Top Picks From Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection

By Richard Thomas

Every autumn, a group of hot limited edition whiskeys dominate the calendars of most bourbon enthusiasts in America. For several years, I have believed the sleeper of that group has been Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection. Started in 2006, before anyone claims the Bourbon Boom started, the series has showcased historical revival and modern innovation. Much like the Parker’s Heritage series from Heaven Hill, each year brings out something different, and sometimes the release might not even be bourbon.

Yet Parker’s Heritage garners more buzz from enthusiasts, perhaps sometimes the whiskeys in the series are ultra-aged (the telling part is even disappointment and grousing about a particular Parker’s Heritage always outweigh anything posted about that year’s Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection). This is fantastic for those in the know or willing to take a chance though, because it makes Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection more obtainable. As a sleeper, your chances of scoring a bottle at the recommended price is pretty good, while the series itself has been reliably good and produced a handful of gems over its 14 year history.

Below we explore those gems, both for collectors and as an example of what is possible. These are presented in chronological order, and the selections are based on a mix of reliable reviews, informal-but-expert opinion, and in some cases our own notes.

1838 Sweet Mash (2008): The fourth installment in the Masters’ Collection was a historical throwback, reverting to the pre-1838 practice of making whiskey with a sweet, as opposed to sour, mash. Without giving a history or chemistry lesson, the work of Dr. James Crow in the 1830s led to the widespread adoption of the sour mash method. Under this procedure, some sour remnants of the previous mash, called backset, are retained and added to the new mash, which prevents contamination of the new mash. In the early 19th Century, mashes without this sour remnant were common and sometimes lost to spoilage, so going sour mash was state of the art science back then. Moreover, Dr. Crow was doing his laboratory work at the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery, now known as Woodford Reserve.

So, this is the Woodford Reserve/Old Forester bourbon made as a sweet mash and with Woodford’s copper pot stills, which yielded dark fruit notes not found in the standard bourbon. It was so popular I sometimes meet people that speak of it when sweet mashing comes up, and Woodford made more for a distillery-only Sweet Mash Redux release in 2015.

100% Rye in New Casks (2011): This whiskey was part of a double release, something the series sees from time to time; it’s mate was 100% Rye in Aged Casks. They were sold together and gave folks a chance to see how the exact same whiskey played out with the only changed variable being the wood it was put into. However, this release from nine years ago is now a collectable, sometimes available only as part of the set (especially if it’s at a bar), and the New Cask version was by far the more popular.

Although Aged Cask had its fans, most folks drink American Whiskey because that is what they want, and the general impression was that Aged Cask was too Scotch-like. New Cask, on the other hand, was a punchy and vibrant rye that left some scratching their heads as to why Woodford Reserve didn’t adopt a 100% rye mash bill for its standard rye.

Four Wood (2012): This seventh installment was created by blending Woodford Reserve aged in new oak and finished in four different cask types: new oak again; maple wood (which appeared in a previous Master’s Collection bourbon); Port; and Sherry. For fans of wood-driven whiskey, and frankly that is far more people than actually realize it, this should have been a must-have bottle. The nose was an oak and maple blast, followed by a more tempered wood-driven experience, subdued by what the Sherry and Port casks brought into the mix.

Cask selection is important with these finishes using used casks. Master Distiller Chris Morris clearly got some good casks for this one, and put them to excellent use.

Brandy Cask Finish (2016): By 2016, cask finishes on bourbon were no longer a novelty, even brandy cask finishes. So, Morris decided to up the ante by taking this particular finish the extra mile. Instead of the normal several months in secondary maturation, he left the normal Woodford Reserve bourbon in brandy casks for two years. Brandy is one of those spirits that is aged in uncharred wood and that sees casks reused several times over, so the wood could potential saturate with brandy over its lifetime. It took the bourbon in a direction that gave it a dried fruits and earthy aspect, rounding out the character beautifully.

Batch Proof (2018-present): Answering the call of their fan base, who always want a high proof version of whatever it is they love, Woodford Reserve added an annual, limited edition Batch Proof version of the standard bourbon to the Master’s Collection. So, a new cask strength Woodford comes out every year. The 2020 batch was especially well-received, coming in at 123.6 proof.