American whiskey had a strong showing at the 2026 London Spirits Competition, claiming five Special Awards across five distinct categories.
The winners span a farm-distilled single malt from Colorado, a wheated Kentucky bourbon, and three expressions from a Tennessee distillery that has become one of the most decorated American whiskey brands in the world.
So, let’s take a look at these winning whiskeys: how they are made, who is behind the expressions, and why they are notable.
Root Shoot American Single Malt 4 Year Old Bottled-in-Bond
Special Awards: Spirit Of The Year United States of America, Whisky Of The Year, American Single Malt Whiskey Of The Year
Score: 97
Medal: Double Gold
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Tasting Notes: Rich pastry, baking spice, faint cocoa dust and minty, spicy botanicals. Bright finish balanced with deep tones of leather and forest floor.
Find Your Next Bottle: $54.99
The American Single Malt category only became an official TTB classification in January 2025, and Root Shoot fits neatly into the definition.
To qualify, a whiskey must be made from 100% malted barley, distilled at a single American distillery, and aged in oak casks of no more than 700 litres.
Root Shoot meets all three requirements and goes a step further by also satisfying the four conditions of the 1897 Bottled-in-Bond Act: single distillery, single distilling season, a minimum of four years maturation in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof.
The whiskey is distilled on a copper pot still in Colorado, using 100% malted barley grown and malted on Olander Farms, a fifth-generation family farm near Loveland.
After distillation, it matures for four years in new charred American oak where the dramatic temperature swings between Colorado seasons accelerate the interaction between spirit and wood.
Distribution is currently concentrated in Colorado, with wider availability through US online retailers.
Maker’s Mark Bourbon Cask Strength
Special Awards: Straight Bourbon Of The Year
Score: 96
Medal: Double Gold
Tasting Notes: Dark cherry, toasted oak, vanilla, salted caramel, dark chocolate, spices
Find Your Next Bottle: $54.99
In January 2026, Maker’s Mark relaunched its Cask Strength expression in a redesigned bottle and added an age statement for the first time in the expression’s history, with each batch now confirmed to fall between seven and eight years old. For a bottling that had been defined for over a decade by the absence of age claims, it is a significant shift.
The whisky is bottled straight from the cask at natural strength, so the ABV varies batch to batch within a range of roughly 53.5% to 57%, depending on the conditions of the rickhouse that particular barrel occupied.
Cask Strength is a permanent core release, widely available across the US, UK, EU and Australia.
Maker’s Mark is an extremely popular Kentucky bourbon brand, well-known for its use of soft red winter wheat as its flavoring grain instead of rye. The wheat gives the whisky a soft yet rounded mouthfeel with which the brand has become associated.
The distillery is located in Loretto, Kentucky.
Uncle Nearest Cognac Cask- Barrel 006
Special Awards: Tennessee Whiskey Of The Year
Score: 92
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Dark cherry, toasted oak, vanilla, salted caramel, dark chocolate, spices
Find Your Next Bottle: $54.99
Uncle Nearest was founded in 2017 by Fawn Weaver, who came across a New York Times article about Nathan “Nearest” Green, an enslaved distiller who taught a young Jack Daniel how to make whiskey and is widely recognised as the first documented Black American master distiller in US history.
The Master Blender is Victoria Eady Butler, Green’s great-great-granddaughter, who has won Master Blender of the Year four times across major international competitions.
The Cognac Cask is aged in new charred American oak before being transferred into XO cognac casks sourced from the Fins Bois and Borderies crus in France. The resulting whiskey is what the brand describes as “a bold, cask strength, small batch blend that beautifully bridges American whiskey tradition with French refinement.”
In 2023, Uncle Nearest acquired Domaine Saint Martin, a 100-acre estate in the Grande Champagne district of Cognac, giving the brand direct access to French cooperage.
Uncle Nearest Master Blend Edition
Special Awards: American Blended Whiskey Of The Year
Score: 92
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Caramelized sugar, dark fruit, and warm baking spice
Find Your Next Bottle: $164
The Master Blend Edition is Victoria Eady Butler’s signature expression. Throughout the year, Butler sets aside what she considers the finest barrels from every Uncle Nearest release, then blends them into a single bottling.
The result draws on multiple grain recipes and age profiles from across the Uncle Nearest portfolio, assembled entirely at Butler’s discretion.
The expression launched in 2021. The most recent bottling was released at 55.5% ABV and marked the first time the Master Blend Edition had been made available nationwide, a significant step for an expression that had previously been offered exclusively at the distillery.
Uncle Nearest’s Master Blend Edition is a great way to sample the best of the brand in a single expression, and is one of the most popular limited releases from the distillery.
Uncle Nearest Single Barrel
Special Awards: Single Barrel American Whiskey Of The Year
Score: 94
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Marzipan, caramel, roasted corn, baking spices, cherries, nuttiness, honey, vanilla, leather, oak, orange zest, black pepper, baking chocolate
Find Your Next Bottle: $85
This is the second consecutive year that Uncle Nearest has won Single Barrel American Whiskey of the Year at the London Spirits Competition, which says a great deal about the consistency of Victoria Eady Butler’s selection process.
Every single barrel release is personally chosen by Butler, and each bottle carries its individual barrel number on the label.
The whiskey is a Tennessee Whiskey, mellowed through sugar-maple charcoal per the Lincoln County Process, and aged in new charred American oak. It carries no age statement and is bottled at full cask strength, non-chill-filtered, with the ABV varying barrel to barrel.
Retailers and bars can book private barrel selections through the brand’s Private Select programme.
Uncle Nearest Struggles Amid Legal Battle
Uncle Nearest winning three of the five categories is a result worth thinking about. The brand launched less than a decade ago to honour a man whose contribution to American whiskey history had been largely ignored for over a century.
Winning at this level, judged by trade professionals on quality, value, and packaging, is about as clear an endorsement as the industry can give.
However, the result is somewhat marred by Uncle Nearest’s ongoing legal troubles. The company was placed under receivership in August 2025 following a loan dispute and claims that Uncle Nearest defaulted on over $100 million worth of loans. Founders Fawn and Keith Weaver strongly deny any wrongdoing.
The legal saga has had multiple twists and turns, the most recent of which was a Tennessee judge’s dismissal of co-founder Fawn Weaver’s attempted Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Since the brand remains under receivership, the judge ruled that Weaver did not have the authority to make the filing.
The receiver has warned that Uncle Nearest is “insolvent” and may have to cease operations within 30 days. The case continues.
An Impressive Array
Between Root Shoot’s second consecutive year picking up American Single Malt honours, Uncle Nearest’s remarkable three-award sweep, and Maker’s Mark demonstrating that a 70-year-old production philosophy still holds up against all comers, the 2026 London Spirits Competition made a strong case for American whiskey across the board.
Whether you agree with the judges or think another bottle deserved the spotlight, let us know in the comments below.
The full results from the London Spirits Competition 2026 are available at londonspiritscompetition.com.
