September is Bourbon Heritage Month, and that makes it the perfect month to enjoy a glass of America’s native spirit. The monthlong celebration honoring one of America’s most lucrative liquid exports started in 2007, when the U.S. Senate decreed that each September would be devoted to honoring none other than bourbon. And what’s not to celebrate?
The bourbon industry is a powerful one that supports countless jobs in a variety of industries. Agriculturally speaking, bourbon supports farmers who grow the grains used in mash bills. Of course, there’s the actual bourbon industry itself, which provides jobs for distillers, coopers and more. And the spirit also serves as a major engine that runs the hospitality scene, considering the endless combination of whiskey cocktails made by bartenders.
For several years, the bourbon industry experienced an incredible boom, and was worth a whopping $9 billion. Yet this year, the bourbon world has faced plenty of headwinds from shifting consumer preferences to economic instability to threats of looming trade wars. The bourbon industry needs our support now more than ever, as the current climate is affecting distilleries both large and small.
So show your support for bourbon by picking up a bottle from some of the distilleries featured in our list, with some of the most iconic releases that dropped this year for Bourbon Heritage Month.
Celebrate Bourbon Heritage Month With These 2025 Releases
10. Wild Turkey 8 Year Old
Perhaps some of the best news the whiskey world received all year was Wild Turkey’s April announcement that it would be bringing its cult favorite bourbon, Wild Turkey 8 Year Old, to the United States as a permanent part of its portfolio. The beloved bourbon was originally only available to export markets, and fans of the stuff would have to travel to places like Japan to pick up a bottle.
But bourbon aficionados aren’t the only ones who love this whiskey to bits; the brand’s Master Distiller, Jimmy Russell, happens to be a major fan of the stuff. According to Wild Turkey, the standard 101 typically available in the U.S. is a blend of 6-to-8-year components. This release is made from a blend of a smaller batch of barrels, chosen by hand to make sure it hits the profile of charred oak, lemon zest and black cherries.
The suggested retail price of this bottle is $45, making it an excellent value — and the perfect way to celebrate Bourbon Heritage Month.
9. Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch
Four Roses Distillery dropped its highly coveted 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon in August, making it the 18th edition for the annual release. This particular release includes a blend of bourbons that spent between 13 and 19 years aging to perfection in the brand’s rickhouses. It clocks in at 54.5% ABV.
Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott was particularly intrigued by the brand’s V recipes, and the blend includes OBSV, OESV and OESV recipes that range from 13 to 19 years. The blend additionally features a 13-year-old OBSK recipe as well.
Elliott claims that the V recipes featured “delicate fruit” and “sweet barrel tones” that he found particularly intriguing. He chose to work with the 19-year-old OBSV component because of the added depth and complexity from its extended hang time.
Just 16,854 bottles exist of this limited release, and it features a suggested price of $249.
8. Heaven Hill Master Distillers Unity
Exciting things have been happening for the iconic Heaven Hill whiskey brand, and the company opened up its Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown in early September. Fred Minnick reported that same month that Heaven Hill dropped its Master Distillers Unity release to honor the new chapter for the brand.
This release is a blend of 34-year-old, 14-year-old, 8-year-old and 6-year-old bourbons. The oldest component was distilled at Heaven Hill’s historic Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in 1991, and a barrel was saved before the distillery burned down in a catastrophic fire. Just 4,000 bottles exist and each retails for $225.
The bourbon features a mashbill of 78% corn, 12% malted barley and 10% rye.
7. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon
The jewel of the Old Forester Brand, its Birthday Bourbon, was released in August. This year’s offering marked a huge deviation in terms of production process, and it was made with a sweet mash process.
Typically, Old Forester’s Birthday Bourbon is made via a sour mash process, which involves “setback,” or leftover mash being added for consistency. Though implementing a sweet mash can be more challenging for distillers, it yields a “silky” and of course “sweet” profile, according to Old Forester.
The expression features a 12-year age statement, and it clocks in at 92 proof.
6. Weller Millenium
Robb Report shared in July that Buffalo Trace dropped its release of Weller Millennium, which features a blend of wheated bourbons and wheat whiskeys that are bottled at 99 proof and date back to 2001, 2003 and 2006.
