The 10 Best Whiskeys We Tasted in March 2026, Ranked

March was a very good month to be a whiskey drinker. Across bourbon, Scotch and more, I tasted some of the most compelling releases of the year so far, ranging from approachable mid-shelf overachievers to ultra-limited barrel-proof showstoppers that will test both your palate and your wallet. The list below is ranked using The Daily Pour’s Critics’ Score, which aggregates our in-house rating with scores from the most trusted critics across the internet. Ties are broken by house score.

March was such a phenomenal month that several whiskeys I really enjoyed didn’t crack the top 10, so here are a few honorable mentions that deserve some love:

• Redbreast Moscatel Wine Cask Edition
• Pinhook 2026 Vertical Series Straight Rye Whiskey Aged 10 Years
• Remus Master Distiller Experimental Series No. 2
• TX Whiskey Experimental Series: Vino de Naranja

10. Knob Creek Blender’s Edition 01

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Landing at the bottom of a list that includes $300 bottles is no insult when you’re a 10-year-old, 106-proof bourbon selling for $45. Knob Creek Blender’s Edition 01 is the inaugural release of Beam’s new “Blender’s Edition” line, distilled at the Clermont distillery and positioned as a sweeter, more confectionary sibling to the classic Knob Creek 9-year. The nose makes good on that promise immediately: butterscotch, marshmallow fluff and frosting, with an apple pie and peach cobbler fruit note riding underneath a faint sawdust oak. The palate is viscous and generous, loading up on candied peach, apricot, custard and caramel, with just enough oak to keep things honest. The finish brings cinnamon first, then pivots into dark chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and a whisper of espresso. At this price point, with this age statement and this proof, the “best value in bourbon” conversation just got a new, very serious entry.

9. Wyoming Whiskey Barrel Strength Bourbon Whiskey #6429 (2026)

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Wyoming Whiskey Barrel Strength Bourbon Whiskey #6429 is very good but costs a wild $299.99, Despite the price, what Wyoming Whiskey has produced from its Kirby rickhouses is impressive. This single-barrel wheated bourbon (68% corn, 20% wheat, 12% malted barley) is bottled at 124 proof after a full decade in new charred oak, and it drinks far more manageably than that number suggests. The nose is a pleasant mix of butterscotch, cornbread, cherry, fresh vanilla and the faint mineral/wheat signature that runs through all of Wyoming Whiskey’s lineup. The palate is where the age really announces itself: big oak, leather, coffee grounds, cola, sassafras, brandied cherries and a peanut shell note on the back end that feels totally unique. The finish dries out with grape peel and espresso before a late vanilla note softens the tannin just enough. Fewer than 500 bottles are released annually. Whether $299.99 is worth it is a personal calculus, but the whiskey itself is hard to argue with.

8. High West Cask Strength Bourbon Batch 25K14 (2026)

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High West’s new core-portfolio addition is a blending showcase. High West Cask Strength Bourbon Batch 25K14 pulls from Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee distilleries, assembling bourbons aged anywhere from six to 20 years into a 58.5% ABV package that retails for $69.99. None of it is distilled by High West itself, but the blending work impresses. The nose is a warm, inviting spread of Demerara, gingerbread, anise, blueberries, marshmallow fluff and maple, with a cornbread earthiness grounding it. On the palate, cinnamon and candied ginger take the wheel early before the blend opens into rhubarb, brown sugar and cornbread sweetness. The finish trails off with dusty oak, maple syrup, blueberry preserves and a low-key tobacco and clove note that lingers. Spectacularly blended for the price.

7. Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 22 Year Old

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Twenty-two years in a Kentucky rickhouse will do things to a bourbon that no amount of finishing trickery can replicate, and Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 22 Year Old arrives with all the weight and gravitas that implies. Bottled at barrel proof (64.6% ABV) after spending its entire life on the 5th and 6th floors of Heaven Hill’s Rickhouse Y, this is a 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley mashbill that has absorbed every bit of what two-plus decades in wood can offer. The nose is the highlight: molasses, maple, demerara, cherry, buttercream, crème brûlée and toasted marshmallow stacked on top of each other in a way that makes it very difficult to put the glass down. The palate delivers a blast of oak and tannin upfront, then settles into almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, clove, blackberry and leather. The finish is where things get a touch aggressive, with a bitter tannin bite that refuses to go away. It’s a minor knock on an otherwise remarkable bottle. Available nationally in limited quantities at $319.

6. Woodford Reserve Distillery Series: Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel Finish

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Wine-finished bourbon is a crowded and often unsuccessful lane, but Woodford Reserve Distillery Series: Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel Finish navigates it with more finesse than most. This limited Distillery Series entry takes fully matured Woodford Reserve Bourbon and finishes it in cabernet sauvignon French oak barrels for an undisclosed period, landing at 90.4 proof and $64.99 for a 375-milliliter bottle. The nose is an interesting push and pull: deep, musky red wine alongside cotton candy, licorice and browned butter. On the palate, the Cabernet is front and center but the underlying bourbon peeks through consistently, creating a toasted marshmallow, tannic red wine, seared oak and browned butter profile that works better than it has any right to. The finish opens spicy with cinnamon, then settles into oak and more Cabernet character. Pair it with a steak and this becomes one of the more inspired food-pairing whiskeys of the year.

