The 13 Most Important American Whiskeys of the 21st Century So Far
At the turn of the 21st century, there were just a few dozen active whiskey distilleries in the U.S. (For reference, there were around 75 distilleries total in 2006.) Today, there are thousands. In bourbon-soaked Kentucky alone, whiskey production climbed 566 percent between 2000 and 2023; relative growth in many other states was even greater, in large part due to the proliferation of craft producers. Despite a recent downturn in sales and consumption, compared to the 1990s, today’s American whiskey market is a roaring behemoth.
It’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly triggered the “Bourbon Boom,” and the precise timeline is still a hotly debated subject among marketers and distillers alike. Whether it was nostalgic cocktails, free trade agreements, or a Pappy-sipping Anthony Bourdain that sparked the fire, it took millions of barrels of alcohol to fuel it. With that whiplash-inducing growth came innovation, spearheaded by ideas that made the jump from errant thoughts to fermentation vats, stills, barrels, and eventually bottles. And some of the biggest leaps forward came from returning to the past. While bourbon was and remains king among American whiskeys, this century witnessed revivals of several historic whiskey styles — and the development of a few new ones.
So yes, it’s likely we’ve reached peak whiskey, at least for now. That makes it all the more important to highlight, celebrate, and toast the most important bottles that got us there. It’s worth emphasizing that “most important” doesn’t always mean “best” — indeed, as with all early innovations, such equivalency isn’t always the case. Presented below in chronological order, we’ve gone in-depth on 13 American whiskeys that changed the game since 2000 — each in its own way, from the first bottle off the line until today.
St. George Single Malt Whiskey Lot 1 (2000)
The 21st century saw unprecedented growth in American whiskey via the Bourbon Boom. But the first entry on our list started as an unassuming, 3-year-old single malt out of Alameda, Calif. When St. George Spirits founder Jörg Rupf began making eau de vie in 1982, there were fewer than 20 active American distilleries. By the time master distiller Lance Winters joined in 1996, craft distilling was still in its infancy, led by passionate hobbyists more interested in experimentation than commercial success. St. George laid down its first barrels of single malt in 1997, and by 2000, Lot 1 of its single malt was ready for release. In those days, the market for the spirit — then often referred to as “American Scotch” — barely existed.
It would take nearly a quarter century for American Single Malt to gain federal recognition as a spirits category. Notably, St. George wasn’t the first in the category; Winters himself has noted Clear Creek Distillery and Saint James Spirits were bottling single malts even earlier. But St. George Single Malt was a harbinger of things to come, gaining traction and industry credibility with each subsequent annual release. Now up to Lot 25, St. George is among hundreds of craft producers — as well as industry giants — still fighting to carve out a future and identity for American Single Malt.
George T. Stagg (2002)
Introduced in 1999, the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection debuted with three 90-proof whiskeys: Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye, Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Bourbon, and William Larue Weller 19 Year Old Bourbon. These were elegant, extra-mature sipping whiskeys, showcasing delicate balance between age and flavor. When George T. Stagg launched in 2002, it didn’t join the lineup so much as burst its way in à la the Kool-Aid Man. The first edition clocked in at 15 years old and a whopping 137.6 proof, and subsequent bottlings have occasionally ticked up and over 140. Distilled from Buffalo Trace’s versatile and famously undisclosed mash bill #1, George T. Stagg quickly became a punchy fan favorite — a distinction it shows no signs of losing any time soon.
For today’s whiskey drinkers, it’s tough to imagine the days before barrel-proof expressions and “Hazmat”-obsessed bourbon hounds. That original William Larue Weller would eventually be replaced with a younger, punchier barrel-proof expression in 2005. Thomas H. Handy was added in 2006, giving the “BTAC” line a barrel-proof rye. But George T. Stagg continues to exude outsized influence, with impact matched only by its hefty proof. Its unshakeable popularity has since spawned Stagg (formerly Stagg Jr.), a younger, somewhat more common (and still barrel-proof) version of the same whiskey.