This marks the second release of Weller Millenium, which debuted last year. The brand considers it a bit of a step up and shares that the whiskey features aromas of peppermint, leather, balsa wood and cloves.
Weller Millenium #2 hosts a suggested retail price of $7,500.
5. Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon
Heaven Hill dropped its Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon on September 8, and according to Robb Report, the release is a standout within the brand’s series. This whiskey possesses a distinctive mashbill that features 35% wheat, 52% corn and 13% malted barley. It clocks in at 106.6 proof.
The brand’s grain-to-glass series focuses heavily on the relationships Heaven Hill has with its farmers, and true to form, this particular bourbon features a corn varietal Beck’s 6225 and its wheat component from family-owned Peterson Farms. The whiskey clocks in at 106.6 proof.
According to the brand, the bourbon offers up aromas of light vanilla, sweet oak and caramelized sugar. The palate is full of caramel and floral qualities that feature lavender and rose petals. The finish boasts coffee and toasted nut aromas. Heaven Hill’s Grain to Glass Wheater features a suggested retail price of $99.99.
4. Booker’s The Reserves 2025 Edition
Fred Minnick reported in September that the James B. Beam Distilling Co. and Freddie Noe dropped The Reserves 2025, a limited-release collection that honors 6th Generation Master Distiller Booker Noe. This marks the second release within the series after it initially dropped in 2024.
This particular batch featured barrels that spent time between Kentucky and Jalisco, Mexico. The barrels initially aged Booker’s 30th Anniversary Release before going South of the border to age El Tesoro’s 85th Anniversary Tequila. After, the agave-seasoned barrels finished a batch of Booker’s chosen by Freddie.
Clocking in at 123.3 proof and featuring an age statement of 8 years, 10 months and 11 days, this whiskey features a suggested price of $129.99. Consider it the perfect splurge for Bourbon Heritage Month!
3. Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2025
Maker’s Mark gave the people what they wanted in 2023, when it released its first extended-age blend of whiskeys. Each year, the brand pushes the aging envelope just a bit further, and this year features a blend of 11-, 13- and 14-year-old Maker’s Mark bourbons. Suntory Global announced the release of the whiskey with a suggested retail price of $175 in August.
This year’s blend features 74% of an 11-year-old component, 10% of a 13-year-old component and 16% of a 14-year-old component. Picture a combination of fruit and creamy fudge as far as the palate is concerned. The finish lingers, with a hit of orange zest at its conclusion.
Though the whiskey’s release made headlines in August, it became available in early September.
2. Michter’s 10-Year Bourbon
Michter’s announced that it was dropping its 10-Year Bourbon in March, according to Food and Wine. The hotly-anticipated release gets its 10-year moniker to honor the youngest — yes, youngest — whiskey featured in the blend.
Though the World’s Most Admired Whiskey Brand’s lips are sealed about how old the oldest age-stated whiskey is in this blend, the brand’s Master of Maturation, Andrea Wilson, shares that “it’s overaged.” Perhaps the secrecy regarding age statements for this release stems from the fact that numbers are simply numbers.
“We want Michter’s 10 to take you on a journey,” Wilson expressed in a statement. “We want there to be beautiful color and enticing aromas that draw you into your first sip, a complex harmony of flavors from fruit and spice through to confectionary notes, exquisite maturity without being too oak-forward, a creamy rich texture, and a nice long finish to leave you with an unforgettable experience.”
With an ABV of 47.2%, this whiskey is highly limited. It features an MSRP of $195, though we expect it will fetch significantly higher prices on the secondary market.
1. Jim Beam Limited Edition
For a sip of history this Bourbon Heritage Month, consider checking out Jim Beam’s limited edition Beam Pin Bottle. James B. Beam Distilling CO. dropped the brand’s Jim Beam LTO — the Beam Pin Bottle — in August, according to Fred Minnick. The whiskey does two things: it pays homage to Beam’s wacky decanters of the past and celebrates the brand’s 230th Anniversary.
Jim Beam was no stranger to releasing whiskey decanters shaped like Grecian vessels, genie bottles, and even Ford Thunderbirds. Yet Jim Beam’s favorite decanter was the bowling pin, and he would often gift business colleagues bowling pin decanters of his whiskey. This whiskey features a suggested price of $99.99.
The outlet reported that the juice inside was bottled at 8 years old and at a modest 86.8 proof.
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