New Whiskeys For Father’s Day 2018

By Richard Thomas

Knob Creek Cask Strength Rye
(Credit: Beam Suntory)

Since becoming a father myself, I’ve embraced the notion that good fathers deserve good whiskey, and Father’s Day 2018 is this coming Sunday. It’s not too late to get your Dad a special, recently released bottle he can enjoy for the next year, when I’ll have more advice for you on what to get for Father’s Day 2019.

Rye Whiskey
Knob Creek Cask Strength Rye: So new it might not be on store shelves in your area before Father’s Day, this is a strong contender for the best rye whiskey of 2018. This cask strength version of Knob Creek Rye is also a 9 year old, making it a counterpart for the much-loved Knob Creek Single Barrel (9 years old, 120 proof). The price point can’t be beat at $69.99 a bottle either.

Dad’s Hat Bottled in Bond: This Philadelphia area craft distillery is at the forefront of both the revival of Pennsylvania Rye and the growing maturation of craft whiskey as a whole, and they are proving it with a second batch of their Bottled in Bond Rye this year. Last year’s was $100 a bottle, but well worth it when you consider it’s like hasn’t been made since Keystone State rye whiskey disappeared in the 1980s. Besides, what could be more appropriate than giving Dad a bottle of Dad’s Hat on Father’s Day?

Old Overholt Bonded Rye
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Old Overholt Bonded: If the aforementioned whiskeys are outside your budget, Dad will understand and appreciate a bottle of Old Overholt Bonded instead. At $25 a bottle, it’s a real bargain.

Bourbon
Blade & Bow 22 Year Old: This fine (and quite underrated at the time) example of an aged bourbon was initially released back in 2015, when Blade & Bow was launched. Now it’s back, albeit with a +$100 price increase. The hike is pretty indicative of what has happened with ultra-aged bourbon in the past three years though, and if you can find it was $250 you should stop complaining and count yourself lucky: bottles from the 2015 release are fetching $500 a pop now.

Longbranch: Actor Matthew McConaughey’s association with Wild Turkey has borne more than just ads; now there is some boozy fruit on the tree as well. Charcoal-filtered bourbon has been making a comeback lately (see Cooper’s Craft), and Longbranch draws on McConaughey’s Texas roots by using a mix of oak and mesquite charcoal. Otherwise it’s eight year old Wild Turkey bourbon bottled at a relatively tame 86 proof. If Dad likes his bourbon with a bit more smoke and char, get it for him.

The 25 gallon barrel version of Ranger Creek’s .36 Bourbon
(Credit: John Rayls)

Ranger Creek .36 Single Barrel Bourbon: Speaking of Texas, try what has been coming from San Antonio brewstillery Ranger Creek lately. Their .36 (as in .36 revolver) single barrel release is in full 750 ml bottled these days, and is coming from medium-sized rather than small barrels now. It’s a nice example of a craft bourbon, and a new batch comes out every year.

Garrison Brothers Balmorhea: Another Texas-made bourbon, and one that is new this year, is the much-anticipated release of Garrison Brothers Balmorhea. This is the celebrated distillery’s crack at a double oak whiskey (i.e. a bourbon that gets a finish in a set of new oak barrels, rather than the customary used oak). If Dad likes Woodford Double Oaked or Michter’s Toasted Barrel, get a bottle of this for him.

Scotch
Glenmorangie Spios: Here is a twist for American Dads who like Scotch. This Glenmorangie single malt has been aged in MGP 95% rye barrels! Ex-bourbon barrels or hogsheads made from bourbon barrel staves dominate the cask stock for aging Scotch whisky, but old rye barrels were unknown until Bill Lumsden at Glenmorangie started laying away whisky in this way. The MGP 95% rye was a particularly good choice, in my opinion, because the only other major source of rye ASBs would have been Kentucky rye barrels. Since the rye content of that whiskey is in the lower to middle 50s, the results would not have been as distinctive as how Spios turned out. A bottle goes for $100.

* Our selections have an American slant to them, despite our international readership, because Father’s Day is on a different date for different countries.

** Correction: The price on this year’s Dad’s Hat Bottled in Bond is $75.