The nose is filled with depth and spice, melding with blackberry and other cooked dark fruit notes. On the palate, rice pudding, vanilla cream, rich dark chocolate, and blueberry pie are laced with savory spice. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, with little hint of the high proof. It’s even smoother with water, unlocking cinnamon spice, grape jam, and more chocolate. The finish is deep, jammy, and long, with loads of spice.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Winter 2021)

Double Oak was born of a happy accident, when a leaky barrel forced the distilling team to transfer its liquid to a new charred oak barrel. Exposure to that second barrel gave the whiskey amped-up flavors and lots more complexity. This is a bourbon that has gone into overdrive, and it handles the road just fine. Its syrupy sweet texture is checked by the oak influence, and the palate opens to flavors aplenty—dried peaches, warm apple pie, Christmas spice, gingerbread, raisin cake, chocolate, and pumpkin purée. Perfect as a holiday warmer or a backyard barbecue sipper, this is a whiskey for all seasons. Number 8 in the 2021 Top 20

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Winter 2021)

A nicely layered nose reveals cocoa, fruit, nougat, nuts, and spice in abundance. The dark chocolate envelops the fruit like chocolate-covered blueberries, while the warming spice evokes fresh-baked gingerbread cookies, with traces of paraffin wax hinting at maturity. The rich palate is noticeably hot, but water treats it well, and is necessary to fully unleash the confectionary notes of Jordan almonds and root beer barrels candy as persistent vanilla and cherry coulis ride to the pepper-laced finish that’s long and expressive with drying oak.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Winter 2019)

A nose of confectioners’ sugar and peach tart, as well as Toblerone, cherry cola, roasted almonds, barrel char, leather, and drying oak. More baking spice on the palate, melding with chocolate syrup, savory notes of roasted nuts and charred corn, pepper, and perfumed oak. Earthy notes emerge with water, along with spice and chocolate. An herbal finish offers flavors of cherry tart, light chocolate, and spice. Very tasty, and with plenty of panache.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2020)

Peerless Distilling’s first whiskey in nearly a century; at 2 years old, it’s precocious. Captivating on the nose; fruit-driven, with orange, peach nectar melded with vanilla custard, and nice details of clove and nutmeg. The palate pours big and bold, bursting with fruit alcohol and a face slap of spicy, peppery rye. While it’s a touch hot, the reveal of 53.7% makes this forgivable. A generous splash of water unleashes more flavor, baking spice, and aniseed on the finish.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Winter 2017)

Delivering a buttery mouthfeel with toasted rye and baking spice notes, Peerless is the only craft producer on our list. It’s hard to pinpoint why this young rye succeeds where others fail, but one point of difference is the use of sweet mash fermentation, rather than the much more common sour mash technique, where spent mash is added to the new fermentation. Furthermore, the Peerless warehouse achieves temperatures upward of 110 degrees. Whatever the technical reasons, Peerless is paving the way and we expect more craft distillers to join them. Number 15 in the 2017 Top 20 

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Winter 2017)

Candied orange slices, new leather, nutmeg, raspberry jam, dried earth, and a hint of barrel char on the nose. Grape jelly, orange Creamsicle, and citrus notes lead on the palate, followed by sweet cinnamon-raisin bread, cherry candy, chocolate notes of hot fudge sundae, lemon pepper, and spiced oak. Coffee and almond nuttiness on a creamy finish that also shows tangy citrus and subtle herbs. A complex, layered array of flavors.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Fall 2021)

Lemon oil, honeyed sweetness, and sharp peppery notes are underscored by earthy tobacco leaf and fresh herbs. Overall, the impression is spritely, fresh, and muscled, without ever seeming immature. The palate reveals berry fruits with a burst of spice—chilis, peppercorn, cinnamon, and cedar. Takes water, and even ice, exceedingly well, as the lovely mix of sweet and spiced flavors bounce along the long finish.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2019)

An herbal nose of thyme, dill, and licorice underpinning notes of blueberry jam, cherries, chocolate, honey-roasted nuts, and old leather. The palate is full and creamy, with milk chocolate, cinnamon, blackberry, toasted almond, dried herbs, and oak. Water brings out more chocolate and spicy heat. A long finish of oak, almond, chocolate, and cracked pepper, with a tobacco overlay. A big, robust bourbon with plenty to like.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Fall 2019)