5. Whiskey JYPSI Legacy Batch 003: The Declaration

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The most conceptually ambitious entry on this list, Whiskey JYPSI Legacy Batch 003: The Declaration attempts to reconstruct a Colonial-era Maryland-style rye mashbill through cross-category blending rather than pre-fermentation grain mixing. The result is a 115.74-proof blend of Indiana rye finished in Mount Vernon apple brandy barrels, Canadian corn whiskey re-barreled in new American oak, and Virginia single malt, drawing from whiskeys aged eight to 25 years. Priced at around $199.99, it’s a lot to ask, but the liquid earns its keep. The nose is a heady combination of sassafras, cherry syrup, golden apple, vanilla frosting, gingerbread and peanut, with a noticeable heat that signals what’s coming. The palate is dark and fruit-forward, stewed apple cores and blackberries pushing against black pepper, tannin and tobacco. The finish layers blackberry, cinnamon, clove, blueberry compote and plum in a long, winding outro. It’s an extremely out-there blend, and it works.

4. Ardbeg Ten Cask Strength

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The only scotch on this list, and it earns its place. Ardbeg Ten Cask Strength takes the beloved 10-year Islay single malt and strips away the dilution, bottling it at 61.7% ABV in the $60 to $100 range. The nose is fresh and almost playful for a peat bomb: loads of smoke, yes, but also saline, biscoff, grape jam, fresh baked biscuits and honey, which gives it an approachability that the proof might suggest it lacks. The palate is where the cask strength format really pays dividends, delivering a strong oak spine alongside brown sugar, cinnamon and gingerbread before the back end opens into huge ash, tobacco, cacao and espresso. The finish is pure Islay: peat, iodine and campfire, with nothing else competing for attention. If you love big peaty Scotch, this is the one to seek out this spring.

3. Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve: Cascadia Garryana Oak Barrel Finish

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Bardstown Bourbon Co.’s Distillery Reserve series produced two of the top 10 entries on The Daily Pour’s top 100 whiskeys of 2025 list, so the bar for 2026’s first release was already high. Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve: Cascadia Garryana Oak Barrel Finish mostly clears it. The blend of 9- and 10-year-old Kentucky and Indiana bourbons was finished for 10 months in custom Garryana oak barrels from Oregon Barrel Works, a cooperage producing just 1,000 barrels per year, making this the first known Garryana-finished bourbon. The nose is lovely: Bavarian cream and caramel alongside dark chocolate, chamomile, almonds, molasses, toffee and peaches and cream. The palate brings espresso, cinnamon, clove and tobacco working against butterscotch, toasted marshmallow and sweet cream, with a fruity background of apples, strawberries, lime peel and banana threading through the whole thing. The finish is the real showstopper, an extended sequence of toasted oak, caramel, marshmallow fluff, sugar cookies, maple cream, graham cracker and cocoa before closing on overripe Granny Smith apples and honey. The Garryana influence is distinctive: bitter but not tannic-bitter, leathery, faintly chocolatey, with an odd and compelling lime-peel quality that sets it apart. Available in 375-milliliter bottles at $99.99, exclusively at Bardstown Bourbon’s distillery and Louisville tasting room.

2. Brown-Forman’s King of Kentucky Small Batch Bourbon (Batch 1)

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King of Kentucky has long been a single-barrel product, which makes this debut batched release a can’t-miss event. Brown-Forman’s King of Kentucky Small Batch Bourbon (Batch 1) is the lowest-proof of three batches released in February 2026, bottled at 105 proof from barrels aged between 12 and 18 years, some of which had lost as much as 84% of their original fill to evaporation. The result is everything you want from the classic Brown-Forman house style, dialed up to a level that justifies the $299 MSRP. The nose is perfumey and opulent: vanilla custard, blueberry, chocolate-covered cherry, lavender, cream cheese frosting, salted caramel and chocolate ganache. The palate brings thick viscosity and a lead of dark chocolate and espresso, followed by cherry, coconut, ash and tannin. The finish stretches long and oaky, moving through brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and leather before arriving at candied orange, ginger and vanilla. It’s not the most labyrinthine bourbon on this list, but as a showcase of pure Brown-Forman opulence, it’s hard to top.

I’ve heard some scoff at this bourbon, calling it nothing more than a souped-up Old Forester 1924 or Birthday Bourbon. Hard disagree. I’m not going to tell you you should go out and buy a bottle at whatever exorbitant price it’ll command on the secondary market, but this is truly delicious bourbon.

1. Barrell Bourbon Cigar Blend

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The best whiskey we tasted of March costs $85 and finishes in four different cask types. That’s the kind of value proposition that makes Barrell Craft Spirits one of the most consistently exciting operations in American whiskey. Barrell Bourbon Cigar Blend takes straight bourbons aged 7.5 to 18 years from Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee, then finishes them in Madeira, Armagnac, rum and Hungarian oak casks before bottling at 111.2 proof. The nose is complex but never chaotic: browned butter, butterscotch, cake batter, grape leaves, mint and grape jelly. The palate opens with the rum and Armagnac influences front and center, building a profile of Luxardo cherry, plum and tobacco alongside drying tannin, leather, raisin, caramel, cinnamon, anise and pepper. The finish leans harder into spice, tobacco meeting clove, cinnamon and black pepper in a long, satisfying close. With a Critics’ Score of 94, this is the clear top pick of the month, and one of the best whiskey releases of 2026.