Angel's Envy is the the distllery that launched the finished bourbon phenomenon back in 2011, and now it's gone a different route with its first-ever release of a non-finished bourbon. And speaking of different routes, Isle of Arran-based Lagg DIstillery launched in 2019 as the peated sibling of the more famous Isle of Arran distillery, Lochranza; now its whiskies are finally reaching U.S. shores, with two expressions hitting the market. Elsewhere, Widow Jane has a new release that features its heirloom corn Baby Jane, while Laws has launched a new collection called the Headwaters Series, and Lost Lantern is back with the second edition of its Summer of Bourbon Series.
Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon
ABV: 50%
SRP: $55/375 ml
Availability: Distillery exclusive; 12,000 bottles
From the jump, Angel’s Envy has emphasized cask finishes, with its core bourbon finished in port casks for up to 6 months, and its rye finished in rum barrels for up to 18 months. Now, for the first time, the distillery is releasing a cask-strength bourbon that doesn’t undergo secondary maturation. The new whiskey was distilled in the spring of 2018 and bottled at a cask strength of 50% ABV, making it fit for bottled in bond designation. Master distiller Owen Martin blended 29 barrels for the release—27 were lower-proof, while two were high-proof.
If you want to get a taste of this whiskey you’ll have to head to Louisville, Kentucky, as this is a distillery exclusive. It’ll be available at Angel's Envy from June 14 onward.
Lagg Kilmory Scotch Single Malt
ABV: 46%
SRP: $75
Availability: Nationwide
Lagg Corriecravie Scotch Single Malt
ABV: 55%
SRP: $100
Availability: Limited
Kilmory and Corriecravie are the first single malts from Lagg Distillery, located on the south end of the Isle of Arran and dedicated to making peated whiskies. Lagg is the sister distillery of Lochranza Distillery on the north end of the island, which is known for its Arran single malt label. Those are the only distilleries on Arran and are owned by Isle of Arran Distillers.
While Lochranza opened in 1995, Lagg is a more recent arrival, having opened in 2019. Lochranza aims for a light, easy, non-peated spirit, but Lagg takes a different approach, aiming for high phenolic content and smoky flavors. While the new Lagg Kilmory is matured entirely in first-fill bourbon barrels and will be widely available, Corriecravie is more limited in nature (though still part of the core range). It’s matured in bourbon barrels and then finished in oloroso sherry hogsheads for 6 months. Both whiskeys are peated to 50 ppm and are aged a minimum of 3 years. Once they reach 10 years of age, age statements will be on the bottle.
Widow Jane Baby Jane Bourbon (2024)
Widow Jane Baby Jane Bourbon (2024) ABV: 45.5%
SRP: $50
Availability: Nationwide
Brooklyn, New York’s Widow Jane Distillery’s new bourbon is distilled using Baby Jane—the distillery’s proprietary heirloom corn variety. The liquid is a blend of 4–6 year old bourbons: Part of it was distilled in-house, but the rest was contract distilled at Castle & Key and Green River to Widow Jane’s specifications. All the components include Baby Jane corn in their mashbills.
The creation of Baby Jane corn was something of a happy accident for the distillery. In 2013, Widow Jane began growing various heirloom corn varieties in upstate New York with the intention of using them to inject new flavors into the distillery’s bourbons. Two of the varieties, Bloody Butcher Red and Wapsie Valley Yellow, grew side by side and, through cross-pollination, produced a hybrid strain. The team took some years to fully develop that hybrid, which they dubbed Baby Jane, but now they grow it in multiple states including New York, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. The corn has an orangey sunburst color, and is said to bring flavors of allspice and milk chocolate, along with a creamy mouthfeel.
This isn’t the distillery’s first iteration using the heirloom corn. Some time ago, Widow Jane released a more limited prototype version that featured notably younger liquid—coming in at just 1 year old—which was aged in smaller casks and had an asking price of $80 for a 375ml.
Laws Whiskey House Headwaters Four Grain Bourbon
Laws Whiskey House Headwaters Four Grain Bourbon ABV: 50%
SRP: $85
Availability: Limited; lawswhiskey.com
Laws Whiskey House Headwaters Series is a new collection that will highlight the rivers of Colorado. The first entry is a 3 year old bourbon, made using the distillery’s trademark four-grain mashbill: 60% corn, 20% heirloom wheat, 10% heirloom rye, and 10% heirloom malted barley. That same mashbill is used to make Laws’s flagship Four Grain Bourbon and its bonded counterparts.
