8 Best Limited Edition Bourbons, Blind Tasted And Ranked

Jul 28, 2023

There's a bonanza of limited-edition bourbons available right now. Special barrel finishes, one-off single barrels, bottled in bond drops, small batch masterpieces, wheated bourbons, high-rye bourbons, high age statements … basically, you name it and there's a bottle of bourbon that represents it. To be completely honest, a lot of it is really good but not "great" or "transcendent." And if you’re talking about limited-edition bourbons, you kind of want it to be next level, since you’re likely searching for the bottle and paying a pretty penny when/if you do find it.

Let me help you on the journey. I’ve grabbed eight limited-edition bourbons from my shelf and put them to a blind taste test with the help of my wife as whiskey-tender.

To be clear, a "limited edition bourbon" is one that's not regularly released throughout the year as a main expression from any given label. These are the bottles that have seasonal, annual, and even one-off release statuses. They also are relatively small runs of whiskey. Instead of tens of thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of six-bottle cases going out, it's closer to 10,000 or 20,000 bottles total. In some situations, we’re also talking about single barrel picks — 100-300 bottles, period. And while some limited-edition bourbons might be from mainstream brands, that doesn't discount their rarity as limited-edition releases.

Our lineup today features the following limited-edition bourbons:

When it comes to ranking these limited-edition bourbons after the blind tasting, it's all about the taste. Which — admittedly — felt like a fool's errand since all of these whiskeys absolutely slap. Still, after two or three re-tastes of each pour, I was able to rank them. Let's dive in!

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There's a tannic old oakiness on the nose with hints of pecan waffles covered in maple syrup with vanilla butter.

Palate: The taste is pure silk with salted caramel, vanilla cream, black licorice, marzipan, and a hint of cinnamon-pecan ice cream with a dusting of powdery chocolate in malt.

Finish: The end has a moment of warmth thanks to that cinnamon before lunging toward old porch wicker, cinnamon bark, star anise, pear tobacco, and old leather with a hint of potting soil.

Initial Thoughts:

This is so lush and just excellent. This feels like a stellar bourbon that transcends.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Woody banana and marzipan pop on the nose with a deep and sharp clove, anise, and cinnamon vibe next to peanut butter clusters dusted with toasted coconut, burnt orange zest, and sea salt with this whisper of sultanas in the background.

Palate: The rye funkiness drives the rum tannins towards a soft sticky toffee pudding with rich toffee, mild vanilla oils, and a sense of spiced mincemeat pie.

Finish: The finish is lush and silken with a sense of fresh and warm vanilla pods over warm grog with a handful of dark and woody winter spices countered by luxurious and buttery salted caramel with a fleeting hint of smoldering marshmallow.

Initial Thoughts:

This is nice. It feels like a special barrel finished bourbon with a lot more depth. It was spicy and funky in all the right ways.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There's a peppery sense of cedar bark and burnt orange next to salted caramel and tart red berries with a moist and spicy sticky toffee pudding with some brandy butter dancing on the nose.

Palate: The palate blends vanilla tobacco with salted dark chocolate-covered marzipan while espresso cream leads to new porch wicker and black peppercorns.

Finish: The end has a pecan waffle vibe with chocolate chips, maple syrup, blackberry jam, and minced meat pies next to old tobacco and cedar with a sweet yet toasted marshmallow on the very end.

Initial Thoughts:

This truly transcended the ordinary — a well-aged bourbon with amazing depth that felt wholly classic through and through.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This has a dry apple cider vibe that leans into orange marmalade, dried apricot, and moist almond cake dipped in luxurious eggnog on the nose.

Palate: There's a woody huckleberry jam vibe on the front of the palate that leads to old-fashioned cinnamon apple fritter, pecan waffles, more orange marmalade, and nutty almond cookies dusted in powdered sugar and nutmeg.

Finish: There's a hint of dry sweetgrass and dried pear chips with a hint of sasparilla root, sea salt flakes, and this fleeting sense of cold slate on a rainy day balanced by rich yet dry chili spice and dark and burnt orange and espresso beans.

