Skip Dessert: 7 Excellent After-Dinner Bourbons (2025)

When it comes to after-dinner drink service, categories like amaro and Cognac tend to take up much of the conversation. And for good reason — amari are digestifs that help move things along after a large meal, and Cognac’s lush, slightly sweet profile makes for an ideal dessert drink. But what about bourbon? Made from a base of at least 51 percent corn, America’s native spirit has fantastic after-dinner dram potential, and yet, it’s not often seen on post-supper drink menus.

That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the best bourbons to serve post-meal, regardless of whether there’s also a sweet treat served. These whiskeys tend to fall on the decadent side of the bourbon spectrum, offering sweeter notes of vanilla, caramel, baking spices, poached fruit, and chocolate.

From budget-friendly bottles rich with notes of brown sugar to sip-worthy splurge buys with seductive crème brûlée qualities, here are the seven best after-dinner bourbons to try this holiday season.

Pinhook Kentucky Straight Bourbon (2024 Vintage)

Established in 2010 by three friends, Pinhook Bourbon is distilled in Frankfurt, Ky., at the famed Castle & Key Distillery. The brand releases a new bourbon and rye annually to demonstrate the very best of what that year had to offer, and the 2024 vintage bourbon is something special. It’s aged for just over three years and made with rye as the secondary grain, imbuing the spirit with a pleasant spiced backbone. Expect aromas of banana bread and butterscotch before a palate filled with burnt brown sugar, cacao, and dark berry flavors takes over.

Average Price: $43
Rating: 91

Stonestreet Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey ‘Founder’s Edition’

Kentucky-based Stonestreet Bourbon was established in 2024 as the first spirits venture from the Jackson Family Wines group. To craft the flagship Founder’s Edition bourbon, Stonestreet uses whiskey sourced from Bardstown Bourbon Company that’s distilled from a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 21 percent wheat, and 9 percent malted barley. Aged for a minimum of 5 years, the bourbon delivers strong berry compote, vanilla, and Graham cracker notes balanced by slightly drying, yet well-integrated oak tannins.

Average Price: $60
Rating: 92

Buzzard’s Roost Bottled in Bond Bourbon

To craft Buzzard’s Roost’s lineup of whiskeys, the brand sources whiskey (primarily from Indiana’s MGP), then finishes the spirit in its proprietary #1 char barrels. The char level, which only takes about 15 seconds to achieve, is typically the lowest used for bourbon maturation, and results in a slower, more delicate evolution of the distillate, according to Buzzard’s Roost. The result is a 100-proof bourbon rich with vanilla and caramel notes plus subtle poached peach and toasted oak influences.

Average Price: $68
Rating: 93

Rabbit Hole Dareringer

While the practice of sherry cask finishing is fairly common in Scotch production — quite notably in The Macallan — it’s still a rarity when it comes to bourbon, making this release from Rabbit Hole a must-try. Dareringer is the most premium offering in the brand’s permanent lineup and spends an undisclosed amount of time in American oak barrels before it’s finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The wheated bourbon is made even sweeter through this aging and finishing process, resulting in a spirit bursting with dried fruit, caramelized nuts, and vanilla.

Average Price: $87
Rating: 92

Lost Lantern Far-Flung Bourbon III

Vermont’s Lost Lantern Whiskey was founded in 2018 by industry veterans Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, who took inspiration from the Scotch world. As such, Lost Lantern is not actually a distiller but instead an independent bottler that focuses on crafting prestige blends. This bottling is a mix of bourbons from six distilleries across six states, with the notable omissions of Kentucky and Indiana (MGP). Aged for a minimum of four years, Lost Lantern Far-Flung Bourbon III is bottled at a punchy 124.8 proof, yet remains immensely sippable from start to finish. Among the traditional notes of oak and caramel, expect flavors like poached and baked stone fruit, coffee-dusted chocolate, and vanilla bean.

Average Price: $100
Rating: 93

Lux Row 12 Year Double Barrel Bourbon

Based in Bardstown, Ky., Lux Row Distillers (now under the MGP umbrella after the 2021 acquisition of parent company Luxco) sourced whiskey from an unknown number of Kentucky distilleries to craft this limited-release bourbon. As part of the brand’s Double Barrel collection, each bottle is a blend of whiskey from two separate barrels, both aged for approximately 12 years. While there will be some variation depending on which barrels the bourbon rested in, every bottle comes in at a precise 118.4 proof. The bottle we tried delivers classic aromas of dark chocolate, cherry, and tobacco before giving way to a palate that explodes with red fruit and rich chocolate, caramel, and vanilla notes.

Average Price: $190
Rating: 96

Michter’s 10 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon (2025)

Michter’s is a heralded name in whiskey for a reason — the Louisville, Ky.-based distillery regularly puts out some of the world’s most beloved bottlings. Of those, the age-stated lineup (which houses a 10-, 20-, and 25-year-old bourbon) is one of the most sought after, with Michter’s only releasing each expression when it sees fit. Despite being the youngest of the bunch, Michter’s 10 Year Old should not be overlooked. In line with most Michter’s 10 releases, it’s likely that the whiskey actually aged for a few years beyond the decade threshold before it was bottled at 47.2 percent ABV. On the nose, expect aromas of maraschino cherry, apricot jam, caramel, and praline before a fruit- and oak-forward palate with lingering notes of vanilla extract, chocolate cherry cordial, and bananas foster takes over.

Average Price: $195
Rating: 95

The article Skip Dessert: 7 Excellent After-Dinner Bourbons (2025) appeared first on VinePair.