Uproxx — Twenty New Bourbons From Under-The-Radar Brands, All Under $100

ABV: 61.5%

Average Price: $80

The Whiskey:

Lost Lantern just dropped their spring 2022 collection of single cask selections from some seriously big hitters in the craft whiskey world. For their first edition, the bottler chose a barrel from Smooth Ambler in West Virginia. This bottling is from one 53-gallon barrel of wheated bourbon from West Virginia that’s bottled as-is without filtering or cutting down with water. That means there are only 190-odd bottles of this around.

Tasting Notes:

You’re taken to a confectionary on the nose with dried cranberries and cherries rolling through rich, bitter, yet creamy dark chocolate that’s just been touched with dark and chili spices and bespeckled with crushed almonds. The palate builds on that with a Christmas cake spice mix next to more dried and candied fruits — think brandied cherries and candied orange peels — that leads toward a deep cacao note that’s nearly waxy. The end is all about the black cherry tobacco and old pine boxes that hold that tobacco.

Bottom Line:

This is where things get really interesting on this list. I’d argue all the bottles above are fine if you stumble across them. This is the first bottle you should seek out and buy two of — remember, there are only 190 of these and that’s it, forever.