Each expression in the Headwaters Series will honor a specific river, and this one is dedicated to the Colorado River. That waterway plays a key role in the Laws process, as the distillery uses the river’s headwaters from the Rocky Mountains to proof its whiskeys. The distillery has pledged to donate 10% of the sales from this whiskey to Shoshone Water Right Preservation, a group that seeks protection status for flows in the Colorado River.
Lost Lantern Summer of Bourbon Series
Lost Lantern Summer of Bourbon SeriesABV: 57.9%-73.1%
Price: $90-$130
Availability: lostlanternwhiskey.com and seelbachs.com, at select retailers in New York and California, and Lost Lantern’s tasting room in Vergennes, Vermont
Vermont-based independent bottler Lost Lantern is back with the second edition of its Summer of Bourbon series, featuring nine bottlings from craft distillers in 12 states around the country. The nine whiskeys include one proprietary blend, one single distillery whiskey (from Rich Grain Distilling), and seven single cask releases (from Corbin Cash in California, Boulder Spirits in Colorado, Woodinville Whiskey Co. in Washington, Union Horse Distilling Co. in Kansas, High Wire Distilling Co. in South Carolina, Leiper’s Fork Distillery in Tennessee, and Rock Town Distillery in Arkansas).
The whiskeys will be released in two tranches. On Thursday, June 20, the Lost Lantern Summer of Bourbon Far Flung Bourbon II and Mississippi Memory bottlings will go on sale. The single casks will go on sale July 11. Here are the whiskeys in the collection:
Far-Flung Bourbon II, 63.3%, $100
Lost Lantern’s Flagship bourbon, now in its second edition, blends bourbons from distilleries that have never been blended before. Components are Starlight Distillery of Indiana, Kings County Distillery of New York, Rich Grain Distilling Co. of Mississippi, Smooth Ambler of West Virginia, and Wollersheim Distillery of Wisconsin. 5 years old, 697 bottles.
Mississippi Memory Rich Grain Distilling Straight Bourbon, 70%, $90
Lost Lantern’s first release from a “ghost” distillery, Rich Grain Distilling, founded in Canton, Mississippi in 2016 and shuttered in 2020. Rich Grain’s mission was to make whiskey that expressed Mississippi’s hot and humid climate. A 5 year old marrying of 5 and 7 year old bourbons, 500 bottles.
Corbin Cash California Straight Bourbon Single Cask, 73.1%, $130
Based in the town of Atwater in California’s Central Valley, Corbin Cash is a farm distiller whose whiskeys aim to reflect the valley’s agricultural terroir. The family-owned farm, which grows sweet potatoes, has been owned by the Souza family for over a century. Current family member David Souza began distilling in 2007 and named the venture after his son, Corbin Cash Souza. Aged 7 years, 200 bottles.
Woodinville Washington Straight Bourbon Single Cask, 58.45%, $100
From the Pacific Northwest’s Woodinville Whiskey Co. which was founded in 2010 and makes whiskey using locally grown grains. Aged 6 years, 200 bottles.
Union Horse Kansas Straight Bourbon Single Cask, 58.95%, $90
From Union Horse Distilling Co., located just outside Kansas City on the Kansas side of the Missouri River. Union Horse aims to make whiskeys that express the climate and soil of Kansas and Missouri. Aged 5 years, 200 bottles.
High Wire South Carolina Straight Bourbon Single Cask, 58.7% $120
This highly acclaimed South Carolina distiller, a favorite of Julian Van Winkle of the Van Winkle family fame, is known for its whiskeys made from Jimmy Red corn, a rare heirloom variety. Aged 3 years, 200 bottles.
Leiper’s Fork Tennessee Whiskey Single Cask, 57.9%, $100
A small batch whiskey maker from Williamson County, just south of Nashville in central Tennessee. This is Tennessee whiskey, which Lost Lantern counts as a subset of the bourbon category. 5 year old, 123 bottles.
Rock Town Arkansas Straight Bourbon Single Cask, 58.8% $90
Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, Rock Town was founded in 2009 and sources its ingredients from farms across the state of Arkansas. 4 year old, 200 bottles.
Boulder Spirits Armagnac Finished Colorado Straight Bourbon Single Cask, 62.75%, $120
Boulder Spirits whiskeys are made by Alastair Brogan, a native Scot who moved to Colorado in 2012. He brought a Scottish whisky-making sensibility with him and seeks to meld those traditions with American whiskey-making and Boulder’s high-altitude climate. This one is made from Boulder’s signature high-malt mashbill and aged for 4.5 years in new oak and finished for 2.5 years in Armagnac casks. 7 year old, 300 bottles.
