10 Intriguing Spring Whiskey Releases You Should Try (2025)

This season in bourbon country, spring started off with a rain-soaked vengeance. But as the old adage goes, April showers bring May flowers, or rather, today’s rain is tomorrow’s whiskey. So we’re looking forward to a colorful, bountiful, and sneezy few months ahead. And much like Mother Nature, the country’s fine bourbon and whiskey distillers have not let up — inundating us with new releases and overflowing my inbox. But I’ll take a basement flooded with whiskey over rain water any day.

Here are 10 new releases that have caught my eye. Despite the gloomy headlines hovering over American whiskey of late, I believe the industry is moving steadily forward by doubling down on innovation and tradition.

Bomberger’s PFG

100.2 Proof | $140

Details: When word came of a new Bomberger’s concept from Michter’s, I was thrilled. I wasn’t sure what PFG even stood for, but I knew it would be a gem. And it is. PFG is short for Precision Fine Grain, which means they experimented with various wood finishes after the initial aging in toasted and charred American oak. This second barrel is a new proprietary toasted and charred French oak, and this French-speaking wood is air dried for a minimum of 40 months near the Charente River. All of this leads to a bourbon that is, well, pretty frickin’ good (PFG)!

Tasting Notes: From swirling it around the glass, this bourbon is viscous and creamy. The nose is bright and floral like a spring garden. And the palate carries that brightness over with notes of honeycomb toffee, tart raspberry, and oak — I can definitely detect a difference in oakiness at play here. The finish is mild but lingering, with a dryness that makes you want another sip.

Bulleit Bottled-In-Bond

100 Proof | $54.99

Details: To me, Bulleit has been a bourbon I use when making cocktails. It’s a solid high-rye bourbon for sure, but it’s not my first choice when I’m looking for a neat pour. But that has changed with this latest release by the Diageo-owned company. I could sip this neat all day long. This is the first BIB expression from Bulleit and was distilled and aged entirely at the distillery in Shelbyville, Ky. They say it’s about 7 years old, as it was distilled in the spring of 2017.

Tasting Notes: Bulleit Bottled-In-Bond is classic Kentucky bourbon at its finest, rich with definitive flavors like melted caramel, butterscotch, brown sugar, and toasted marshmallow, but also hints of nutmeg, citrus peel, and baked cherries. The nose smells like a Kentucky rickhouse in the summer, and the finish hangs around like a Kentucky winter.

Rabbit Hole Sucrûlé Bourbon

106.9 Proof | $49.99

Details: Rabbit Hole has been offering some fun distillery-only releases lately, and this one has been my favorite. Sold in 375 ml bottles, the Sucrûlé is a finish using their four-grain Cavehill bourbon, which is then put into custom-crafted Maple Brûlé barrels—courtesy of Tonnellerie Moreau in Quebec—for six months. The high-char barrels were seasoned with maple syrup.

Tasting Notes: As you can imagine, there’s a lot going on here. Bottled at cask strength, which is a great call, the bourbon only reveals a pleasant whisper of maple on the finish. The nose is straight up frosting — the kind that is drizzled on cinnamon rolls — with great notes of pear and honey. And on the palate, I get green apple and caramel, baking spices like nutmeg and black pepper, and oak. This is a porch sipper for sure.

Jack Daniel’s 14 Year

126.3 Proof | $149.99

Details: I’m sure you’ve heard the news about this Jack Daniel’s unicorn by now but let me put it into perspective. This is the Tennessee distillery’s oldest age-stated whiskey in over 100 years. These age-stated releases (so far, a 10, 12, and 14) are a throwback to actual products released in the early 1900s — when Jack Daniel was still alive! And the 14-year-old is bottled at barrel strength. According to Master Distiller Chris Fletcher, they’re planning on releasing an 18 Year and maybe even a 21 Year whiskey in the future.

Tasting Notes: Mamma Mia … this is a beautiful whiskey. On the nose I get that rich vintage whiskey note that tells you this one is going to be special, along with some molasses and dark chocolate. On the palate, there’s more of that dusty bottle note as well as some nice smoke, leather, tobacco, and sweet confectionary flavors. And the finish is bananas foster for days.

Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 2025 Wheat Whi s key

100 Proof | $299.99

Details: The depth of Heaven Hill’s inventory knows no bounds, so it’s not really surprising for them to pull out a 19-year-old wheat whiskey from the vaults for this annual Heritage Collection release. With a mash bill of 51% wheat, 37% corn, and 12% malted barley (the same as their Bernheim Whiskey), this is the oldest wheat whiskey they’ve ever put out. And with a substantial amount of corn in here, the whiskey likely won’t be too far from a typical wheated bourbon.

Tasting Notes: On the nose is a lovely note of cherry blossom, along with mild oak and honey. The palate expresses some black pepper and clove, as well as a sweet vanilla, subtle strawberry jelly, and cinnamon. The finish tingles with brown sugar and oak. At 19 years old, this would please any bourbon fan — especially lovers of wheat.

