The American Distilling Institute’s International Spirits Competition wrapped up its 2026 judging earlier this year, and the barrel finished whiskey category produced one of the most varied medal lists in recent memory.
Eight bottles took home Gold, Double Gold, or category trophies, and what stands out is how little they have in common with one another beyond the basic fact that each was moved into a second barrel before bottling.
The finishing techniques run the full range. There is sequential cask finishing across three different fortified wines and a brandy, double-barreling in fresh new oak, stave inserts seasoned with Italian red wine, a triple-toasted blend across three oak species, hybrid barrels that previously held extra añejo tequila, and finishes in Pedro Ximénez sherry, used bourbon, and apple cider barrels.
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So, today we are going to explore the wide range of finished whiskeys that took home medals at the ADI International Spirits Competition 2026. Have you tried any of these award winners? Let us know in the comments.
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Joseph Magnus Bourbon
Awards: America’s Best Barrel Finished Whiskey, Best of Category, Double Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: Orange citrus, dried dark fruits, vanilla
Every Kirkland Bourbon Ranked, From Worst to Best
READ THE STORYFind Your Next Bottle: $65
The Jos. A. Magnus & Co. name goes back to 1892, when Joseph A. Magnus founded a wholesale spirits business in Cincinnati best known for his Murray Hill Club brand. Prohibition shut the company down in 1918, and it stayed dormant until 2015, when Magnus’s great-grandson Jimmy Turner revived it in Washington, D.C. after finding a sealed family bottle.
In 2020 the company relocated production to Holland, Michigan, co-located with Coppercraft Distillery, and both operations now sit under the CraftCo umbrella owned by the DeVos family’s Windquest Group.
The bourbon itself is sourced from MGP of Indiana and finished sequentially in Oloroso sherry casks, then Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, then Cognac casks, with the program overseen by Master Blender Nancy Fraley. It is bottled at 100 proof as an ongoing small-batch release.
The triple cask maturation clearly worked wonders here, as Joseph Magnus Bourbon was named ‘America’s Best Barrel Finished Whiskey’ at the 2026 ADI ISC.
Polly’s Still House Double Barrel Bourbon
Awards: Shortlist for America’s Best Barrel Finished Whiskey, Double Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: N/A
Find Your Next Bottle: Visit Polly’s Still House
Polly’s Still House is a brand made by Black Shire Distillery in Hermann, Missouri, a Missouri River town settled by German immigrants in the 1830s. The distillery is built on the grounds of Hermann Farm, a 200-acre living-history museum, on what was a working 1840s still site once operated by the Rasche family.
The Double Barrel Bourbon is aged for five years in new Missouri white oak, then transferred into a second new Missouri oak barrel for years six and seven. Double barreling exposes the spirit to a second round of fresh charred oak, which producers use to build additional caramel, vanilla, and tannin without turning to a wine or spirit cask finish.
It is bottled at 100 proof in small batches, with most of the production poured at the Polly’s Still House tasting room in Hermann and distribution outside Missouri remaining limited.
Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Triple Toasted Bourbon Whiskey
Awards: Best New American Spirit 2026 Presented by Total Wine & More, Shortlist for America’s Best Barrel Finished Whiskey, Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: Applewood, caramelized crème brûlée, burnt honey, pie crust, toasted pecan, dark cherry, spice
Find Your Next Bottle: $55.99
Redwood Empire Whiskey was founded in the mid-2010s by Derek Benham, who also founded parent company Purple Brands in 2001.
Production recently moved to Mare Island in Vallejo, California, after Purple Brands acquired the former Savage & Cooke Distillery from David Phinney in early 2025. The brand has planted over 1.7 million trees through its partnership with Trees for the Future, at a rate of one tree per bottle sold.
The Triple Toasted expression takes the standard Pipe Dream four-grain bourbon, which is built from a mash bill of 72% corn, 18% rye, 5% wheat, and 5% barley and blended from barrels aged 4 to 14 years, and finishes it for up to a year across three toasted oak species: French oak, Hungarian oak, and Garryana oak, the Oregon white oak native to the Pacific Northwest.
According to the Redwood Empire website, each oak species imparts different flavors to the bourbon. French oak brings a creamy texture with sweet vanilla, Hungarian oak adds nuttiness and earthiness, and the Garryana oak from Oregon amps up the tannins and spice. Marrying these oak-finished bourbons together created a balanced profile in which no oak type overwhelmed, instead supporting the underlying style of Pipe Dream.
Pipe Dream Triple Toasted was the recipient of a sponsored award: Best New American Spirit 2026, presented by the iconic American retailer, Total Wine & More.
Pullman Distillery Single Malt Whisky – Bourbon Barrel Finish
Awards: Best of Category, Shortlist for America’s Best Barrel Finished Whiskey, Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: N/A
Find Your Next Bottle: N/A
Pullman Distillery operates out of a restored 19th-century railcar at 313 Main Street in Frisco, Colorado, inside the Frisco Emporium. At an elevation of 9,097 feet, it is one of the highest commercial distilleries in the United States, drawing its water from Loveland Pass.
The distillery opened in 2021 and produces a wide range of spirits, including wheated bourbon, rye, single malt, gin, vodka, rum, and an agave-based spirit. The single malt is made from 100% malted barley and finished in used bourbon barrels.