LeNell’s Red Hook Rye Barrel #1 (2006)
When Newsweek covered “The Craze for Pricey Sippin’ Whiskey” in 2006, it was impossible to know it was documenting history in the making. The article references LeNell Camacho Santa Ana — then LeNell Smothers — the proprietor of a boutique liquor shop in Red Hook, Brooklyn. More specifically, it gives a preview of her then-upcoming single-barrel rye, a now legendary spirit that can today command upwards of $45,000 at auction.
Frustrated with tight allocations for the new wave of premium American whiskey, LeNell turned to the Kulsveen family, which owns Bardstown’s Willett Distillery, to source her liquid. Between 2006 and 2008, she selected four barrels of cask-strength rye, ranging in age from 23 to 24 years old and yielding around 850 bottles total. The whiskey is believed to have originally been distilled at Bernheim in 1984 from a “barely legal” low-rye mash bill, then purchased and further aged at Willett. According to whiskey historian Michael Veach, who joined LeNell in picking the casks, the whiskey was actually the result of consolidating a number of other barrels, resulting in remarkably high yields for 20-plus-year rye. Bottles of Red Hook Rye Barrel 1 originally sold for under $100, and by Barrel 4, prices increased to around $350. The whiskey was a success among LeNell’s die-hard customers and soon gained a cult following.
That was only the beginning of the story. As American whiskey grew in popularity, bottles of “LeNell’s” became some of the first true unicorns for collectors. “While certain whiskeys are famous for their marketing, LeNell’s Red Hook Rye is famous because it is simply the best,” says whiskey collector and BAXUS founder Tzvi Wiesel, one of several experts to include it on VinePair’s Mount Rushmore of Rye. While the Kulsveens bottled similar casks of rye for private clients and the Willett Family Estate line, Red Hook Rye remains among the most famous whiskey releases this century. It stands among all-time greats — and helped catapult American whiskey to the upper echelons of premium global spirits.
High West Rendezvous Rye (2007)
Our next inclusion is another rye, though in this instance, it’s one you can still find on many a retail shelf. When David and Jane Perkins founded High West in 2006, rye was still an afterthought among both drinkers and producers, something major distilleries might produce one day per year. But the Perkins duo saw potential and began buying stocks of rye from Indiana’s MGP (then LDI) and Kentucky’s Barton Distillery. While the exact proportions were never disclosed, early Rendezvous Rye blends included whiskeys at a range of ages and mash bills: six-year-old barrels of MGP’s now famous 95/5 mash bill were blended with 16-year-old Barton whiskey made from a “Kentucky style” low-rye mash bill.
The combo proved a hit, with incredible depth and drinkability. Rendezvous helped push rye back into the American drinker’s lexicon, not just as a cocktail ingredient, but as whiskey worth sipping in its own right. Those original Barton stocks have long since been exhausted, and today’s Rendezvous Rye includes both MGP and the company’s own Utah-produced distillate. The blend may have changed, but the impact remains.
Maker’s Mark 46 (2010)
From the 1950s to 2010, Maker’s Mark had basically one product: its iconic wheated bourbon, dripping in red wax. That all changed with Maker’s 46, a project masterminded by Bill Samuels Jr., son of founders Bill and Margie Samuels.
After normal maturation, 10 custom staves of seared French oak were added to barrels of Maker’s Mark for nine weeks of extended aging. The resulting whiskey maintains key elements of the brand’s flavor profile, with oak influence dialed up a notch. (The “46” indicates the specific stave profile used, the result of dozens of aging experiments by Samuels and his team.) In many ways, Maker’s 46 was a rebirth for the brand, which opened the door for a custom single-barrel program, cask-strength releases, and the company’s first-ever age-stated whiskey. It almost undoubtedly pushed other brands to experiment with extending aging and wood finishes.
Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels (2011)
Let’s be clear: Angel’s Envy wasn’t the first bourbon finished in another type of cask. In 1999, Jim Beam Masterpiece showcased bourbon finished in Cognac casks. In 2007, Woodford Reserve had an early (and polarizing) Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay finish for its Master’s Collection Series. But perhaps no brand is as associated with finished bourbon as Angel’s Envy. Founded by father-son duo Lincoln and Wes Henderson, Angel’s Envy began by sourcing Kentucky bourbon and finishing it in port wine barrels. When their first release hit the market in 2011, it was an idea as novel as it was risky.
