For bourbon drinkers who know what patience tastes like, Michter's is delivering some welcome news this spring. The Kentucky distillery is shipping its 2026 release of Michter's 10 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon this March, marking the first time the expression has hit shelves since last year. And if the people behind it have anything to say about it, the wait has been more than worth it.
The release has been signed off on by both Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson — two names that carry serious weight in American whiskey circles. At Michter's, nothing goes out the door until it's ready, and the 10 Year is no exception to that rule.
What makes this bourbon a little different from the way most distilleries handle aged whiskey is Michter's willingness to go beyond the ten year mark if the barrels aren't quite there yet. McKee explained it plainly: "Because barrels even next to each other in the rickhouse don't necessarily all age the same, we overage our whiskey and wait beyond the ten year mark and then select fully matured barrels for Michter's 10 Year Bourbon. Our team is excited when we have 10 Year Bourbon that we feel is up to our high standards and ready to release."
That kind of thinking runs counter to the way a lot of the industry operates, where hitting a label age and moving product is often the priority. At Michter's, the age statement is a floor, not a finish line.
The 2026 expression comes in at 94.4 proof, or 47.2% ABV — a number that might strike some as modest given how many high-octane bourbons have flooded the market over the last several years. But Wilson pushed back on the idea that proof equals quality. In her words, "The 2026 release of Michter's 10 Year Bourbon is again a smooth, rich, complex, and captivating pour that evokes feelings of warm, reminiscent appreciation of a great whiskey. With its rich array of flavors it continues to remind that you don't have to have a high proof to get a rich, flavorful drinking experience."
That's a message that resonates with serious whiskey drinkers who've grown a little tired of barrel-strength bottles being treated as the default measure of excellence. Sometimes the craft is in the balance, not the burn.
As for what it costs to get a bottle, the suggested retail price for the 2026 release is set at $195 for a 750ml in the United States. That's not an impulse buy, but for a whiskey that has spent more than a decade aging in a Kentucky rickhouse under this level of oversight, the price sits comfortably within the range of what discerning collectors and regular sippers expect to pay for something of this caliber.
The 10 Year holds a particular place in the history of Kentucky Michter's. Michter's President Joseph J. Magliocco put it in perspective when he said, "Ten Year Bourbon is very special for us because, along with 10 Year Rye, it was one of the two first types that Kentucky Michter's ever released. As our team has continued to strive towards the goal of producing the greatest American whiskey, we have done all we can to make each offering of our 10 Year Bourbon a full flavored, rich whiskey that offers a memorable taste experience."
That history matters. In an industry where new brands seem to appear every few months with bold claims and little to back them up, Michter's roots give it something most labels simply can't manufacture — legitimacy built over time.
And the outside world has noticed. In October 2025, Michter's became the first whiskey ever to be named the World's Most Admired Whiskey in three consecutive years, an honor handed out by an international panel of voters assembled by Drinks International, a publication based in the United Kingdom. Three years running is not a fluke. It reflects a consistency that is genuinely rare in any consumer category, let alone one as competitive and crowded as American whiskey.
Michter's broader lineup includes bourbon, rye, sour mash whiskey, and American whiskey — all produced in limited quantities and all aged to what the company considers peak maturity before release. That limited production approach is part of what keeps demand for releases like the 10 Year running hot year after year. When a bottle doesn't show up on shelves constantly, people pay attention when it does.
For anyone who has had a previous vintage of the 10 Year, the 2026 release will likely feel like catching up with something familiar in the best possible way. For those who have been curious but haven't yet pulled the trigger on a bottle, this spring's shipment offers as good an opportunity as any to understand why this particular whiskey has earned the reputation it carries.
The bottles will be making their way to retailers this March. Given the track record of previous releases selling through quickly, finding one sooner rather than later is probably the smarter play.
