Whiskey Roundup — Week of February 2–8, 2026
February 8, 2026
Your weekly dispatch from the Backyard Whiskey Club.
This Week’s Headlines
Lagavulin dropped its first new permanent expression in nearly a decade, Garrison Brothers announced a first-ever Bottled in Bond bourbon just in time for Texas Independence Day, and The Macallan went full 007 with a Diamonds Are Forever anniversary release. It was a busy week across all categories — with plenty hitting shelves right now and more on the near horizon.
New & Notable Releases
Bourbon
Harlem Hellfighters Bourbon — Old Hillside Bourbon Company is a limited-edition blended bourbon released for Black History Month, honoring the legendary 369th Infantry Regiment. Finished for exactly 191 days in French oak wine barrels — matching the regiment’s 191 days in combat — it’s bottled at 112 proof, non-chill filtered, and limited to just 150 cases. MSRP $110.
Buzzard’s Roost Four Grain Double Oak Bourbon launched this week from the woman-led Louisville operation. The four-grain mash bill (73% corn, 16% wheat, 6% rye, 5% malted barley) gets a second maturation in Buzzard’s Roost’s signature precision-toasted oak. Aged 5 years, bottled at 100 proof. MSRP $79.99, available online and at their Whiskey Row distillery now, with wider distribution later this month.
Ezra Brooks 80 (1-Liter Bottles) isn’t a new whiskey, but a new format worth noting for the value-minded. The 78/10/12 corn-rye-barley mash bill delivers caramel, vanilla, and chocolate at 80 proof, and the new 1L bottles are rolling out to on-premise accounts nationwide at just $14.99. Hard to argue with that.
Jack Daniel’s 14 Year Old Tennessee Whiskey — Batch 2 is expected to land in February. The first batch proved that extended aging in the Lynchburg rickhouses produces something genuinely special, and Batch 2 should be one of the month’s most sought-after pours.
Rye
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye A126 kicks off Heaven Hill’s 2026 barrel proof rye program. Early word describes it as bold but composed — a big pour that still has manners. MSRP expected around $65.
New Riff Balboa Rye (2026) returned in late January and is now hitting shelves. This bottled-in-bond, 100-proof heirloom grain rye uses a mash bill of 95% Balboa rye and 5% malted rye. Expect red fruit and clove on the nose with black and white pepper on the palate. Non-chill filtered. MSRP $59.99.
Lock Stock & Barrel 25-Year-Old Straight Rye is for the collector who’s serious about aged rye. Only 250 bottles exist of this 111-proof expression, distilled in 1999 from 100% Alberta-grown rye and aged in charred American oak. Baking spice, toffee pudding, caramel, chocolate, cinnamon, and dried cherry. MSRP $999.99 — you read that right.
Watch Hill Chef Series Batch 01 is a new annual release selected by Executive Chef Michael Crouch — a 12-year (technically 13) single-barrel straight rye at a hefty 130.4 proof. MSRP $249.
Scotch
Lagavulin 11 Year Old Sweet Peat is the week’s biggest Scotch story. Lagavulin’s first new permanent expression in nine years, aged entirely in first-fill American oak ex-bourbon casks. It balances classic Islay peat smoke with toffee apple, vanilla, and gentle spice — unmistakably Lagavulin, but with a sweeter counterpoint than the classic 16. Gold Medal winner at the 2025 San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition. MSRP $70 — genuinely accessible for what it is.
The Macallan Diamonds Are Forever 55th Anniversary Release was unveiled February 3rd, continuing the creative partnership between The Macallan and James Bond. This 18-year single malt was distilled in 2007 and crafted to mirror the film’s themes of intrigue and duality. Available at select U.S. retailers starting March 2026.
Tomatin 2011 Year of the Horse 2026 is a single-cask release (PX Cask 37607) at 46% ABV, marking the Chinese Year of the Horse. Available at £89.95.
Irish & Japanese
High N’ Wicked “Rose Tattoo” Single Malt Irish Whiskey continues to earn praise as one of the top Irish whiskeys of the year. The 10th expression in the Limited Singular Series, it’s matured in ex-Amarone casks at a robust 59.9% ABV. If you can find it, it’s worth the hunt.
