We have covered a lot of whiskey competition results this year. Between the North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition, the Global Whisky Challenge, the International Whisky Competition, and the SIP Awards, hundreds of bourbons have picked up medals worth knowing about, and we have written up every one of those competitions in full.
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READ THE STORYWhat we have not done yet is put the very best of them side by side. The five bourbons below did not just win medals, they took the highest award available at their respective competitions, whether that meant a Platinum reserved for scores of 97 and above, four category titles in one afternoon, or a Best of Class chosen by consumer judges.
So, which bourbons from 2026’s whiskey competitions stood out the most? Here is what each of them won, what it took to win it, and what you will pay if you can find a bottle.
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Augusta Distillery Small Batch Bourbon, 6 Years
Best of Show, 1st Place, North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition
Augusta took Best of Show 1st Place, 97 points, and a Platinum Medal at the NABWC, which was judged double-blind in Broomfield, Colorado.
The distillery was founded in 2018 in a restored 1883 building in Augusta, Kentucky, and Master Distiller Alex Castle arrived by way of Wild Turkey and Old Dominick. On-site distilling only began in 2024, on two 35-foot Vendome column stills.
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The Small Batch bourbon launched in March 2026 as a year-round release in 30 states, bottled at barrel proof, non-chill filtered, and blended in batches of no more than eight barrels. It was released alongside a wheated bourbon.
Tasting notes include vanilla bean, candied cherry, brown sugar, toasted oak, clove, nutmeg, and corn sweetness.
The competition registered it as a six-year-old, while our coverage at launch noted the distillery’s stated average of around seven years. At an RRP of $69.99 (£52), it is the best value on this list by a comfortable margin.
Peg Leg Porker Black Label, 12 Year
Platinum Medal, Global Whisky Challenge 2026
Peg Leg Porker took the single Platinum Medal awarded at the 2026 Global Whisky Challenge, with the highest score of the entire competition (97 points), finishing above George T. Stagg. It also took a Gold Medal with 91 points at the NABWC.
Carey Bringle, a competitive barbecue pitmaster who lost his right leg to bone cancer as a teenager, was the first pitmaster to start his own bourbon brand. The whiskey is sourced, and is widely believed to have been distilled by George Dickel in Tullahoma.
Rather than using the Lincoln County Process before barreling, Bringle filters the mature whiskey through hickory charcoal burned down in his own barbecue pit. Drinkers can expect a velvety smooth mouthfeel with notes of espresso, dark chocolate, cherries, and orange peel.
It is bottled at 92.7 proof at an RRP of $154.99, in limited, batch-numbered annual releases.
A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength Batch #5
Best American Whiskey overall, Best Bourbon Whiskey, Best Bourbon Whiskey Cask Strength, and Best Bourbon Whiskey Small Batch, International Whisky Competition
This A. Smith Bowman took first place in four categories at the 2026 International Whisky Competition with 94.60 points: Best American Whiskey overall, Best Bourbon Whiskey, Best Bourbon Whiskey Cask Strength, and Best Bourbon Whiskey Small Batch. It also won Best Virginia Whiskey, placed third overall among all whiskies worldwide, and picked up a Gold at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards.
It is an incredibly impressive run, with accolades given based on the whiskey’s delicate balance of high proof points and drinkability. Bottled at 137.6 proof, close to hazmat territory, the bourbon is bright, citrusy, and floral with notes of plums, cherries, spice, smoke, and candied apples.
The Fredericksburg distillery has been owned by Sazerac since 2003 and works under an unusual arrangement with Buffalo Trace, where the spirit is first distilled in Kentucky and then redistilled in Virginia on two 2,000-gallon copper pot stills named George and Mary, under Master Distiller Brian Prewitt.
Virginia’s hot summers and mild winters evaporate water faster than alcohol, so the proof climbs over a minimum ten years of maturation, finishing at 137.6 proof. The MSRP is $99.99, though Batch #5 went out mostly through a localized online lottery in February 2026.
Elijah Craig Small Batch
Best of Class Small Batch Bourbon Up to 10 Years, 2026 SIP Awards
Elijah Craig won Best of Class in the Small Batch Bourbon Up to 10 Years category at the 2026 SIP Awards. The SIP Awards stands out from a lot of other spirit competitions, because it is judged by consumers rather than professionals. So, it follows that the bottles that win here will resonate with the every day drinker.
Bottles like this Elijah Craig are already well-known and well-loved amongst bourbon drinkers. It is distilled at Heaven Hill’s Bernheim Distillery in Louisville from a mash bill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley, barreled at 125 proof and aged in level 3 charred oak. Its flavor profile has classic bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla, and oak, with sweet fruits, wood spices, and a hint of smoke.
First released in 1986 as a 12-year-old, it lost its age statement in early 2016 when demand outstripped supply, and now holds a blend of barrels aged between eight and 12 years. Bottled at 94 proof with an RRP of $33.99, it usually sells for between $25 and $35.
Weller CYPB
Double Gold Medal, NABWC, and Gold Medal, Global Whisky Challenge
Weller CYPB took a Double Gold at the NABWC and a Gold Medal with 91 points at the Global Whisky Challenge. Buffalo Trace built it through a two-year online campaign in which more than 100,200 people voted on recipe, proof, warehouse placement, and maturation time.
The public settled on a wheated bourbon aged on the highest floors of the warehouse and bottled at 95 proof, sharing the same undisclosed wheated mash bill used across the Weller and Pappy Van Winkle range. It carries no age statement and is estimated at around eight years old.
The original 2018 launch price was $49.99, and it now rarely appears for less than $300 (£195) on the secondary market.
Weller CYPB might be hard to find, but there is no doubt that it reflects what the consumer wants from a wheated bourbon, if you can afford to shell out the cash. Think bright citrus, vanilla, oak, and a lively yet silky mouthfeel.
The Competition Metrics
Of course, it is important to understand some context about the competitions themselves, as not all of them use the same metrics or judging criteria.
The North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition and the Global Whisky Challenge (both run by Wine & Country Network Inc.) both use double-blind industry panels, and both hand out a Platinum tier reserved for entries scoring 97 or higher. A Double Gold at the NABWC requires a score of 95 or above along with a unanimous gold vote from every judge on the panel.
The International Whisky Competition scores on a 100-point technical scale and breaks its results into narrow categories. The SIP Awards leave industry critics out of it entirely and put the judging in the hands of double-blind consumer panels.
Despite the differences in judging, each competition strives to find the best of the best bourbons, and the five discussed above certainly blew judges, whoever they were, out of the water.
So Which Bourbon Actually Won?
It is difficult to say, but let’s look at this objectively.
Peg Leg Porker earned the hardest result of the year, taking the only Platinum and the top score in a global field that included George T. Stagg. Augusta produced the most useful combination of score and price, and did it four years before anyone expected a distillery that young to be competitive.
Bowman won on sheer breadth, with four category titles from a single competition. Elijah Craig took the only award decided by the people who actually buy bourbon, and it remains the only bottle here you can pick up without planning around a release date.
Weller CYPB scored beautifully and still deserves the medal, though a $300 street price makes the result difficult for most drinkers to find. A medal tells you a panel of judges liked the whiskey. The price and the allocation tell you whether the result is any use to you.
A year in which a distillery that started distilling in 2024 and a pitmaster-sourced Tennessee bourbon both hit 97 points, while a $30 staple took a consumer title, suggests the top shelf is less settled than it looked a few years ago.
Full results are in our roundups from the NABWC, the Global Whisky Challenge, the International Whisky Competition, and the SIP Awards.
