The International Spirits Challenge is one of the world’s longest-running blind-tasted spirits competitions, held annually in London and judged by distillers, master blenders, and buyers who score entries without knowing the brand or price.
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READ THE STORYMedals run from Bronze through Silver and Gold to Double Gold, the latter awarded only when a spirit receives a unanimous Gold score from every judge on the panel.
The single barrel bourbon categories at the 2026 competition produced five Gold medalists and no Double Gold, which makes for a close field. Every one of them comes from one of two producers, Heaven Hill or Suntory Global Spirits, the parent company of Jim Beam. The lineup runs from a brand-new high-rye release that sells for around $50 all the way up to an eighteen-year-old flagship, so there is plenty of range to cover.
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So, let’s take a closer look at each medal winner. Is your favorite on the list?
Old Grand-Dad 114 Single Barrel
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Dried fruit, caramel, seasoned oak, vanilla, brown sugar, subtle fruit and baking spice
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Find Your Next Bottle: $49.99
This is the newest bottle on the list. Old Grand-Dad 114 has long been the high-proof workhorse of Beam’s high-rye range, but the version that medaled here is a single barrel release carrying a seven-year age statement.
Beam rolled it out fairly quietly before formally confirming the details in May 2026. The brand itself dates back to 1882, when Raymond B. Hayden created it in honor of his grandfather, Basil Hayden Sr., and it has been produced by Beam since 1987 at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky.
The mashbill is Beam’s high-rye recipe, believed to be 63% corn, 27% rye, and 10% malted barley, the same DNA used for Basil Hayden. It is aged in new charred American oak, bottled at a fixed 114 proof, and non-chill filtered.
Baker’s 13 Year Old
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Fruit, vanilla, caramel, oak, toasted nuts
Find Your Next Bottle: $350
Baker’s takes its name from Baker Beam, a sixth-generation distiller and grand-nephew of Jim Beam. The brand was one of the four original members of Beam’s Small Batch Collection when it launched in 1992, alongside Booker’s, Knob Creek, and Basil Hayden’s.
The 13-Year-Old is a single barrel expression, with each bottle drawn from one cask and labeled accordingly. It uses Beam’s standard bourbon mashbill, reported as roughly 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley, matured in new charred American oak for thirteen years and bottled at 107 proof.
The release first appeared as a one-off in 2019, then returned in August 2023 as an annual limited edition, with the most recent batch arriving in August 2025. Pricing has shifted upward each year, moving from a suggested $129.99 at the 2023 relaunch to around $149 in 2025, with secondary prices running higher still.
Larceny Barrel Proof C925
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Toasted bread, maple, cinnamon, molasses, fig, hazelnut
Find Your Next Bottle: $49 / £44
The “C925” on the label is Heaven Hill’s batch code for the third and final Larceny Barrel Proof release of 2025, bottled in September. The series runs three times a year, with batches labeled A, B, and C arriving in January, May, and September.
Larceny is Heaven Hill’s wheated bourbon, and it shares its mashbill with the more allocated Old Fitzgerald: 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. Using wheat as the flavoring grain instead of rye produces a softer, rounder profile than the distillery’s traditional recipe.
The Barrel Proof line launched in 2020 as the cask-strength version of that wheated recipe. Each batch is drawn from barrels aged between six and eight years and bottled uncut and non-chill filtered. Batch C925 came in at 119.6 proof, or 59.8% ABV, which sits toward the lower end of the line’s historical range.
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C925
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Caramel, toasted oak, apple, orange, vanilla, butterscotch, cinnamon
Find Your Next Bottle: $70 / £56
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof follows the same batch-coding convention as its Larceny sibling, so C925 again marks the third and final release of 2025, bottled in September. The series has run three times a year since the very first batch, A313, back in 2013.
Elijah Craig uses Heaven Hill’s traditional recipe of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley, aged in new charred American oak at char level #3. The whiskey is bottled uncut and non-chill filtered, with this batch arriving at 129 proof, or 64.5% ABV.
C925 is notable for one specific reason. At 9 years and 1 month, it is the youngest Elijah Craig Barrel Proof ever released, dipping below the double-digit age statements the line had maintained for more than a decade. A Gold medal at ISC suggests the blend holds up well regardless of the younger age.
Elijah Craig 18 Year
Medal: Gold
Tasting Notes: Aged oak, vanilla, mint, chocolate, nuts, honey, char, pepper
Find Your Next Bottle: $135 / £219
Elijah Craig 18 Year is a single barrel release, which means each bottle is drawn from one hand-selected cask rather than blended from many. It uses the same Heaven Hill mashbill as the rest of the line, 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley, but spends a full eighteen years in new charred American oak before bottling.
The Barrel Proof series is uncut and intense, while the 18 Year is proofed down to 90 proof, or 45% ABV, and built to be sipped neat. The long maturation does the work that high proof might otherwise do, and the result is one of the few continuously released single barrel bourbons at this age.
It is an annual allocated release and sits at the top of Heaven Hill’s age-stated lineup. Pricing has climbed in recent years, with current bottles retailing in the $130 to $190 range.
The 2026 ISC Single Barrel Verdict
The single barrel format means each of these bottles comes from its own cask or its own small batch, so a medal reflects the specific sample the judges tasted rather than a guarantee for every bottle on the shelf. That is worth keeping in mind, though it takes nothing away from the achievement.
If you want the standout value, the Old Grand-Dad 114 Single Barrel is hard to beat, a brand-new release with real history behind it and a price that belies its quality. If you would rather sit with something patient and complex, the Elijah Craig 18 Year is the one to seek out.
Either way, this is a strong showing for Kentucky’s single barrel bourbon at the 2026 International Spirits Challenge.
