I really like bourbon, however let’s be sincere, lots of people suppose all of it tastes the identical. That’s the place cask completed bourbons can stand aside.
Certain, totally different mash payments make a distinction. However in relation to taste, the actual recreation changer is what occurs after ageing. Cask ending was uncommon in bourbon; now it’s a fast-growing playground of sherry, port, wine, and oak. Now, a few of the finest examples are straightforward to seek out and nicely price exploring.
Bourbon now not stops at new American white oak. Distillers are actually ending in French oak for spice and construction, Spanish oak (usually ex-sherry) for wealthy dried fruit, and even mizunara for uncommon, fragrant notes. Some nonetheless use American oak however tweak the toast or supply wooden from areas just like the Ozarks. It’s a broader taste toolkit, and it’s altering how bourbon drinks.
Bourbon’s New Barrel Age
As soon as a rarity, cask-finished bourbon is now mainstream, and higher than ever. From port and sherry to French oak and Cabernet casks, 2025 is shaping as much as be an important 12 months to sip past the usual charred oak.
These seven bottles convey the flavour, keep true to bourbon’s roots, and most significantly, are literally obtainable.
1. Angel’s Envy Port Cask End – Dessert in a Decanter
BUY NOW: From $30
I completed a bottle of Angel’s Envy Port Cask End a number of years in the past after receiving it as a birthday reward. It was wonderful for summer season, the wealthy purple fruit from the port end lower superbly by the caramel and vanilla, making it clean, candy, and surprisingly refreshing.
Angel’s Envy helped kick off the development for wine cask completed bourbon again in 2011, and it nonetheless units the bar. Aged as much as six years, then completed for 36 months in ruby port barrels, it’s delicate, approachable, and layered with notes of raisin, maple, and toasted nuts.
Typically described as “dessert in a glass,” it’s indulgent with out going overboard. For those who’re new to cask completed bourbon or simply need one thing reliably scrumptious, Angel’s Envy is a simple win.
2. Maker’s Mark 46 – Wheated Bourbon with a Spicy Kick
BUY NOW: From $34
I drank this on the Maker’s Mark Distillery one scorching summer season afternoon, and it landed completely. You wouldn’t anticipate a richer, spiced-coffee bourbon to shine within the warmth, nevertheless it completely did. The depth from these French oak staves gave it a warming kick with out being heavy.
Maker’s 46 begins as traditional wheated Maker’s, and is then completed with ten seared French oak staves for about 9 weeks in a cool limestone cellar. The result’s a bolder tackle a delicate traditional – nonetheless clean, however layered with baking spice, caramel, and a bit cinnamon sizzle.
It’s bottled at 47% ABV and stays probably the greatest broadly obtainable examples of stave ending accomplished proper. If commonplace Maker’s is simply too delicate for you, 46 brings additional character with out tipping into rye territory. A richer, extra advanced pour that also goes down straightforward even in the summertime warmth.
3. Woodford Reserve Double Oaked – Bourbon at Full Quantity
BUY NOW: From $45
This is among the most decadent, over-the-top caramel bomb bourbons on this planet. If richness is your factor, this bottle needs to be in your shelf. It’s thick, candy, and unapologetically indulgent like somebody turned crème brûlée into whiskey.
Woodford Double Oaked begins because the common Woodford Reserve bourbon, however will get a second spherical of ageing in a deeply toasted, flippantly charred barrel for almost a 12 months. That second cask takes the unique’s delicate vanilla and oak and dials all the things up: extra chocolate, extra toffee, extra toasted marshmallow.
At 45.2% ABV, it’s not a high-proof bruiser, however the mouthfeel is dense and silky, virtually chewy. This isn’t one for slicing with ice or mixers. Simply pour it, sip it, and revel within the layers. It’s simply probably the greatest examples of how a second barrel can take a superb bourbon and make it really feel downright luxurious.
4. Legent – East Meets West in a Whiskey Glass
BUY NOW: From $67
I drank this on the Jim Beam distillery whereas in Kentucky, and it one way or the other managed to take bourbon in a very totally different path, however with out shedding what makes it bourbon. It felt acquainted, however with new edges: richer, fruitier, and only a bit extra refined.