Honestly, information on this is scarce, and Pullman’s website leaves a lot to be desired. The distillery has not publicly disclosed the mash bill source, age, ABV, or finishing duration for this specific release, and a Port Wood Finish sibling shows up at retail partners, indicating Pullman is working across more than one finishing cask type for its single malt.
Let us know in the comments if you have been lucky enough to try this one, or if you have any further information about the whiskey.
Stranahan’s Sherry Cask
Awards: Shortlist for America’s Best Barrel Finished Whiskey, Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: Raisins, figs, dates, honey, Montmorency cherries, blackcurrant, grape syrup, nutty brine, buttery caramel, whipped creme, brown sugar, smoked cayenne
Find Your Next Bottle: $70
Stranahan’s was founded in 2004 by volunteer firefighter Jess Graber and Flying Dog Brewery founder George Stranahan, after Graber put out a fire at Stranahan’s barn in 1998 and the two got talking.
It became Colorado’s first legal post-Prohibition distillery, and is often credited with kickstarting the American single malt scene in Colorado and contributing significantly to the wider American Single Malt movement. The distillery was acquired by Proximo Spirits in 2010, with current Head Blender Justin Aden taking the reins in 2023.
The Sherry Cask is double-distilled from 100% malted barley, aged in new American white oak with a #3 char, and finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks sourced from Andalusia, Spain. The distillery recently announced that Sherry Cask was transitioning to carrying a 7-year age statement, after long being sold as a marriage of 5-7 year old whiskeys. The increased age statement suggests a great confidence in their cask reserves, and in the final flavor of this award-winning whiskey.
Angel’s Envy Cellar Collection Vol. 5 Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in French Oak Extra Añejo Tequila Barrels
Awards: Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: Floral, fruit-forward, vanilla, clove, baking spices, black pepper, herbal agave, earthy tobacco, brown sugar, orange blossom honey, tropical fruits
Find Your Next Bottle: $240
Angel’s Envy was co-founded in 2010 by Bourbon Hall of Famer Lincoln Henderson, a former Brown-Forman master distiller, and his son Wes Henderson, with cask finishing built into the brand from day one. Its flagship is a port-barrel-finished bourbon, so a Gold Medal in a finished whiskey category tracks with what the brand has always done.
Angel’s Envy was acquired by Bacardi in 2015, and Bacardi went on to acquire Patrón in 2018, which set up the cross-portfolio collaboration behind this release.
The Cellar Collection is the brand’s limited-release series dedicated to experimental cask finishes. Vol. 5 is a straight rye whiskey finished in French oak Patrón Extra Añejo tequila barrels for up to 12 months, then blended with an 11-year-old straight rye. It is bottled at 104.2 proof, with the work overseen by current Master Distiller Owen Martin, who was appointed in October 2022.
Three other Angel’s Envy expressions also took home medals at this year’s competition, showing that Martin is well adjusted to his role. Personally, I am a huge Angel’s Envy fan, and Martin’s genius in the creation of the Angel’s Envy Cask Strength 2023 is yet to be topped, at least for me.
Boss Molly Bourbon Finished with Amarone Staves
Awards: Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: Dark cherry, dried fig, cocoa, soft spice, wine-soaked oak, leather
Find Your Next Bottle: $59.99
Boss Molly was founded by three women, Victoria Horn, Kate Rosante, and Brandi Bowles, who cooked up the idea over a poker game. The brand name refers to the dominant female mule, which, according to the brand, “leads the pack, doesn’t spook easy.”
The Amarone Staves expression is a wheated bourbon aged four years in new American oak, then finished using staves previously seasoned with Amarone della Valpolicella, the dried-grape red wine from the Veneto region of Italy.
Stave finishing involves inserting individual pieces of seasoned wood into the barrel rather than transferring the whiskey to a different cask, which gives producers a different kind of control over the finishing process. It is bottled at 98 proof.
Boss Molly partners with the National Forest Foundation to plant one tree for every bottle sold.
Peach Street Distillers Cider Barrel Finished Single Malt Whiskey
Awards: America’s Best Barrel Finished Whiskey, Best of Category, Double Gold Medal
Tasting Notes: N/A
Find Your Next Bottle: N/A
Peach Street Distillers is based in Palisade, Colorado, on the state’s Western Slope, and was founded in 2005 by Rory Donovan along with Ska Brewing co-founders Bill Graham and Dave Thibodeau.
The cider barrels come from Fenceline Cider in Mancos, Colorado, in a full-circle arrangement: Fenceline ages its Bourbon Barrel winter seasonal cider in once-used Peach Street bourbon barrels, then returns those barrels to Peach Street, who use them to finish their American Peated Single Malt Whiskey.
Beyond that, the bottle is elusive. Peach Street has not published a product page for the release, and the distillery has not publicly disclosed the age, ABV, or finishing duration. The peat itself is worth pausing on, since peated malt is far more associated with Scotland than Colorado, and very few American single malts use it at all. For anyone wanting more detail, the Peach Street tasting room in Palisade is likely the best place to start.
The State of Finishing
The eight winners in the barrel finished category at this year’s ADI International Spirits Competition show the category in a healthy place. The techniques are varied, the base whiskeys are varied, and the producers range from heritage brands to operations most drinkers have never heard of. On the evidence of this year’s results, finished American whiskey has plenty left to say.
