February is typically a slow season for new whiskey releases, but there are still a few noteworthy bottles to keep an eye on, hailing from Kentucky, Colorado, and Indiana.

There's an American single malt of advanced age, and a single-barrel bourbon that's even older—both pretty spendy. Also on the high end: Woodford Reserve's full-size bottles of Double Double Oaked, available for the first time nationwide. No need to trek to the distillery just to get your hands on it! But you will have to shell out.

Laws Whiskey House in Denver has a “super wheater” blended whiskey, while craft darling New Riff is launching its annual release of a unique rye. And Penelope, an MGP-sourced brand that MGP itself bought in 2023 for $105 million, has a super-aged light whiskey, priced to sell. 

Read on for full details, and happy drinking!

New Riff Balboa Rye ($55)

A periodic limited edition, this whiskey is distilled from an heirloom rye strain that was popular in the 1940s. As far as I know, it's the only use of Balboa rye in modern whiskey, with a mashbill of 95 percent Balboa/5 percent malted rye. Now that we all know the importance of rye to American whiskey, this should be a fun one to try alongside New Riff's standard rye, and any other unique varieties—like Rosen or Abruzzi—you can get your hands on.

Colonel Randolph 16-Year-Old ($349)

The original Colonel Randolph brand was created in 1990 as an export for Japan, which was the only place in the world excited about bourbon at that time. This single-barrel revival is a good deal more expensive but still has the same mashbill, proof, and age as the original. It was even selected by Gordon Hue, the retailer who created the first iteration from the same stocks that went into the legendary A.H. Hirsch 16-year-old. And according to the press release, Hue preferred this whiskey over the Hirsch in a blind tasting. Make of that what you will. But if you want to buy a bottle, you have to sign up for the VIP waitlist.

Stranahan's Founder's Release ($200)

In January, American single malt became “official” as guidelines from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau went into force. In honor of that, Stranahan's, which was one of the earliest American single malt distilleries, created a 12-year-old offering with the help of co-founder Jess Graber. (The other co-founder, George Stranahan—who was a close friend of Hunter S. Thompson and also started Flying Dog brewery—died in 2021, 11 years after Proximo Spirits bought the distillery.) It was mainly matured in new charred oak barrels, with a small portion finished in ex-bourbon and blonde ale casks. Twelve is still an advanced age for an American single malt, though Stranahan's has enough that it's widely releasing a 12-year-old version of Mountain Angel this year.

Knob Creek Eli Manning's 2025 Bold Pick ($60)

Not to be outdone by his brother Peyton, who co-owns Sweetens Cove whiskey, Eli Manning has partnered with the James B. Beam Distilling Co. on a single-barrel Knob Creek. It's 9 years old and 60% ABV and there's not much else to say about it, except that it'll only be for sale in New Orleans—host city for the Super Bowl—New York, since that's where Eli spent his 16-year career, with the Giants; and Los Angeles, just because. There's an associated sweepstakes to win a trip to the distillery with associated perks; if you're inclined, you can enter here.

Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked ($200)

Not a new whiskey, but it's worth highlighting because up to now, Double Double Oaked was a distillery-only release (with the caveat that in Kentucky, it still has to be made available to traditional retail, so in theory there were always a few bottles floating around outside the distillery). People would line up for hours for the chance to get their hands on a 375-ml. bottle. It was a frenzy! And now it's available nationwide, in 700-ml. bottles. This is definitely not a sign of oversupply in any way.

Penelope American Light Whiskey ($100)

Back when Americans favored vodka over bourbon, distillers tried to court them back to the brown spirits fold with something called light whiskey. It was made from a mostly corn mashbill but distilled to a much higher proof and aged in used barrels. As a trend, light whiskey flopped, but there was still enough taste for it—at least, for use as a blending component—that the distillery now known as MGP kept making it, including this bottling. It was distilled in 2006 and aged for 17 years in used barrels, and it's bottled at a just-shy-of-HAZMAT-strength 69.4% ABV. If you like age for your money, you'll have a hard time doing better. Just don't expect it to taste like bourbon.

Laws Super Wheater ($130)

A combination of Laws Whiskey House's four-grain bourbon and 100% wheat whiskies, aged 5 to 12 years—which makes this not exactly a wheater (nickname for a wheated bourbon), but certainly wheat-forward. Bottles are primarily available at the distillery's new “Whiskey Sanctuary” tasting room. At this price, I'd try a pour before committing to the whole thing.