Initial Thoughts:

This is funky and deep … it just keeps going. Yet, it's 100% accessible. You just have to let go and trust the whiskey to take you on a long and delicious journey.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Toasted almonds and walnuts lead the way on the nose with a deep and rich vanilla cake lightly dusted with cacao, dry cherry, and cinnamon with a touch of old oak cellars and black-mold-encrusted old deck furniture.

Palate: The soft caramel and vanilla open the palate before a rush of woody and sharp spices — clove, anise, allspice, red chili pepper — arrive with a sense of old wood chips on a workshop floor leads to salted toffee dipped in roasted almonds and dark salted chocolate with a whisper of cherry cordial backing it all up.

Finish: That soft sweetness counters the hot spices for a while on the slow finish as the spices take on an orange/cherry/vanilla Christmas cake vibe with plenty of nuts and ABV heat.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a fantastic and very classic pour of bourbon with some real-deal heat to it. There's a big Kentucky hug on this one but it layers wonderfully with the overall profile.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Candied pecans cooked into crispy, vanilla-forward waffles dance on the nose with a touch of sour cherry tossed in sea salt, a deep winter spice bark medley, and old leather tobacco pouches.

Palate: The taste moseys through salted dark chocolate squares next to maple syrup-dipped graham crackers, dried wild sagebrush, and a rush of sharp spearmint with black cherry lush sweetness at the base.

Finish: That black cherry drives the finish toward salted caramel and dried red chili pepper spice next to a whisper of orchard bard, woody spice, and soft and chewy tobacco.

Initial Thoughts:

This is lush and delicious. It's so well-balanced and tasted like coming home again after a long trip. I really like this it.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There's a nice sense of funk and fruit on the nose — think standing by a barn in an apple orchard — that leads to salted caramel, cherry tobacco, and rich dark chocolate cut with red chili pepper flakes with a lush vanilla foundation of almond cakes and powdered sugar icing.

Palate: Rich winter spice cakes with a hint of rum raisin drive the taste toward dark cherry spiced tobacco with a rush of ABVs that cause a deep buzz before old cellar dirt floors and oak arrives with a dark sense of chocolate and espresso all kissed with salt.

Finish: Cherry Coke and gingerbread drive the finish with a lush and vibrant sense of red chili pepper spice, black pepper woodiness, and cinnamon bark softness before stewed apple and buttery pie crust lead back toward a vanilla almond cake vibe with a lingering warming sensation.

Initial Thoughts:

There's so much going on here and it's so classic "Kentucky bourbon." But it does have a massive heat to it that caused a sharp buzzing for a while, meaning that I had to sort of wait it out and re-find the palate a bit.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a mix of old whiskey barrels wrapped in worn saddle leather with a sweet and creamy sense of honeyed oatmeal, vanilla, and old cinnamon sticks dipped in hot apple cider.

Palate: The palate is fruity with a sense of mango chutney and rum raisin next to dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, salted toffee, and banana bread inside of a cedar box with a twinge of smoldering wild sage.

Finish: The end is lush and full of dark holiday cakes brimming with soft spices, roasted nuts, and dark dried fruits next to more of that creamy honey and silken vanilla.

Initial Thoughts:

That honeyed oatmeal and banana bread kind of gave this a crafty vibe that was lovingly countered by more classic deep bourbon notes. It all worked in the end with just the right amount of craft versus nostalgia.

ABV: 62.1%

Average Price: $69

The latest Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is here (number two of three for 2023). This edition is a batch of bourbons that are a minimum of 11.5 years old (down from the usual 12-year age statements). The batch is bottled completely as is without cutting with water or chill filtration.

Bottom Line:

This is a good classic bourbon that's really hot. It was a little too hot for me today and that's why it's ranked last. It could have been a tad better balanced.

I do believe that with a drop or two of water or a single ice cube, this will get super creamy and ultra delicious. So… try that.

