The Best Special Occasion Bourbons

Announced in April 2019, Kentucky Owl Confiscated is the first release for the brand to be available in all 50 states. Confiscated, a Kentucky straight bourbon release, pays tribute to the barrels seized by the government prior to Prohibition that belonged to C.M. Dedman who founded the Kentucky Owl brand back in 1879. Master blender Dixon Dedman is the great-great grandson of the founder and he resurrected the brand in 2014.

Maker's Mark 46 is made by taking fully matured Maker's Mark Bourbon at cask strength and inserting specially seared French oak staves into the barrels. The bourbon finishes aging for a few months before bottling. The French oak staves selected from the Independent Stave Company were named "Stave Profile No. 46," hence the name. This Maker's Mark 46 Cask Strength originally was only available at the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky for purchase. However, to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the brand, Maker's Mark has released this to retailers in the US in summer 2020. Expect the ABV to vary with each batch.

Part of Jim Beam's "Small Batch Collection", this cask strength, non chill filtered bourbon was first given out as gifts by Booker Noe before being made available to the public in 1992. Aged between 6-8 years and bottled anywhere from 120-130 proof it's a bourbon with a bite and should be bloomed with some water.

Luxco, the company behind brands such as Rebel Yell, Ezra Brooks, and Blood Oath among others, has released this Kentucky straight bourbon. Aged 7 years, it is bottled at a barrel proof of 117 proof. Old Ezra Barrel Strength Bourbon 7 Year is available beginning fall 2018.

A team of industry experts were inspired to recreate the original Joseph Magnus recipe from the 1890s, after discovering old bottles of and sampling some of the century-old pre-prohibition era bourbon. Using sourced 8 to 9-year old bourbon from MGP in Indiana, the Jos. A. Magnus & Co. distillery then triple-cask finishes the bourbon in used oloroso sherry, Pedro Ximenez sherry, and cognac casks.

This is a non-chill filtered bourbon using a recipe selected by Master Distiller Brent Elliott. Four Roses has 10 bourbon recipes available to craft its bourbon offerings which are made from two different mash bills and five different yeast strains. Small Batch Select is made from six of the ten: OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, OESF. Each bourbon in the small batch selection will be six or seven years old. This is the first new brand extension for the brand in 12 years. It joins the other permanent releases for the brand. Availability begins spring 2019 in Kentucky, Texas, California, New York, and Georgia with other locations to follow in the future. (SRP $59.99)

Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon is one of the flagship products from Buffalo Trace Distillery. It is made from a low-rye mash bill and is aged for at least 10 years at the Kentucky distillery. The barrels are hand selected for quality and consistency before bottling. While the bottling proof was originally 101 when the brand was first released in 1974, it has been bottled at 90 proof since 2005.

Rabbit Hole Dareringer is a wheated bourbon with a mash bill of 68% corn, 18% wheat, and 14% malted barley. It is aged in char #4 barrels before being transferred to former PX sherry casks for an additional six months of maturation. This is part of Rabbit Hole's Fingerprint Edition whiskeys. Note: This product was rebranded as of September 2019 with "Dareringer" added to its name. It is the same whiskey as Rabbit Hole Straight Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Casks. Only the packaging and name differ.

As the name indicates, this is a small batch whiskey comprised of selected whiskey barrels which were aged in Warehouse C. This warehouse was constructed by Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr in 1881. This bourbon is also a bonded whiskey which means that the bourbon was distilled in one season, aged for at least 4 years and bottled at 50% ABV.

Released for the first time in the March 2013, each batch is a an uncut, unfiltered selection of Elijah Craig 12 Year. Each batch will vary both in flavor and in proof as is the nature of such releases. The "code" for the batches is as follows: The first letter of each batch indicates the order of the release for that year beginning with the letter "A" for the first batch, "B" for the second, and so on. Next is a number which reflects the month of the release, so "1" for January for example. The third and fourth digits reflect the year of the release. This batch number is printed on the front of each bottle along with the proof.