The 13 Best Whiskeys We Tasted in September 2024, Ranked
Read on to see where Wild Turkey’s bourbon honoring Jimmy Russell’s 70 years with the distillery fell on our list of the best whiskeys we tasted in September 2024. (Photo: Wild Turkey)
September was an astonishing month on our end in terms of phenomenal whiskeys we tasted — and it makes sense from a timing standpoint. It was Bourbon Heritage Month, after all. Yet, bourbon wasn’t the only whiskey category we tasted that knocked us off our feet last month.
Seriously, this list was extremely hard to narrow down, because we tasted so many incredible whiskeys. The following 13 best whiskeys of the month were a captivating bunch, and we’re very excited to share them all with you.
Rankings explanation: Bottles are ranked by the house scores given by our spirits critics. When ties arise in the house scores, they are broken by Raided Score®. In instances where the Raided Scores® are equal, the whiskey with the highest number of reviews aggregated is ranked higher. In an instance where all of those factors are equal, alphabetization is used as a final tiebreaker.
13 Best Whiskeys We Tasted in September
13. Compass Box Art & Decadence
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Blended scotch brand Compass Box released Art & Decadence in November with after-dinner drinking in mind. This blended scotch hosts an ABV of 49% and a price of around $197. Just 9,946 bottles exist.
The nose boasts aromas of coconut shaved ice, rich vanilla bean and butterscotch. As far as the pour goes, picture caramel, pepper and apples coupled with honeydew. Almond persists throughout and segues into a lingering, toasty and dessert-driven finish.
Compass Box’s Art & Decadence is a pleasant release that caters to any whisk(e)y drinker’s sweet tooth.
12. Ardbeg Traigh Bhan Batch 5
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Ardbeg Traigh Bhan Batch 5 is inspired by Traigh Bhan Beach on Islay. This whisky aged for 19 years in a mixture of bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks before it was bottled at 46.2% ABV and features a suggested retail price of $350.
The nose is a mixture of citrus fruit, dessert and the brand’s signature peat smoke. On the palate, expect plenty of ash, pepper and slate coupled with toffee, berries and minerality. The whisky finishes beautifully with more fruity dessert, coupled with citrus and blueberry crumble. Minerality and peat smoke really are the drivers here.
Powerful, fun and complicated, this year’s Traigh Bhan is a hit!
11. Pinhook Tiz Rye Time Vertical Series 8 Year Rye 2024 Release
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Pinhook Tiz Rye Time 8 Year Rye 2024 marks the eighth installation in the brand’s Vertical Series. For the series, Pinhook nabbed some MGP rye barrels and continues to monitor them over the years. Each year, the brand releases a bottling into the wild — one year older than the previous year’s — so drinkers can see how the rye whiskey progresses.
This year’s batch was composed of 32 barrels, and can be bought directly from Pinhook for $84.99. The nose is exceedingly rich on the pour, with gingerbread, anise and Belgian milk chocolate. On the palate, expect gingerbread, mocha, bright oranges and milk chocolate caramels. This rye whiskey finishes beautifully with marshmallow, ginger and that citrus throughline.
This is a beautiful rye whiskey with plenty of delicious and well-integrated layers.
10. Waterford Peated Cuvée Fumo
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This gorgeous Irish whiskey from Waterford is part of the brand’s cuvée concept series, which was unveiled in the U.S. in 2023. The whiskey is a mixture of four peated single farm origins with Irish barley and Irish peat. It hosts a suggested retail price of $99.99.
The nose of this whiskey is a beautiful mixture of cream, minerality and Meyer lemons interlaced with lime. On the palate, picture peat smoke, ash, minerality and vanilla bean coupled with citrus zest in its spine. Waterford Peated Cuvée Fumo finishes with a mixture of confectioner’s sugar, rising bread and plenty of pepper.
This wild departure from Waterford proves that peat can pack quite a punch. Beautifully integrated and definitely a memorable expression from the terroir-driven Irish whiskey brand.
