Lost Lantern, the Vermont-based independent bottler that has quietly become one of the more respected names in American whiskey, is stepping into a debate that has been brewing in tasting rooms and online forums for years: does proof actually change what you taste in a glass of whiskey, and if so, does that make high proof better than low proof — or is it more complicated than that?
The answer, according to the people at Lost Lantern, is that it depends. And their Spring 2026 Collection is designed to let drinkers figure that out for themselves.
The Collection That Started a Conversation
The release drops on March 25th and centers around something Lost Lantern has never done before — taking the exact same bourbon blend and bottling it two different ways. Far-Flung Bourbon, the distillery's flagship product, is making its fourth appearance as a cask strength release at 120.7 proof, and for the very first time, it is also being released at 100 proof in what the team is calling Far-Flung Bourbon 100.
Both versions come from the same blend. Same distilleries. Same mashbills. Same barrels. The only difference is how much water was added before bottling.
That side-by-side comparison is at the heart of everything Lost Lantern is doing with this spring release. The full collection includes ten total whiskies — the two Far-Flung expressions plus eight single casks — organized into five pairings that match a higher proof whiskey against a lower proof whiskey. Each pairing is meant to drive home the same point: proof is not just a number on a label. It shapes how a whiskey smells, how it feels in your mouth, and how the flavors come together.
"Proof isn't just about alcohol level," said co-founder and Head Blender Nora Ganley-Roper. "It changes how aromas open, how texture develops, and how flavors integrate. Releasing both versions side by side lets people experience that shift in structure and balance for themselves."
Co-founder Adam Polonski put it even more plainly: "There is no perfect proof for whiskey. It depends not just on the distillery and the whiskey, but also on when and why you're drinking it — whether you're enjoying whiskey on the rocks with friends, or slowly savoring a very high-proof dram to close out an evening. Proof is just one part of a whiskey's story, and this collection explores that."
What Is Actually in the Collection
The Spring 2026 Collection is available both as individual bottles and in bundles. Every whiskey is non-chill-filtered with no added color, and all single cask releases are bottled at natural cask strength.
Here is a breakdown of each pairing and what makes each one worth paying attention to.
The Far-Flung Bourbon Pairing
Image credit: Lost Lantern
This is the centerpiece of the whole collection. Far-Flung Bourbon has always been a blend that proves great bourbon is not limited to Kentucky. The current blend pulls from seven distilleries spread across seven different states: Baltimore Spirits Co. in Maryland, High Wire Distilling Co. in South Carolina, Rich Grain Distilling in Mississippi, SanTan Spirits in Arizona, Still Austin Whiskey Co. in Texas, Whiskey Acres Distilling Co. in Illinois, and Wollersheim Distillery in Wisconsin.
Far-Flung Bourbon IV comes in at 120.7 proof and is limited to just 120 bottles at $100 each. The cask strength version leans into depth and what the team describes as layered spice. It is a more intense experience — warm, bold, with oak and vanilla showing up in a more pronounced way.
Far-Flung Bourbon 100 is available in a much larger run of 758 bottles at $80 each. Proofing it down to 100 changed the way the whiskey presents. The same base notes — warm oak, bright spice, citrus, layered vanilla — are all there, but they are smoother and more integrated. The whiskey is easier to approach without a water dropper or ice, which is part of the point.
For anyone who has ever wondered whether the higher proof bottle at the liquor store is actually worth the extra intensity, or whether the lower proof option is giving up something important, this pairing is about as direct an answer as the whiskey world can provide.
The Single Malt Pairing
Boulder Spirits Colorado Single Malt vs. Copperworks Washington Single Malt
Image credit: Lost Lantern
American single malt is a category that has been growing fast, and this pairing brings together two of its more accomplished producers from the Mountain West.
Boulder Spirits out of Colorado is contributing a 7-year-old single malt coming in at a hefty 138.7 proof, limited to 173 bottles at $140. It is made entirely from malted barley and aged in new oak. The nose carries spicy oak, clove, red pear, and pomegranate, and the palate is described as dense and powerful with underlying sweetness. If you are a bourbon drinker who has been curious about what American single malt tastes like, this is a bold entry point.
Copperworks Distilling out of Washington is offering a younger whiskey — just 3 years in new oak — but one that shows a more restrained side of the category. Bottled at 120.6 proof and available in 210 bottles at $100, it was made from five different malted barleys at different roast levels. The result is a whiskey that leads with clove and milk chocolate on the nose before moving into honeyed cereal, cardamom, and baking spice. It is malt-forward and balanced in a way that contrasts sharply with the Boulder Spirits expression sitting right next to it.
Both whiskies used unsmoked barley, traditional copper pot stills, and new oak barrels, which means what you are tasting between the two is largely a conversation between proof and age, not raw production differences.
The Mountain Bourbon Pairing
Day's Defile Idaho vs. Montgomery Distillery Montana
Image credit: Lost Lantern
The Rocky Mountain region does not get nearly enough attention in American whiskey conversations, and this pairing makes a strong case that it should.