Legent begins as Kentucky straight bourbon, then a portion is completed in purple wine and sherry casks earlier than being blended again collectively by Suntory’s Shinji Fukuyo. The result’s layered and chic vanilla and toffee up entrance, with delicate purple fruit, dried spice, and a delicate tannic spine.
At 47% ABV and priced within the mid $40s, it’s wonderful worth for one thing this distinctive. The cask affect doesn’t overpower; it merely provides nuance. For anybody inquisitive about how ending can nudge bourbon into new territory whereas maintaining its core intact, Legent is an interesting pour.
5. Noble Oak Double Oak – Sherry End on a Finances
BUY NOW: From $35
Noble Oak is the sort of bottle that makes you double-check the worth. It’s underneath $40, completed with Spanish sherry oak staves, and one way or the other delivers a richer expertise than it has any proper to at that value level. This isn’t a dusty bottle gathering hype, it’s a wise, fashionable bourbon that drinks nicely above its weight.
The bottom spirit comes from MGP in Indiana, aged no less than a 12 months in new oak earlier than being completed with sherry seasoned staves utilizing a high-tech stress ageing course of. That technique could increase eyebrows, nevertheless it works by including layers of dried fruit, cherry, and mild spice to a bourbon that’s straightforward to get pleasure from neat or in a cocktail.
It’s delicate, a bit nutty, and laced with simply sufficient sherry character to make it attention-grabbing. For anybody inquisitive about sherry completed whiskey however not able to spend massive, Noble Oak is a great method in. Plus, they plant a tree for each bottle bought.
6. Jefferson’s Pritchard Hill – The place Bourbon Meets Massive Napa Crimson
BUY NOW: From $60
This one stunned me. I anticipated a wine completed bourbon to be overly candy or tannic, however Jefferson’s Pritchard Hill hits a uncommon stability. The affect of Napa’s daring Cabernet reveals up clearly. Assume blackberry, cherry, darkish chocolate. However it by no means overwhelms the bourbon beneath.
The whiskey itself is a mix of well-aged Kentucky straight bourbon, completed for 12 months in French oak casks that beforehand held Cabernet Sauvignon from Chappellet’s prestigious Pritchard Hill winery. It’s bottled at 45.1% ABV and sits within the $70-$80 vary, premium, however nonetheless accessible.
For those who’re a wine lover dipping into whiskey, or a bourbon drinker on the lookout for a drier, extra structured end, this one is well worth the splurge. The fruitiness is elegant, the oak is nicely built-in, and the entire thing feels polished with out being pretentious. An important bottle for sipping slowly, ideally with good firm and no distractions.
7. Previous Forester 1910 – Charred, Chewy, and Totally Addictive
BUY NOW: From $55
Previous Forester 1910 is a kind of bottles I hold coming again to. It’s wealthy, layered, and simply the proper of indulgent. Double barreled in a closely charred second cask, this bourbon leans onerous into darkish sugar territory, suppose chocolate, toffee, and toasted marshmallow. It’s massive, daring, and proudly excessive.
What units it aside is that second barrel end. The whiskey enters at a decrease proof (100) to drag most sweetness from the oak, then spends 69 months absorbing all that charred goodness. The result’s a 93 proof bourbon with a chewy mouthfeel and a taste profile that’s mainly bourbon turned as much as eleven.
If Woodford Double Oaked is your factor, that is the deeper, darker sibling. It’s candy, however not cloying. Toasty, however not bitter. And whereas it won’t be your on a regular basis pour, it’s the one you attain for while you need one thing comforting and full-throttle.
Last Ideas: A Second Barrel, A New Perspective
Cask completed bourbon was a distinct segment curiosity. Now it’s probably the most thrilling corners of American whiskey and, crucially, you don’t want a collector’s price range to get pleasure from it. These seven bottles present simply how various the class has change into, from port and sherry finishes to double barrel strategies and wine casks that add construction and depth.
Whether or not you’re chasing daring sweetness, spice-laced complexity, or one thing with a contact of purple fruit class, there’s a completed bourbon on this record that’ll hit the mark. They’re not gimmicks, they’re nice whiskeys with a second barrel twist
