(Per-Breakingbourbon.com)- This year’s edition of Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged continues to lean into its aged flavor profile thanks to the highest percentage of 14-year bourbon in the series to date.

Originally started in 2023, the Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged series is now in its fourth iteration. Differentiating itself from the Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series, the Cellar Aged series focuses on aging standard Maker's Mark for between 4 and 7 additional years in the company’s limestone cellar. This cellar has an average year-round temperature of 47 degrees Fahrenheit. For the 2026 release, the series sees the highest percentage of 14 year old bourbon used in the line. In fact, compared to the 2025 release, the average age in the blend skews higher across the board.
This year’s Cellar release opens with an incredible, intoxicating aroma that beautifully showcases the bourbon barrels selected for the blend. A gaggle of sweet scents greets you, including brown sugar, blackberry turnover, and crème brûlée. A scent of aged oak is present and carries over to kick off a midpoint that shows the bourbon's age. Aged oak and drier flavor notes are much more forceful versus past releases, but baking spices, vanilla streusel, and a faint buttered sweet roll note add pleasing diversity. Leather and dry cinnamon cake notes are present, and this dryness translates into a finish that carries over what the palate started. Focusing on more grounded notes, the ending highlights chewy dry oak, leather, and a cinnamon spice tart apple pie combo before ending on a lingering dry heat.
The Cellar Aged series continues to be a highlight for the brand, demonstrating what the company can do when they’re given room to experiment with aging conditions, and more importantly, time. This year’s release certainly leans into its age, as the sip progressively displays more aged oak and other supporting flavors starting on the palate. While it doesn’t quite live up to last year's exceptional release, it still delivers an excellent, albeit expensive, pour that consumers, and especially Maker’s fans, will want to get their hands on.

Whisky Advocate Magazine Senior Editor Julia Higgins stops by with the guys to discuss 2026 Whiskey Fest. Cheers!

13 years minimum, though the 2026 blend incorporates older handpicked barrels aged up to 18 years.

121.2 proof (60.6% ABV), making it one of the highest-proof releases in the line's history.

Retails around $200 (though secondary market values often run higher between $400 and $500). Cheers!

The Four Roses Father's Day 2026 release is a limited-quantity, single-barrel private selection barrel-strength bourbon, aged around 14 years,

• • Age: 14 years old
  • Proof: Varies by specific single barrel selections (reported around 120 to 134 proof, such as 129.4 or high-tier proofs like 66.2% / 66.6% ABV)
  • Recipe: Features recipes like OBSV (tier/barrel dependent)
  • Price: Released around an MSRP of $139–$150

The Four Roses Mother's Day 2026 Limited Edition is a 14-year-old single barrel bourbon featuring the floral OBSQ recipe (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley with Q yeast), bottled at cask strength ranging around 115 to 118 proof with an original retail price (SRP) of $139. Cheers!

Preston is the fourth generation member of the Van Winkle family to enter into the bourbon business. He is the great grandson of iconic bourbon maker Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr. and son of current Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery President, Julian P. Van Winkle, III.

Louise Van Winkle Breen

Recycling lady and bill payer--not necessarily in that order. She manages the back end of the business (the books, accounting, finances, etc.), HR and oversee daily operations.
Favorite cocktail: definitely tequila on the rocks with a splash of Freshies margarita mix. Cheers!

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain Bourbon has returned for 2026 as an ongoing annual limited release from Buffalo Trace Distillery. Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof (50% ABV) and aged for 10 years. Notes of sweet caramel, vanilla, cherry candy, oak, and clove spice, with the wheat adding softness and the rye providing structure. Cheers!

A legendary, highly coveted Bottled-in-Bond expression from Buffalo Trace Distillery. Revered by collectors as a true "unicorn" bottle, this unprecedented 17-year-old masterpiece was crafted from Buffalo Trace’s iconic low-rye Mash Bill #1. It pays homage to the meticulous standards of the "Father of the Modern Bourbon Industry," Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr.

What sets the original Cured Oak apart is an extraordinary focus on barrel engineering. Standard white oak barrel staves are typically seasoned for six months. For this special project, the white oak staves were left to air-dry in the open elements for a full 13 months before being coopered into barrels. This extended, more-than-doubled curing period allowed natural weather cycles and microbes to deeply alter the wood's composition. The process reduced harsh wood tannins while drawing immense terpene development to the surface.The result is a bourbon that pulled deep, highly localized complexities from the wood during its nearly two decades of slumber inside the historic, steam-heated Warehouse C. Cheers!

Old Charter Oak "Finest Oak" is crafted at Buffalo Trace Distillery, honoring the historic Old Charter brand established by Adam and Ben Chapeze in 1874. The bourbon pays tribute to the iconic white oak trees that have long shaped the character of American whiskey, emphasizing the critical role of oak in flavor development. This expression is part of the Old Charter Oak series, which explores how different oak origins and barrel treatments influence the final bourbon. Cheers!

The fifth installment in Heaven Hill's annual limited-edition Heritage Collection series. Released in early 2026, it stands as the oldest bourbon featured in the collection to date, crafted from roughly 270-275 barrels originally distilled in 2003 and aged on the upper floors of Bardstown's famous Rickhouse Y.

The Wild Turkey Austin Nichols Archives: Gold Foil Edition is a 16-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey bottled at 120 proof. Released in May 2026 with an MSRP of $400, this inaugural expression launched a new collector series paying tribute to the historic "cheesy gold foil" bottlings from Wild Turkey's past. Cheers!

The vintage Old Fitzgerald Colonial Decanter is a collectible 1960s–1970s bottled-in-bond bourbon release from the legendary Stitzel-Weller Distillery. These 100-proof, 4/5-quart decorative glass bottles featured colonial-themed prints or shields. Often featuring age statements around 6 years old, such as distilled in 1963 and bottled in 1969. Cheers!