Pursuit Spirits, the Louisville-based whiskey brand founded by the creators of the Bourbon Pursuit podcast, has been selected as the featured producer for the 2026 Whiskey Row Series. The annual private selection, organized by Whiskey Row Bourbon Ambassador John Shumake, celebrates the return of spring and Louisville’s iconic racing season.
In a departure from the series’ traditional bourbon focus, the 2026 selection committee chose to highlight Pursuit’s rye whiskey program. The panel cited the brand’s growing reputation for elite rye blending as the reason for the shift.
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The final selection is a Pursuit United Double Oak Rye drawn from a single barrel with the ID 11CF-A-06-TB. It features a custom “Tobacco” toasted stave profile from Independent Stave Company.
This marks only the second time this particular stave profile has been used in the Pursuit United Double Oak Rye program and the first time it has been made available to the public. The whiskey is bottled at 108 proof.
The selection panel included Shumake, Josh Howes and Tommy Craggs of Watch Hill Proper, Stacy Pritchard of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Mariam Zaki of Justin’s House of Bourbon, Nic Deitrich and Tori Spalding of Doc Crow’s, and Pursuit Spirits’ own Ryan Cecil and Kenny Coleman.
Official tasting notes from the brand describe complex notes of black walnut, maple, and sweet cherry pipe tobacco, finishing with the warmth of toasted oak.
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“The Whiskey Row Series is about showcasing the best of what our city’s whiskey scene has to offer as the horses return to the track,” said John Shumake. “Pursuit Spirits is doing incredible things with their blending program right now. The committee was unanimous in the decision. The rye is exceptional and we knew it had to be the choice for 2026.”
The limited release yielded only 160 bottles. The Pursuit United Double Oak Rye: Whiskey Row Series 2026 is priced at $69.99 and will be available on April 22, 2026.
Bottles are being sold at Pursuit Spirits on Whiskey Row, Doc Crow’s, Justin’s House of Bourbon, and multiple Cox’s and Evergreen locations throughout Louisville.
Pursuit Spirits has built its reputation through a non-traditional model, sourcing and blending bourbon and rye barrels from multiple distilleries across the country rather than operating a single production facility. The brand’s Pursuit United line has earned multiple industry awards for its approach to harmonizing diverse mash bills and barrel types.
