter’s 10 Year Bourbon
Michter’s 10 Year Bourbon is set to ship from the distillery with a suggested retail price of $195.
This year’s version is 94.4 proof, according to a news release.
“The 2026 release of Michter’s 10 Year Bourbon is again a smooth, rich, complex, and captivating pour that evokes feelings of warm, reminiscent appreciation of a great whiskey,” master of maturation Andrea Wilson said. “With its rich array of flavors it continues to remind that you don’t have to have a high proof to get a rich, flavorful drinking experience.”