ABV: 51%

Average Price: $299

This whiskey pays tribute to Jefferson's founder Trey Zoeller's grandmother — Marian McLain — who was an 8th-generation moonshiner and bootlegger back in the day (she's one of the earliest documented women in American whiskey to boot). The whiskey Zoeller made to honor McLain is a blend of five whiskeys. 40% of the blend is an 11-year-old Kentucky bourbon, 21% is a 14-year-old Tennessee bourbon, 17% is a rum-cask finished bourbon, 14% is a wheated double-barreled bourbon, and 8% is an eight-year-old Kentucky bourbon.

Bottom Line:

This had a mix of crafty and classic that lacked a little focus. I could have had a bit more of either and perhaps stood out more.

That all said, this is really tasty and really accessible bourbon with a great — almost fresh — vibe.

ABV: 57.31%

Average Price: $84

The latest Batch from Barrell Bourbon is a blend of bourbons from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. The barrels in the mix are between six and 15 years old. Those barrels are masterfully blended and bottled 100% as-is.

Bottom Line:

This was a whiskey that just kept going. There was no end and you didn't want there to be.

Overall, I’d say this is a great bourbon if you’re looking to truly expand your palate.

ABV: 53.5%

Average Price: $159

This is a much-sought-after blend from Kentucky darling Bardstown Bourbon Company. The blend in this case is a mix of seven-year-old Indiana rye with a mash bill of 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% malted barley blended with a 17-year-old Tennessee bourbon with a mash bill of 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley. Once those barrels are batched, the whiskey is re-barreled in Foursquare rum barrels for an additional 23-month rest.

Bottom Line:

The finish on this one really added some nice depth. Overall, I wanted to mix this into a cocktail more than sip it, which is why it's in the middle of the pack. Still, if you’re a big dark rum fan, then this is an essential buy.

ABV: 63.3%

Average Price: $97

This limited edition 2023 release from Beam is an hommage to Charlie Hutchens — the woodworker who makes Booker's boxes that the whiskey comes in and a long-time family friend to the Noe family who makes Beam whiskeys. The whiskey is a blend of mid to high-floor barrels from five warehouses. Those whiskeys were batched and bottled 100% as-is at cask strength after just north of seven years of aging.

Bottom Line:

This perfectly balanced the heat and profile of the whiskey blend. It's a deeply classic Kentucky bourbon.

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $95

This is the first release in the new series from Bob Dylan's Heaven's Door Tennessee whiskeys. The whiskey is a 10-year-old straight bourbon that was made in Tennessee but wasn't charcoal filtered before or after aging. The sourced barrels were blended and just proofed down before bottling without any other fussing.

Bottom Line:

This is just straight-up delicious whiskey. It's pure classic bourbon.

ABV: 57.59%

Average Price: $52

Perseus is the latest in the astronomical lineup from Stellum Bourbon. This whiskey starts off with a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. That hot juice then rests for at least four to six years before single barrels are picked for bottling. In this case, ReserveBar snagged this barrel for their Top Flight program as a special barrel pick.

Bottom Line:

This was the most accessible pour, by far. If you love classic yet truly deep cherry-bomb Kentucky bourbon, then this is a must-have pour.

ABV: 47.2%

Average Price: $185

The whiskey barrels sourced for these single-barrel expressions tend to be at least 10 years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel's quality, naturally). Either way, the whiskey goes through Michter's bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky's iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.

Bottom Line:

This balanced high age and quintessential Kentucky bourbon profiles perfectly. There's just so much going on and it all works to create a perfect 10-year Kentucky bourbon from top to bottom.

Look, buy any limited-edition bourbon on this list if the tasting notes call to you. They’re all pretty damn great in their own ways. Also, I’m not at all surprised that I picked the Michter's 10-Year Bourbon in a blind here. It's pretty much my favorite (relatively easy-to-find) bourbon pour.

That said, I was surprised to see a $50 Stellum barrel pick at number two. That's an amazing deal and you should 100% click on that price link and buy one (or three) right now before they sell out. It's a truly delicious bourbon that's not overpriced and that you won't see again too soon — making it a great limited-edition bourbon to buy right now. I guess that's a long-winded way to say that the Stellum barrel pick is the true winner today.