9. Pinhook Tiz Rye Time Vertical Series 7 Year Rye 2023 Release
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Pinhook’s Tiz Rye Time Vertical Series 7 Year Rye proves that sometimes, things really do get better with age. This rye whiskey was selected from 28 barrels from MGP, and like the other installation from this series on this list, is all about demonstrating how time affects a whiskey’s flavor.
The nose is a mixture of chocolate and herbs, coupled with cinnamon. The palate is heavy on the ginger, with a pop of brown sugar and peppermint. The pour concludes with a surprisingly lifted and sweet finish. Picture light oak, sugar cookies and a bit of gingerbread.
Tasty and spicy, Pinhook’s Tiz Rye Time Vertical Series 7 Year Rye 2023 is perfect for Autumn sipping.
8. Ardbeg Spectacular 2024 Ardbeg Day Release
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When the folks at Islay’s Ardbeg Distillery named their Ardbeg Day release “Ardbeg Spectacular,” we couldn’t help but wonder if the juice inside would live up to the name. Well, color us impressed. Ardbeg Spectacular is exactly that.
A 46%-ABV single malt scotch that aged partially in bourbon and port casks, this whisky dropped on June 1. It’s typically priced within the $130 range, but we’d say it’s worth every penny. The nose boasts figs, toffee, vanilla bean and ash. On the palate, expect mint chocolate, lavender, salinity and a kick of pepper. This gorgeously complicated single malt finishes with smoke, blueberry and oak.
Ardbeg Spectacular is truly a feast for the senses, which is exactly why it earned the No. 8 spot on our list.
7. Milam & Greene Castle Hill Series Batch 3 Bourbon
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Milam & Greene is an on-the-rise brand and a significant part of the budding whiskey region that is Texas. Helmed by none other than Heather Greene, this whiskey benefits from the shifting climates and intense heat of Texas.
Interestingly, though, Milam & Greene incorporates whiskeys from other states and blends it with its homemade Texas distillate. This allows Milam & Greene the option to add older liquid into its blends, since aging whiskey for too long in Texas tends to result in mostly empty barrels thanks to evaporation in the intense heat.
In the case of Milam & Greene’s Castle Hill Series Batch 3 Bourbon, Milam & Greene selected 15-year-old bourbon from Tennessee and then brought it to Blanco, Texas, where it spent another six months aging. This bourbon was distilled from a mashbill of 84% corn, 8% rye and 8% malted barley.
This bourbon is one of the best we’ve tasted from Milam & Greene to date. With an incredibly rich nose full of layer upon layer of brown sugar, cappuccino and banana pudding, this unexpected bourbon hosts a palate full of stone fruits like peaches, raising bread and vanilla. Milam & Greene Castle Hill Series Batch 3 Bourbon concludes with vanilla, a kiss of oak and a lovely prickle of heat.
Milam & Greene Castle Hill Series Batch 3 Bourbon hosts an ABV of 57.25% and costs around $199.99 from the brand.
6. Baker’s 13 Years Old Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon
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Distilled by James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky, Baker’s 13 Years Old Limited Edition Single Barrel is named after Baker Beam, Jim Beam’s grandnephew. This bourbon hosts a suggested retail price of $149.99 and clocks in at 53.5% ABV.
The nose on this bourbon has plenty of tobacco funk, coupled with toffee, cocoa and a wallop of anise adding a nice spicy kick. The palate is viscous and rich with chocolate-covered cherries, graham cracker and an oak spine. Baker’s 13 Years Old Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon finishes beautifully, and honestly we’d say the finish is the star of the show here. Picture caramel apple, tobacco and oak.
This bourbon is, for lack of a better word, gorgeous, and makes us want to celebrate Bourbon Heritage Month all year long.
5. Shenk’s Homestead Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey 2024
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One of Michter’s Legacy Series — sometimes affectionately called “Secret Michter’s” — this whiskey was bottled at 91.2 proof and hosts a suggested retail price of $110. Shenk’s Homestead has historical roots and was named after the Swiss Mennonite farmer John Shenk, who founded Shenk’s distillery in Pennsylvania.
