Cedar Ridge Distillery is back with another chapter in one of American whiskey's most talked-about series. The Iowa-based distillery has officially announced the release of Pete & Sherri Married — 2nd Anniversary, the third bottling in the Pete & Sherri Married lineup and the latest entry in its QuintEssential Special Release program. It hits shelves May 1, 2026, carrying a retail price of $99.99.
For anyone who missed the first anniversary release — and a lot of people did — this one is worth paying close attention to.
The Story Behind the Series
The Pete & Sherri Married series first launched in 2019, built around the idea of marrying distinctly different single malt whiskeys into something greater than the sum of its parts. The series is the work of Master Blender Murphy Quint, who helms the QuintEssential Special Release program at Cedar Ridge. The concept behind that program is straightforward: take American single malts, push the maturation and blending process to its limits, and release something that doesn't look like anything else on the shelf.
The 1st Anniversary bottling, released in 2023, put the series on the map in a big way. It was named Best American Single Malt by the World Whiskies Awards — one of the most respected competitions in the industry. That kind of recognition doesn't come around often for an American whiskey, and it set expectations high for whatever would follow.
"Pete & Sherri, Married (1st Anniversary) remains my favorite expression we've ever made," Quint said. "It launched early in the special release program, so many missed out. Now, with the release of the 2nd Anniversary, far more people will get to experience it, which is very exciting."
What's Actually in the Bottle
This is where things get interesting for anyone who follows American single malt seriously.
The 2nd Anniversary is a blend of single malts ranging from 6 to 9 years of age. It's bottled at natural cask strength — 116.8 proof, or 58.4% ABV — with no chill filtration and no added color. Those three details matter. Cask strength means what came out of the barrel is what goes into the bottle, undiluted. No chill filtration preserves the natural oils and compounds that give the whiskey its texture and depth. No added color means the hue in the glass is entirely the product of wood and time. These are choices that signal a distillery taking its product seriously.
The blend itself draws from two distinct components, each with its own maturation path.
The first component starts with 2-Row Pale Malted Barley. That grain is aged in Cedar Ridge's own ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred to finish in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso Sherry Hogsheads. Pedro Ximénez casks are known for imparting rich dried fruit character — figs, raisins, dark plums — while Oloroso adds a drier, nuttier complexity. Together they create a base that is dense and layered.
The second component takes Peated Malt — a different grain profile entirely — through the same initial aging in Cedar Ridge ex-bourbon barrels, but this one finishes in Amontillado Sherry Butts. Amontillado falls somewhere between the sweetness of Pedro Ximénez and the dryness of Oloroso, bringing a nutty, slightly oxidative quality that works especially well with peat smoke.
The decision to combine peated and unpeated malts, each finished in different sherry cask types, is the architectural move that makes this release stand apart. Quint wasn't just repeating the formula from the 1st Anniversary.
"This year I've added a fun twist: we expanded beyond just first-fill Amontillado to include first-fill Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks alongside it, creating a more complex, layered profile while staying true to the Pete & Sherri core," he said.
Why the Sherry Cask Selection Matters
For drinkers who have spent time with Scotch whisky, the sherry cask influence in American single malt is a relatively recent development worth understanding. Cedar Ridge's approach here is built around first-fill casks — meaning these barrels previously held sherry and are being used for the first time to finish whiskey. First-fill casks deliver a much more assertive flavor contribution than second or third-fill wood. The sherry compounds soaked into the wood during years of wine storage transfer aggressively into the spirit during finishing, creating the kind of bold fruit and spice character that defines the Pete & Sherri series.
The use of three distinct sherry styles — Pedro Ximénez, Oloroso, and Amontillado — across the two components gives Quint the raw material to build real complexity in the blend. These aren't interchangeable. Each sherry style shapes the whiskey differently, and the skill of the blender lies in understanding how those influences interact once the components are married together.
Cedar Ridge and the American Single Malt Category
Cedar Ridge Distillery was founded by Jeff and Laurie Quint and recently marked its 20th anniversary. It holds the distinction of being Iowa's first and oldest distillery, operating out of the heart of American grain country. The distillery manages every step of production in-house, from grain to glass, and draws on an agricultural heritage — including a background in winemaking — that has clearly informed its approach to barrel finishing and blending.
The American Single Malt category itself is still young compared to Scotch, Irish, or even American bourbon. The category's legal definition was only formally established in recent years, and distilleries like Cedar Ridge have been instrumental in proving what American-grown barley, aged in American conditions, can produce. Winning Best American Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards isn't just a trophy for Cedar Ridge — it's a statement about where the category is headed and who is leading it.
The QuintEssential Special Release program, which houses the Pete & Sherri Married series, is explicitly designed to push those boundaries. Each release in the program is described as a one-of-a-kind marriage, and the limited nature of these bottlings ensures they remain genuine collector's items rather than marketing language.
Availability and What to Expect
The Pete & Sherri Married 2nd Anniversary is a limited release. It will be available in Iowa and through the Cedar Ridge website starting May 1, 2026. At $99.99, it sits in a price tier that serious whiskey drinkers will recognize as reasonable for a cask-strength, age-stated, heavily finished American single malt with this kind of pedigree.
Given that the 1st Anniversary sold through quickly enough that Quint himself noted how many people missed out on it, anyone with genuine interest in this release would be wise to act early. Limited production, a loyal following, and a World Whiskies Award-winning predecessor are a combination that tends to shorten shelf life considerably.
For those new to the Pete & Sherri series, the 2nd Anniversary offers a genuine entry point into what American single malt can be when a distillery gives the process the time and attention it deserves — aged properly, finished thoughtfully, and blended with a clear vision rather than assembled to hit a price point.
The Bigger Picture
There is something worth noting in the continuity of this series. Cedar Ridge didn't follow up a World Whiskies Award winner by playing it safe. Quint expanded the sherry cask palette, introduced new complexity, and built on the foundation of what made the 1st Anniversary exceptional rather than simply replicating it. That kind of creative risk-taking within an established series is not as common as it should be in the spirits industry.
The Pete & Sherri Married series started in 2019 as a quiet experiment in what American single malt blending could achieve. Seven years later, it stands as one of the more compelling ongoing narratives in American whiskey — one that rewards the drinkers who have been following it and gives newcomers a genuinely compelling reason to catch up.
