Whiskey Roundup — Week of May 31–June 6, 2026
May 31, 2026
Whiskey Roundup — Week of May 31–June 6, 2026
Your weekly dispatch from the Backyard Whiskey Club.
The whiskey world is heating up right alongside the Texas summer, and this week delivered on nearly every front. From a Garrison Brothers sherry cask debut that’s been years in the making to WhistlePig’s audacious campaign to crown rye as America’s official spirit, it’s a week that reminds you why the hunt is half the fun. Meanwhile, a beautiful 10-year Irish single pot still and a milestone Scotch festival release give the global side of our shelves plenty to talk about.
This Week’s Headlines
- Garrison Brothers reveals Ranch Reserve, a new sherry-finished series dropping June 27 — PX and Oloroso expressions, $149.99 each, only 6,000 bottles per label
- WhistlePig petitions Congress to declare rye America’s official spirit, backed by two limited-edition 250th Anniversary releases now available
- Michter’s 10 Year Rye rolls out to retailers in June — 92.8 proof, $210 SRP, and arguably the most anticipated annual rye release in the country
- The Shed Distillery marks a historic milestone with its Drumshanbo 10-Year Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, the first Connacht whiskey of its kind in over a century
- Texas Whiskey Festival names its must-have bottles of 2026, with Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon sweeping the top prize
New & Notable Releases
Bourbon
Preservation Distillery 2026 Immaculata dropped on May 16 with tasting events throughout the day at the distillery. This is one of the more ambitious blends Preservation has attempted: an 8-year Wheated Pot Distilled Bourbon barrel married to a 10-year High Rye Kentucky Bourbon barrel, with a 19-year Kentucky Bourbon lending depth and structure. When a distillery names something Immaculata, they’re making a statement — the age spread here is extraordinary, and small-batch enthusiasts should track this one down before it disappears.
Barrell Bourbon New Year 2026 continues the craft blender’s annual tradition of releasing a limited commemorative expression. Barrell’s team has built a reputation for uncompromising sourcing and meticulous blending, and their New Year releases consistently punch above their price point.
Rye
Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye arrives in June at 92.8 proof and $210 SRP. Master Distiller Dan McKee’s Kentucky-style approach leans heavier on corn and malted barley than most rye mashbills, producing a whiskey that Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson describes as delivering “baking spice, citrus, and floral characteristics” alongside oak sweetness. This annual release sells through fast — if you see it, you already know.
WhistlePig Rye, White & Blue PiggyBank is the Vermont distillery’s patriotic take on their flagship 10-Year Straight Rye, bottled at 110 proof in a collectible decanter for the nation’s 250th. WhistlePig is also running a petition to collect 1,776 signatures by July 4th, pushing Congress to recognize rye as America’s official whiskey. CEO Alex Roberts put it plainly: “Rye isn’t just part of American whiskey history — it is American whiskey history.” Hard to argue.
Scotch
Glen Scotia Campbeltown Malts Festival 2026 bottling is the release we look forward to every spring. This year’s expression is a 7-year-old medium-peated single malt matured in first-fill bourbon barrels, then finished for six months in ruby port casks. Non-chill filtered and bottled at cask strength (53.9% ABV), it’s priced at £59 — a bargain for a festival-exclusive expression from one of Campbeltown’s most characterful distilleries.
Glenmorangie The Thirty is now the oldest expression in the Highland distillery’s core range, a meaningful addition for age-statement collectors who want something from Tain that can age gracefully on a shelf and in the glass.
Irish & Japanese
The Shed Distillery’s Drumshanbo 10-Year Single Pot Still hit shelves May 6, marking a major milestone: this is the first single pot still whiskey distilled in Connacht (the west of Ireland) in over 101 years. The Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin put Connacht back on the craft spirits map; now the whiskey itself is arriving at full maturity. Single pot still is Ireland’s most distinctive native style — rich, oily texture, spice-forward, utterly unlike anything from Scotland or Kentucky. Worth seeking out.
World Whisky Day on May 16 drove strong interest in Japanese expressions globally, with Bonhams Hong Kong moving a significant collection of legendary Japanese whisky at the end of May.
Craft & Limited Editions
A. Smith Bowman Abraham Bowman Special Release #26 Rye drew lottery entries through May 11. Distilled in 2015 and aged 11 years, this is a genuinely long-aged American rye at a time when most craft rye tops out around 4–6 years. Lottery winners can claim bottles through May 31 — if you entered, check your inbox.
Rittenhouse United States 250th Anniversary Commemorative Edition from Heaven Hill is a 10-year Bottled-in-Bond Rye with commemorative Liberty Bell packaging, honoring Rittenhouse’s Pennsylvania roots. Allocated across select US markets and available at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience.
Texas Distillery Spotlight
Garrison Brothers Launches Ranch Reserve — Two Sherry-Finished Bourbons, June 27
Hye, Texas-based Garrison Brothers has been building toward this moment. The Ranch Reserve Series is the distillery’s first foray into serious sherry finishing, and Master Distiller Donnis Todd didn’t do it halfway. Both expressions start with Garrison’s Texas Straight Small Batch Bourbon as the base — 4 years in new American white oak — then spend another 4 years in ex-sherry casks from Jerez, Spain. That’s an 8-year total age statement, and a full half of that time in sherry wood.
PX Sherry Cask Finished (109 proof / $149.99) goes darker and richer: toffee, caramel, figs, candied fruit. Todd calls it “dark and decadent.” Oloroso Sherry Cask Finished (110 proof / $149.99) takes a savory, structured turn — walnut, baking spice, and the signature dried-fruit backbone that Oloroso gives so naturally to bourbon.
Both expressions release June 27 at 8 a.m. — 6,000 bottles each, new bottle design with leather band and walnut-colored wax. At that bottle count and that price, these will move. If you’re planning a trip to the Hill Country this summer, Garrison Brothers in Hye is already a must-stop.
On the awards front, the Texas Whiskey Festival crowned Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon (146.4 proof, 6+ years) as both Best Bourbon and the overall must-try whiskey of 2026. Other standouts: Koopers Family Barrel Reserve Rye for top rye, and Andalusia Whiskey Co. Cigar Malt for best malt — a very limited American single malt designed to pair with premium cigars.
What We’re Pouring This Week
The Garrison Brothers Ranch Reserve announcement has us counting down to June 27. The PX expression in particular looks dialed for a summer evening — something that rich and fruit-forward is going to pair wonderfully with the post-dinner hours. In the meantime, the Glen Scotia festival bottling is exactly the kind of mid-week discovery that makes hunting worth it: under £60 for a cask-strength, non-chill-filtered Campbeltown from a port-cask finish. If your bottle shop carries it, don’t sleep. And if you haven’t put the Drumshanbo 10-Year Single Pot Still on your radar yet, consider this your nudge.
On the Horizon
Michter’s 10 Year Rye reaches shelves in June — plan accordingly. Garrison Brothers Ranch Reserve drops June 27 in Hye; distillery allocation will likely go fast. The 250th anniversary of American independence is shaping up to be a banner season for patriotic limited editions, particularly in rye, so expect more commemorative releases through July 4th weekend.
“It is not that I am brave, but that I value other things more.” — Marcus Aurelius. There’s patience in that, and a kind of clarity: every bottle worth waiting for teaches you something about what you actually want. Pour deliberately.