Day's Defile out of Idaho is presenting something genuinely unusual — the oldest whiskey ever released from the state of Idaho, a 10-year-old straight bourbon that was distilled at a now-closed distillery and further aged by Day's Defile. It comes in at 154.4 proof, which puts it firmly in hazmat territory, limited to 126 bottles at $140. The mashbill is 76% corn, 11% triticale, and 13% malted barley. What comes out of that combination is a whiskey loaded with French vanilla, black cherry, and intense oak. The palate layers in clove and nutmeg. This is the kind of whiskey you pour a small amount of and spend a long time with.
On the other side of the pairing is Montgomery Distillery out of Montana, bringing a wheated straight bourbon at 104.6 proof — 207 bottles at $100. It is made from 70% corn, 20% wheat, and 10% malted barley and aged 4 years. Where Day's Defile is a wall of sensation, Montgomery is warm and inviting: cinnamon and clove on the nose, vanilla and milk chocolate on the palate, soft but with enough structure to remind you that you are drinking something serious.
High elevation and dry air in the Rockies push maturation in a different direction than what happens in Kentucky or Tennessee. The concentration these conditions create comes through clearly in both bottles, even if they express it very differently.
The Southern Bourbon Pairing
Dread River Distilling Co. Alabama vs. Fiddler Soloist Georgia
Image credit: Lost Lantern
Two Southern bourbons. Two takes on intensity.
Dread River Distilling Co. out of Alabama is making its Lost Lantern debut with a 6-year-old straight bourbon at 141.8 proof, available in 158 bottles at $140. The mashbill is 60% white corn, 30% winter wheat, and 10% malted barley. It comes out bold and powerful — chocolate and leather on the nose, with dried clove, oak, nutmeg, and baking spice building on the palate. This is not a sipping-on-the-porch whiskey. It demands your attention.
The lower-proof counterpart from Atlanta-based ASW Distillery, sold under the Fiddler Soloist label, is one of the more unusual mashbills in the collection. It is 56% corn, 14% malted wheat, 10% malted rye, 10% malted barley, 7% smoked malt, and 3% chocolate malted rye, aged 7 years and bottled at 129.9 proof — 146 bottles at $100. The smoked and chocolate malts show up immediately, with cocoa powder, key lime, and dense oak on the nose. The palate is rich and deep and balanced in a way that does not feel like it is missing anything from being the lower-proof option. In this case, 129.9 proof is the lower number.
The Rye Pairing
Broad Branch North Carolina Straight Rye vs. New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye
Image credit: Lost Lantern
Rye whiskey has had a major resurgence over the past decade, and this pairing shows how dramatically proof can change the experience with the same base grain.
Broad Branch Distillery out of North Carolina is delivering Lost Lantern's first-ever hazmat rye: an 8-year-old straight rye made from 100% prairie rye and aged in a char 4 barrel, bottled at 141.6 proof, limited to 174 bottles at $140. The nose comes in minty and grassy with clove and butterscotch, and the palate is deep and powerful with intense spice and dark chocolate. Eight years in a char 4 barrel at that strength is not a subtle thing.
New Riff Distilling out of Kentucky is providing what Lost Lantern describes as their first Kentucky rye — a 95% rye, 5% malted rye mashbill coming in at 115.1 proof, 172 bottles at $100. It has warm oak, vanilla, lemon, and clove on the nose, and the palate is fresh, grassy, and balanced with milk chocolate and eucalyptus. It is an accessible but genuinely characterful rye that holds its own next to the behemoth from North Carolina.
The contrast between these two says as much about age and barrel selection as it does about proof, which is part of what makes the pairing format so effective as a way to learn something about whiskey.
Who Is Making This Collection
Lost Lantern was founded by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski and operates out of Vergennes, Vermont, which is an unlikely home base for a company that sources whiskey from across the entire country. As an independent bottler, Lost Lantern does not distill its own spirits. Instead, the team identifies exceptional barrels at distilleries nationwide, buys them, and releases them with full transparency about where everything came from and how it was made.
That model has earned the company serious recognition. Lost Lantern was named Independent Bottler of the Year at the 2026 Icons of Whisky America Awards and previously picked up the same title at the 2023 Global Icons of Whisky Awards. Both founders have been recognized individually as well, including being named Drinks Visionaries of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine and Drinks Innovators of the Year by SevenFifty Daily.
The Spring 2026 Collection includes five distilleries that are new Lost Lantern partners — Day's Defile in Idaho, Montgomery Distilling in Montana, Dread River Distilling Co. in Alabama, ASW Distillery in Georgia, and Broad Branch in North Carolina — alongside three returning partners: Boulder Spirits in Colorado, Copperworks in Washington, and New Riff in Kentucky.
Where to Buy and What to Expect
The full Spring 2026 Collection goes on sale Wednesday, March 25th. It will be available through LostLanternWhiskey.com, Seelbachs.com, select retailers in California, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and at the Lost Lantern Tasting Room in Vergennes, Vermont. Bottles can be purchased individually or as bundled pairings.
With limited bottle counts across several releases — particularly the 120-bottle run of Far-Flung Bourbon IV and the 126-bottle Day's Defile Idaho bourbon — some of these will not be around long once they hit the market.
The high proof versus low proof debate is not going to be settled by one whiskey collection. But for anyone who has been curious about what that difference actually feels like in a glass rather than just on paper, Lost Lantern has built a pretty compelling way to find out.
