The 10 Best Whiskeys We Tasted in May 2026

May was a very good month to be a whiskey drinker. Between surprise limited drops, a couple of landmark age-stated releases and at least one bottle that will end up on more than a few year-end lists, our critics had plenty to work with. The 10 entries below span bourbon, rye, American single malt and blended whiskey, with prices running from around $40 for a 375 ml to $400 for a full bottle. Rankings are based on The Daily Pour Critics’ Score, our proprietary metric that aggregates house ratings with scores from the most trusted critics across the internet. Ties are broken by price, accessibility and narrative weight.

10. Still Austin Nancy’s Pick Bourbon May 2026

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Still Austin Nancy’s Pick Bourbon May 2026 opens with a nose so inviting it almost writes a check the palate can’t fully cash: sweet cream, Bavarian cream, sugar cookie, raspberries and crème brûlée all pile in at once, making a serious case for bourbon of the year before you’ve taken a single sip. The palate is darker and drier, with charcoal, leather, espresso and banana pudding giving way, once the whiskey breathes, to a cherry candy rush and some melon. The finish is short and dry, leading with blackberry, cherry and espresso before settling into vanilla bean, licorice and cocoa powder. Master Blender Nancy Fraley selected this 7-year-old single barrel from Still Austin’s oldest cask-strength stock, and it’s available exclusively at the Austin distillery for $90. At 53.77% ABV, it’s a wonderful pour, even if the nose sets a bar the rest of the dram can’t quite clear.

9. TX Whiskey Rye Full Proof 7 Years

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Seven years in the Texas heat is not the same as seven years anywhere else, and TX Whiskey Rye Full Proof 7 Years wears that fact on its sleeve. The nose is brash and herbaceous: dill, chili pepper, clove, nutmeg and pine with brown sugar and cola lurking underneath, the sweetness blooming into molasses and caramel with air. The palate delivers oily, heat-driven intensity with cracked pepper, dill, clove, sassafras and a big leather note holding everything together. The finish kicks off with a spice barrage of nutmeg, cinnamon and chili powder, then pivots into syrupy cherry cola and a jalapeño-adjacent pepper note that lingers. Produced by Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co. in Fort Worth from a 100% rye mash bill using local grains from Sawyer Farms, this is bottled at 60% ABV and released in a limited run of 1,100 375 ml bottles sold exclusively at the distillery. It’s concentrated, well-aged and packed with flavor, a strong signal about where this young distillery is headed.

8. Daniel Weller Spelt Wheat

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Daniel Weller Spelt Wheat is unlike any wheated bourbon you’ve had, and that’s not a marketing claim, it’s just the truth. The nose leans hard into grain: fresh milled wheat, popcorn, buttered toast, leather and a bubblegum-adjacent sweetness, with overripe apples and peach cobbler tucked behind it all. On the palate, that grainy character deepens into sourdough bread, fresh biscuits, lemon peel, olive oil and peppercorns, with stewed apples and a lovely trio of almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts adding nuttiness that feels almost savory. The finish is long and satisfying, running through sourdough toast with melted butter, apples and pears, cinnamon, walnut husk and cocoa powder. Buffalo Trace’s second release in the experimental Daniel Weller series uses spelt wheat as the secondary grain in place of rye, matured for 10 years and bottled at 94 proof (47% ABV). The $549.99 price tag is a tough pill, and at that number you might reasonably wish for a higher ABV, but the whiskey itself is distinctive, complex and hard to put down.

7. Cedar Ridge The QuintEssential Pete & Sherri Married 1st Anniversary (2023)

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Iowa doesn’t get enough credit in the American single malt conversation, and Cedar Ridge The QuintEssential Pete & Sherri Married 1st Anniversary (2023) is the kind of release that ought to change that. The nose skips the peat entirely, arriving instead as a malty, nutty, buttery wall of Amontillado sherry character with a butterscotch note that just hangs there, warm and inviting. The palate is rich and dry, with charred peaches, singed orange peel, cinnamon, white pepper and nutmeg, plus a rubbery, subtle peat presence that’s more suggestion than statement. The finish is long, gritty and ashy, the dry sherry influence fading into that same nutty, butterscotchy warmth from the nose. Cedar Ridge built this by marrying 6-year-old single malt finished in a first-fill Amontillado sherry butt with 6-year-old peated malt from an ex-bourbon barrel, bottled at natural cask strength of 59.05% ABV, non-chill filtered and without added color. The Amontillado influence is heavy and it works spectacularly.

6. Maker’s Mark Private Selection Yam Jam by Kelsey Plum

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Celebrity-adjacent whiskey releases have a well-earned reputation for being more about the name on the label than what’s in the bottle. Maker’s Mark Private Selection Yam Jam by Kelsey Plum is an exception. The nose opens with cocoa powder, cinnamon and vanilla bean, clean and inviting. The palate is thick and plush, with big vanilla and caramel playing against light oak, orange peel, raisins and tiramisu in a combination that feels far more composed than your average custom barrel program release. The finish delivers buttercream frosting and oak up front, then slides into banana bread, cherries, espresso and cinnamon. Created through Maker’s Mark’s custom stave finishing program at Star Hill Farm in Kentucky and released in May 2026 at 55.65% ABV (111.3 proof), this is the kind of result the Private Selection program exists to produce. It’s damn tasty bourbon, and it earns every bit of the attention it’ll get.

5. Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon 2026

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The annual Angel’s Envy Cask Strength release has become one of the most reliable events on the bourbon calendar, and the 15th edition does nothing to tarnish that reputation. The nose on Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon 2026 is smooth and sweet, with jammy port melting into white chocolate, cornbread, cinnamon, coconut and cream cheese frosting. The palate is thick, oily and almost fatty at 58.9% ABV, with caramel, peanut brittle and strawberry cheesecake sharing space with black cherry, tart orange candies, cinnamon, cracked pepper and a subtle bitter oak presence. The finish is warm and long, opening with leather and fresh-from-the-oven banana walnut muffins before closing on dark chocolate-covered cherries, red grape and strawberry jam with a touch of port. Built on a Solera-inspired process that incorporates a portion of each prior release, then finished for up to 3.5 years in hand-selected port barrels, this is a port finish done right: powerful, but never overpowering.

4. Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon 2026

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There are years when Michter’s 10 Year leans into its oak and tannin, and there are years when it goes full dessert cart. The 2026 release is firmly in the latter camp, and it’s hard to complain. The nose on Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon 2026 is a parade of crème brûlée, dark chocolate-covered cherries, sassafras, gingerbread and caramel, with oak playing a supporting role rather than dominating. The palate doubles down on that sweetness: crème brûlée again, cherries, brown sugar, candied ginger, orange peel, chocolate shavings, almonds and toasted marshmallows, with oak and tannin present but noticeably softer than in prior editions. The finish is where the oak reasserts itself, leading with tannin, coffee grounds and leather before transitioning into brown sugar, caramel and pretzel. Selected by master distiller Dan McKee and master of maturation Andrea Wilson from barrels aged beyond 10 years, this 2026 release is bottled at 47.2% ABV and priced at $195. Delicious, as always.

3. Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Rye 10 Years Old

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Angel’s Envy made history with this one: Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Rye 10 Years Old is the brand’s first age-stated rye bottled at cask strength, and it arrives with a critics’ score to match the occasion. The nose is spice-forward and assertive at 55.8% ABV, with nutmeg, chili powder, clove, fresh banana and caramel demanding your attention. The palate is a flavor bomb: huge clove and nutmeg mingle with cinnamon, pine, butterscotch, coconut and candied orange, the whole thing coated in a moderately mouth-coating, drying viscosity. The finish is where it really separates itself, opening with a wave of ginger, nutmeg and cracked pepper, rolling through cinnamon, clove and anise, then settling into a dry, tannic, oak-forward close with burnt marshmallow, singed orange peel and a rum funk coda of mango and pineapple that slides in around the tannin. The blend is a technical feat in itself: 69% 10-year-old rye finished four years in Caribbean rum casks and 31% 12-year-old rye finished four months in the same. Available at a suggested retail price of $270, it’s well worth the spend.

2. Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve: Mars

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The latest Distillery Reserve release from Bardstown Bourbon Co. isn’t a single-distillery bourbon or a well-aged single malt. It’s a blend, and an audacious one. Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve: Mars combines Kentucky straight bourbon with single malt Japanese whisky from Mars Distilleries, and under the hand of Master Blender Dan Callaway, the result is something that earns its 95/100 critics’ score without argument. The nose is confectionary and fruit-forward: custard, buttercream frosting, soft oak, cinnamon, gingerbread and a big apple note that keeps growing with air. The palate is wide-ranging and cohesive all at once, with apple strudel, cherry, plum, salted caramel, cranberries, clove, sassafras, cinnamon, tobacco, sesame oil and balsamic somehow all pulling in the same direction. The finish rushes in with clove, toasted barley, sea salt, plums and blackberries, slowly giving way to leather, dark chocolate and a dark, jammy blueberry compote that lingers.

The blend breaks down as follows: 69% 10-year-old Kentucky bourbon, 20% 5-year-old Komagatake; 20% 5-year-old Komgatake single malt whisky; 8% 16-year-old Kentucky bourbon distilled from a mashbill of 75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley; and 3% 5-year-old Tsunuki single malt whisky.

1. Wild Turkey Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Edition Aged 16 Years

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The inaugural release in Wild Turkey’s new Austin Nichols Archives Collection arrives with the highest of expectations, and it more than delivers. Wild Turkey Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Edition Aged 16 Years opens with a gorgeous nose of vanilla bean, thick butterscotch, mocha, oak and dried cherry, the kind of first impression that makes you slow down and pay attention. At 60% ABV (120 proof), the palate is thick and warm, with a huge cherry cola note leading a procession of raisins, tobacco, woodspice (cinnamon, gingerbread, clove, sassafras), licorice, oak and dark chocolate-covered walnuts. The finish is extremely long and filled with drying tannin, moving through cinnamon, nutmeg and dried fruit into espresso, tobacco, dark chocolate, almonds and shaved coconut before settling into a root beer note that just refuses to leave. Blended from roughly 400 barrels across Camp Nelson D, E and F rickhouses and aged at least 16 years, this is Wild Turkey at its absolute best. At $400, it’s a serious investment; it’s also a surefire whiskey-of-the-year contender.

The Archives Collection is designed to recreate beloved releases from Wild Turkey’s Austin, Nichols & Co. era (before Pernod Ricard’s 1980 acquisition), and if this first entry is any indication, the series is going to be exceptional.