Today, cask finishing is a common technique at all levels of American whiskey production, from non-distilling producers to the very largest legacy brands. Angel’s Envy itself has since hit a number of milestones, including an acquisition by Bacardi in 2015 and opening its own distillery in 2016. But even as the company’s lineup has expanded, port-finished bourbon remains at its core. Among American producers, it’s rare to find a brand so synonymous with a specific technique and flavor profile.
E.H. Taylor Jr. Small Batch Bottled In Bond Bourbon (2011)
When the Bottled-In-Bond Act passed in 1897, it became the first consumer protection law in American history. Bottled-in-Bond set new standards for whiskey production, including regulated proof points, aging facilities, and traceable production methods. A driving force behind its passage was Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr., a pioneering figure in bourbon history known for his innovations in fermentation, copper distillation, and even bourbon tourism — among a litany of other things.
By the time Buffalo Trace resurrected the Taylor brand in 2011, bottled-in-bond whiskeys had largely fallen out of favor. Gradually, a handful of both craft producers (including a Brooklyn-based brand highlighted below) and major distillers began to churn out more bottled-in-bond products. Consumers, increasingly educated about whiskey production and history, responded with great enthusiasm.
Today we’re living in something of a bottled-in-bond renaissance. While it’s tough to give any single whiskey full credit, E.H. Taylor Small Batch was key in that repopularization. The modern Small Batch bottling is also a double nod to history, as Taylor himself ran the precursor distillery to what is now Buffalo Trace.
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon (2011)
The Elijah Craig brand first hit shelves in 1986, but in many ways, 2011 was its true coming out party. That year marked the brand’s first barrel-proof iteration, a 12-year-old straight bourbon whiskey initially only available at parent company Heaven Hill’s gift shop. The expression went nationwide in 2013, opening the doors for countless drinkers to catch the barrel-proof bug. It’s since become a thrice-annual bottling at a range of proof points (generally between 118 and 140). And while never a “cheap” buy, it was and remains a very accessible whiskey for its stats, with a current MSRP hovering around $75. Heaven Hill dropped the guaranteed 12 year age statement in 2023, but “ECBP” remains one of the most important barrel-proof bourbons on the market, often revered by fans and critics alike.
Michter’s US*1 Toasted Barrel Finish Bourbon (2014)
In today’s world of amburana, mizunara, French oak, Hungarian oak, chinkapin, and numerous other wood finishes, toasted barrels can almost seem pedestrian. That wasn’t the case more than a decade ago, when Louisville-based Michter’s released its first toasted-barrel-finish bourbon. The whiskey underwent a relatively short additional maturation in toasted, uncharred barrels, but a matter of weeks was all it took to elevate flavors both familiar and somehow entirely new.
Of course, the act of toasting barrels wasn’t exactly novel: It’s a key, pre-charring step at many cooperages, caramelizing sugars and encouraging more chemical changes that help wood make whiskey great. It was Michter’s choice to finish its bourbon in those toasted and uncharred barrels that imparted such unique flavor components. The company’s experiment paid off, and the brand now rotates annual toasted expressions among bourbon, rye, and sour mash whiskeys. The innovation quickly paved the way for numerous other brands; today, there are dozens of toasted barrel whiskeys at all price tiers of the American market. Impressively, Michter’s versions remain among the most sought after.
Kings County Empire Rye (2015)
The genesis of Empire Rye is a triumph of home-grown whiskey categorization. It began in 2015 as a collaboration between Black Button Distilling, Coppersea Distilling, Finger Lakes Distilling, Kings County Distillery, New York Distilling, and Tuthilltown Spirits. Operating under the New York State Farm Distillery Act of 2007, which requires distilleries to use at least 75 percent state-grown grain, the founding distilleries wanted to take things a few steps further and carve out their own new category. To qualify as Empire Rye, a New York-made whiskey must contain at least 75 percent in-state rye in its mash bill. Additionally, it can’t enter the barrel at more than 115 proof (compared to the national rye maximum of 125 proof).