With a big bright nose coupled with tobacco lemon, orange lime and tropical fruit. The palate hosts plenty of caramel and orange peel flavors coupled with lemon and a kick of pepper. The finish possesses lots of vanilla bean, honey and more lemon flavors.
Shenk’s Homestead Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey 2024 is like a weighty, citrus dreamsicle, deliciously complex in spite of its lower proof. It’s a B-side release of the Michter’s brand we can’t get enough of.
4. Bomberger’s Declaration Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
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The No. 4 spot goes to the other under-the-radar release from Michter’s’ Legacy series. Bomberger’s Declaration was named after a former version of Michter’s Distillery when it was named Bomberger’s. The distillery operated out of Pennsylvania and closed in 1989.
This whiskey hosts a proof of 108 and a suggested retail price of $120. Chinquapin wood is used within the aging process. The nose is rich and toasty, with plenty of depth. In short, it’s bold and brooding.
On the palate, picture butterscotch, tobacco, vanilla bean and brown sugar. The whiskey finishes with waffle cone, tobacco and black pepper.
With plenty of power and complexity, this is the perfect bourbon for autumn imbibing.
3. Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell’s 70th Anniversary
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Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell’s 70th Anniversary is a touching tribute to the legendary master distiller himself. This limited-release bourbon dropped in early September, and is a blend of 8- and 9-year-old bourbons that Wild Turkey shares were selected from Russell’s favorite rickhouses. It is bottled at 101 proof and hosts a suggested retail price of $50.
This release hosts a nose of custard, Honeycrisp apples and cherries. The pour has plenty of weight and richness, with flavors of cherry, nutmeg and Granny Smith apples. Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell’s 70th Anniversary finishes with cherry, tobacco, oak and char.
With beautiful apple characteristics throughout, Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell’s 70th Anniversary is a bourbon we’re sure Jimmy is very proud of.
2. Holladay Ancient Cave Collection Hybrid Oak
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Bourbons in Holladay Distillery’s Ancient Cave Collection have all spent time aging in the brand’s Ancient Cave, a structure that dates back to 1837. It maintains a consistent temperature of 60 degrees and houses 72 ricks. The brand’s experimental barrels spend time aging there, and this release spent some time there after aging in new level-3-charred white oak for six years in Holladay’s Rickhouse B or C.
Holladay Ancient Cave Collection Hybrid Oak hosts a suggested retail price of $45 for a 375-milliliter bottle, and this bourbon was finished in a hybrid oak barrel with a level 1 char and heavy toast.
The nose on this bourbon has marshmallow, buttercream and brown butter. On the palate, picture a symphony of orange peel, honey, marshmallow cream and barrel char. This whiskey finishes with toffee and that marshmallow throughout, yielding a lovely bourbon.
Our only complaint is we wish this was a regular release.
1. Daftmill 2010 Cask Strength
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Daftmill 2010 Cask Strength might just be liquid proof of the power of indie whisky brands. This small, independent distillery in the Scottish Lowlands is producing some killer juice, and it’s only a matter of time until Daftmill’s name (and whisky) is on everybody’s lips.
Sourced from a mashbill of optic barley grown on the Cuthbert family farm, this whisky was distilled in 2010 and laid down for over a decade in first-fill ex-bourbon oak barrels before it was released in the U.S. With a suggested retail price of around $325 and an ABV of 58.7%, just 2,400 bottles were released into the wild.
This dram is unquestionably a winner, rightfully earning the No. 1 spot with a highly impressive Raided Score® of 95. With vanilla bean aromas oaured with apples, pears and grain, this whisky is like a lifted orchard walk. The palate hosts flavors of vanilla bean, freshly baked bread coupled with honey and raspberry. The conclusion of Daftmill’s 2010 Cask Strength lingers for an age, with honey, blueberry and apples. This whisky is simply gorgeous.
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