Whiskey Roundup — Week of June 28–July 4, 2026
June 28, 2026
Whiskey Roundup — Week of June 28–July 4, 2026
Your weekly dispatch from the Backyard Whiskey Club.
Summer is in full swing and so is the release calendar — Father’s Day’s allocated drops are still settling onto shelves, Texas is putting a new spin on heirloom corn, and the Scotch world just got a permanent new entry from one of Islay’s biggest names. Whether you’re chasing a single barrel or just topping off the home bar, there’s a lot to dig into this week.
This Week’s Headlines
- Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Rye lands at retailers this month at $210, prized for its toffee-and-pepper complexity.
- Elijah Craig 21-Year-Old Single Barrel returns for the first time in over a decade — 94 proof, $299.99, debuting at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience.
- Still Austin rolled out its Bottled in Bond Red Corn Bourbon on June 6, leaning hard into heirloom Jimmy Red Corn.
- Lagavulin is preparing its first new permanent expression in nine years, a rare move for the storied Islay distillery.
New & Notable Releases
Bourbon
Elijah Craig 21-Year-Old Single Barrel is back after more than ten years away. Bottled at 94 proof and priced at $299.99, it debuted June 14 at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown — a genuine occasion for Heaven Hill fans who’ve been waiting on this one.
Four Roses Anthology Chapter One (Origin) keeps the ultra-aged train rolling with a 21-year-old expression, the opening chapter in what looks to be a multi-release series spotlighting the brand’s deepest barrels.
Rye
Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye returns for 2026 at 92.8 proof and $210 a bottle, showing off the brand’s signature sticky toffee pudding, toasted vanilla, and cracked black pepper profile after a decade in charred oak.
New Riff’s High Note 10-Year-Old Rye (118.8 proof, 95% rye mash bill) went out exclusively through the distillery’s Whiskey Club on June 4 — distillery pickup only, two bottles per customer, gone almost as fast as it was announced.
Scotch
Ardbeg Dolce, this year’s Ardbeg Day limited release, scored a 94 and blends classic bourbon-cask spirit with whisky finished in casks that previously held marsala dolce, a sweet Sicilian fortified wine — an unusual but well-reviewed pairing for the peat-forward distillery.
Lagavulin is reportedly readying its first new permanent expression in nine years. Details are still thin, but for a distillery that rarely touches its core lineup, this is a big deal for Islay watchers.
Irish & Japanese
Nikka’s Taketsuru Pure Malt Essentials launches June 16, kicking off an annual series that will run through 2030 — 10,000 bottles for the Japanese market and 10,000 for export, a structured way to keep the iconic Taketsuru name in circulation.
Boann Legacy, a new core Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, debuted June 15 built around a seven-cask marriage of bourbon, multiple sherry styles, and French oak — with a 777-bottle cask-strength version at 59.2% ABV for those who want the unfiltered version.
Craft & Limited Editions
Peerless Bourbon (108.9 proof) hit the distillery shelf June 22, continuing the Louisville distillery’s run of small-batch, high-proof releases that rarely make it past the parking lot before selling out.
Stoll & Wolfe’s Wolfe & Wilson Straight Rye, a collaboration built on a colonial-era recipe, ties nicely into America’s 250th-anniversary whiskey storytelling moment — equal parts history lesson and pour.
Texas Distillery Spotlight
Still Austin Whiskey Co. (Austin, TX) is having a genuinely interesting month. On June 6, the distillery released its Bottled in Bond Red Corn Bourbon straight from the distillery — 100 proof, aged 7 years, with a mash bill of 36% Jimmy Red Corn, 34% white corn, 25% rye, and 5% barley. Jimmy Red is a nearly-extinct heirloom Southern corn variety prized for its earthy, almost mineral sweetness, and Still Austin has become one of the few craft producers using it at any real scale. Pairing that grain with the strict aging and proofing rules of Bottled in Bond status makes this one of the more thoughtful regional releases of the summer — a distinctly Texas take on a very traditional bourbon category.
What We’re Pouring This Week
If you can still find a bottle, the Michter’s 10 Year Rye is the move — it’s the kind of rye that rewards a slow neat pour on a warm evening, with enough pepper and dried fruit to stand up against the heat outside. For something with a story, track down Still Austin’s Bottled in Bond Red Corn if you’re anywhere near Austin; it’s distillery-direct for now, but it’s worth the drive. And if Ardbeg Dolce shows up at your local shop, don’t sleep on it — marsala-cask finishing on an Islay peat bomb sounds like a gimmick until you taste how well it actually works.
On the Horizon
Keep an eye out for Lagavulin’s new permanent expression — official details should start trickling out over the coming weeks, and a permanent lineup change from that distillery doesn’t happen often. Wild Turkey’s Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Edition and the long-rumored return of Russell’s Reserve 13-Year are also expected to surface before summer’s out.
As Marcus Aurelius reminds us, “Confine yourself to the present.” A good whiskey doesn’t reward rushing — the long wait for a 21-year-old single barrel or a permanent Islay release is part of what makes the eventual pour worth savoring.