McConnell’s Cognac Cask Finish rounds out the Irish brand’s 5-Year-Old Series with a rare French finish, while Bushmills 18-Year-Old Colheita Port Cask adds a new chapter to their World Wood Series.
On the Japanese side, Kanosuke Hioki Pot Still remains the craft bottle to watch in 2026. Founded in 2017 along Fukiagehama Beach in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kanosuke is part of a new wave of Japanese distillers earning serious recognition beyond the Suntory-Nikka duopoly.
Craft & Limited Editions
Barrell Bourbon New Year 2026 is the 10th annual limited edition from Barrell Craft Spirits — a cask-strength blend (110.3 proof) sourcing straight bourbons from seven states. MSRP $84.99.
Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Expressions are now a permanent, nationally available line across all three recipes (wheated, high rye, and rye whiskey). Bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered, at 6 years old. A major step for this increasingly respected distillery.
291 Colorado Whiskey 14th Anniversary is a barrel-proof celebration from founder Michael Myers, featuring a mash bill of 61% malted rye and 39% corn, finished in Aspen wood staves. Colorado craft whiskey at its most distinctive.
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Specialty Barrel Series launched the second edition of their GTG program, featuring 7-year distillate aged in American chinquapin oak barrels across three expressions: rye bourbon, wheated bourbon, and rye.
Archer Eland Rye Whiskey is a new women-owned Columbus, Ohio brand offering four varieties (Solstice, Aurora, Cashmere, and the limited Suede), contract-distilled at Middle West Spirits.
Texas Distillery Spotlight
Big news from Hye, Texas: Garrison Brothers is releasing its first-ever Bottled in Bond bourbon on Saturday, February 28 — timed to Texas Independence Day. This is the 10th expression in the Garrison lineup. Distilled in fall 2019 and aged six years, it’s made from Texas grains and proofed with pure Hill Country rainwater at 100 proof.
The tasting notes sound like a campfire in the best possible way: toasted oak and heavy wood sugars on the palate, drinking like a cross between maple syrup and homemade root beer, with layers of caramelized dark chocolate, plums, roasted almonds, and toffee. Two thousand bottles will be available first come, first served at the distillery, with wider distribution (retail, restaurants, bars, and e-commerce) by end of March. MSRP $99.99.
This is a milestone for Texas’ oldest legal whiskey distillery — and a signal that they’re playing for the long game. A Bottled in Bond designation requires distillation at a single distillery, by a single distiller, during a single distilling season, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof. It’s the original American quality standard, and Garrison Brothers meeting it with a six-year Texas bourbon is no small thing.
What We’re Pouring This Week
Lagavulin 11 Year Old Sweet Peat. At $70, this is arguably the best value-to-quality ratio of anything that hit shelves this week. It’s Lagavulin — you know what you’re getting in terms of pedigree — but the first-fill bourbon cask aging adds a sweetness that makes it genuinely approachable without losing the peat. This is the bottle you pour for someone who thinks they don’t like Islay. And then they do.
On the Horizon
Keep your eyes open over the next few weeks for Jack Daniel’s 10 Year Old Batch 5 and 12 Year Old Batch 4 expected later in February, Michter’s US*1 Barrel Strength Rye arriving at retail in March, Maker’s Mark Star Hill Farm 2026 (American Wheat Whiskey, 114.7 proof, $100 MSRP), and the Aberargie Distillery debut — Perthshire’s newest independent distillery launches its first single malt in March. And don’t forget the Garrison Brothers Bottled in Bond drop on February 28 at the distillery in Hye — details above in the Texas Spotlight.
Also worth noting: Fred Minnick’s new book Bottom Shelf: How a Forgotten Brand of Bourbon Saved One Man’s Life drops February 17th. A personal memoir about taste mindfulness and overcoming PTSD through bourbon — sounds like essential reading for anyone who believes whiskey is about more than what’s in the glass.
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” — Marcus Aurelius. The same might be said of the quality of your attention. This week, pick one glass and give it your full presence.