Angel’s Envy Cellar Collection: Rye Whiskey Finished in French Oak Tequila Barrels

104.2 Proof | $269.99

Details: Angel’s Envy hasn’t released a new Cellar Collection bottle since 2022, so this one is special for Master Distiller Owen Martin since it’s the first he oversaw from beginning to end. Since Bacardi owns both Angel’s Envy and Patron Tequila, Martin had access to some really special añejo tequila extra aged in French oak barrels. This special release is a blend of 6.5- and 7.5-year rye whiskey aged in those tequila barrels, plus 10% of a straight 11-year-old rye whiskey.

Tasting Notes: This one oozes with bright fruit notes like pear, cherry, and red apple, and it’s also quite viscous in the glass. On the palate, I get the expected black pepper from the rye, but there’s also a nice herbaceous spice counteracting the sweet notes of cotton candy. This one is tasty, and if you hadn’t told me it was finished in tequila barrels, I wouldn’t have guessed it. The finish is juicy at first and then almost drying like a white wine, begging me to go in for another sip.

Woodford Reserve Chocolate Whisper Redux

139.4 Proof | $99.99

Details: This Distillery Series release is actually the highest-proof offering Woodford has ever done, at a steep 139.4 proof. But its story is a bit complex. In 2019, they released a Master’s Collection that was chocolate malted rye. After they had distilled that unique whiskey several years prior, they noticed the few batches of bourbon after that contained some chocolate malt in the flavor notes, hence the “whisper” part. So in 2021, they released the first Chocolate Malt Whisper as a distillery-only bottle. Of course they held some back and continued to let it age four more years, thus releasing the Chocolate Whisper Redux, a 12-year-old barrel proof bourbon.

Tasting Notes: Maybe the name is influencing me a bit, but I do get a lot of dark chocolate and coffee on the nose with a hint of butterscotch pudding. The palate gives more of a baker’s chocolate powder with some red fruit notes like cherries and cranberries, and then oak and cold brew coffee. The finish is a whirlwind of riches oak and malted milk balls. I must admit this drinks a little hot given the high proof, so I would recommend a few drops of water to mellow it out.

Penelope Havana

93 Proof | $79.99

Details: Penelope Havana has been around since the first of the year and has some buzz about it. If you like your bourbon on the sweeter side or are just getting into whiskey, this would be a bottle for you. Released as part of Penelope’s Cooper Series of cask finishes, this one takes 4-year-old four-grain bourbon and puts it into a Caribbean rum barrel for a year, followed by one month in a freshly dumped barrel that held maple syrup. Your likelihood of getting a cavity after drinking this does increase.

Tasting Notes: At 93 proof, this finished bourbon is a little too sweet and syrupy for me, but there are many who love it. I would have liked to see it bottled at a higher proof. On the nose I get banana nut bread and simple syrup, and on the palate I get a rum and Coke — but the Coke is flat. There is a savory note of caramel corn that I like as well. The finish is short but sweet.

15 Stars: Three Ports Bourbon

105 Proof | $179

Details: 15 Stars is a Kentucky-based NDP that has a penchant for selecting, blending, and proofing well-aged barrels, and they’ve collected many awards along the way. This new Three Port release is a blend of 9- and 15-year-old Kentucky bourbon that was finished in tawny, white, and ruby port casks. Why three ports? My guess is it sets them apart from the typical finished whiskies and adds even more complex layers and flavors to the spirit. After all, why duplicate when you can innovate?

Tasting Notes: The nose is very fruit-forward, as you might imagine, with notes of cherry and plum as well as some oak from the mature age of the barrels. That fruit definitely carries over into the palate, almost like an initial blast of Hawaiian Punch, and then things calm down into the expected caramel, brown sugar, and tobacco of bourbon. After a few more sips, that punch note goes away, so don’t let that keep you from trying it. It’s definitely different, but in a really interesting way. I can’t say I’ve ever had white port, but I might be a fan. The finish is cinnamon toast with a slight schmier of raspberry jam.

Woodinville Whiskey Tequila Finish

100 Proof | $69.99

Details: This new release from Woodinville out of Washington State shows off Head Distiller Brett Carlile’s knack for finishing his pot-distilled bourbon. While tequila finishes are not new (see Angel’s Envy above), crafting the right blend and knowing how long to finish in the secondary barrel is an art form. Carlile’s base bourbon for this project was 6 years old, and he finished it for an undisclosed time in used extra añejo tequila barrels. And just a few months ago, he and his team deemed it ready for sippin’.

Tasting Notes: On the nose, I get bright fruit notes of pear and green apple, along with some honeysuckle and lavender. The palate has some of those funky pot-still notes (that I love) along with a pleasant flavor I can only describe as Corn Pops cereal — part sweet corn, part vanilla sugar. I don’t detect a tequila note, but I suspect the agave spirit really amped up that vanilla. The finish is long and savory with more of that sweet corn and vanilla frosting.