Today, The Empire Rye Whiskey Association serves as the category’s self-governing arbiter. And Kings County’s Empire Rye — available at 90 proof and in barrel-strength form — is its most visible exemplar, a Brooklyn-distilled spirit with far-reaching distribution both in the U.S. and abroad. That visibility has been amplified by Kings County’s status as a tourist destination in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, alongside founder Colin Spoelman’s prolific output as a whiskey author and historian.
Little Book Chapter 1 ‘The Easy’ (2017)
While it’s an honored vocation across the pond, whiskey blending doesn’t always get the best rap stateside — at least not in modern times. Opinions have gradually shifted, and even domestically, there’s growing appreciation for the alchemy that can create a whiskey greater than the sum of its parts. That perception has been bolstered by several great releases, ranging from the Parker’s Heritage Collection (Heaven Hill) to Four Roses Small Batch and Small Batch Select. (The ability to adeptly marry different liquid streams, it turns out, is a valuable skill for just about any distillery at scale.)
Among major producers, though, none is as consistently innovative — and sometimes just plain out there — as Little Book. Masterminded by eighth-generation master distiller Freddie Noe, Little Book blends liquids from across recipes, ages, finishes, and even countries. The Chapter 1 bottling blended bourbon, corn whiskey, rye whiskey, and malt. Chapter 2 took things a step further, combining Kentucky rye, Canadian rye, and 40-year-old Canadian whisky. Noe hasn’t stopped exploring new territory since. Now approaching its 10th iteration, the annual release flexes Noe’s blending muscles alongside parent company Suntory’s deep and varied barrel stocks.
Russell’s Reserve 13 Year Old Bourbon (2021)
When Russell’s Reserve 13 Year Bourbon first hit the market in 2021, it carried an unassuming $70 MSRP. That price point lasted about as long as this sentence, and soon, bottles were commanding upwards of $300 at retail and on the secondary market. It’s easy to attribute those markups to a sort of a second, post-pandemic boom for American whiskey. (Signs suggest we’ve since peaked.) But focusing on macro trends misses the most important point: This was damn good whiskey, a release that stands among the best Wild Turkey bottlings of the modern age.
Russell’s 13 has since become one of the bourbon calendar’s most prized releases. For a distillery already beloved by bourbon nerds, that first 13 Year bottling helped cement the Russell’s brand — and Wild Turkey in general — in the premium whiskey mainstream. The now annual release has only been (temporarily) disrupted by 2024’s Russell’s 15, a similarly celebrated bourbon that took the Russell’s line to even greater age and flavor heights. It remains a high-octane, well-aged bourbon that was and is simply too good to ignore. Add in a three-generation distilling pedigree from a major Kentucky producer, and you’ve got a recipe for a runaway hit that can stand the test of time.
Jack Daniel’s 10 Year Old Tennessee Whiskey (2021)
Call it Tennessee whiskey, call it bourbon, call it what you will, Jack Daniel’s is one of the world’s biggest brands, with only Jim Beam challenging it among the most popular American producers worldwide. For more than half a century, that reputation was built on the “black label” No. 7 bottle, iconic as it is ubiquitous. Yet since the 2010s, Jack has been steadily diversifying, first via rye whiskey production, then through a well-reviewed Special Release line starting in 2018.
But 2021 was when Jack really began to strut its stuff, introducing its first age-stated whiskey in more than a century. That first Jack Daniel’s 10 Year — bottled at 97 proof — was an immediate success, elevating the brand’s hallmark flavors to heights never experienced by the average drinker. A 12 year expression came in 2023, followed by a (fantastic) batch-proof 14-year-old whiskey in 2025. The age-stated line will continue to accrue years, with 18- and 21-year versions planned. (Those age milestones match with a selection of the distillery’s historic pre-Prohibition offerings.)
As bourbon influencer, reviewer, and commentator Matt Kusek told me in 2023, for decades, Jack Daniel’s was like a sleeping lion. For many, Jack Daniel’s 10 Year Tennessee whiskey was a sign the beast had finally woken up.
The article The 13 Most Important American Whiskeys of the 21st Century So Far appeared first on VinePair.