2026 ASCOT Awards – Round 1 Winners

🏅 2026 ASCOT Awards – Round 1 Winners

By Adam Aslan

A little backstory: The ASCOT Awards weren't forged in some stuffy corporate boardroom. They were built by people who got tired of watching shelf-trophies go to the highest bidder — distillers, bartenders, and gloriously opinionated drinkers armed with Glencairn glasses and zero chill, out to make a competition where the liquid did the talking: blind, brutal, and totally unbiased.

Fast-forward to 2026, and that idea has grown into one of the most relentless double-blind gauntlets in the spirits world. Over 1,500 entries entered the arena this year, but after weeks of palate-pummeling brackets, only these elite bottles clawed their way through Round 1 to claim the title of Best in Category. Pour yourself a dram and meet your champions.

🥃 Bourbon Winners

Best Small Batch Bourbon

🏆 Barrel King The G Spot #118 – Warehouse G Barrels – Single Rickhouse Blend – By Jarrod Record

Also tasted: Rue Bourbon

Best Wheated Bourbon

🏆 Southern Star Cask Strength Paragon Wheated Bourbon

Also tasted: Holladay Soft Red Wheat Rickhouse Proof Bourbon • W. L. Weller Antique 107

Best Straight Bourbon

🏆 Wheel Horse Barrel Master Bourbon

Also tasted: Old Dominick 8 Years Old Reserve Bourbon • Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C925

Best Craft Bourbon

🏆 Kentucky Peerless Henry Kraver Old Reserve 10 Year Old Bourbon

Best Single Barrel Pick

🏆 Bourbon Club of Arkansas – Elliott Brothers Reserve

📌 Not eligible to compete for Best Bourbon.

Best Extra Age Bourbon 11+

🏆 George T. Stagg

Best Blend of Straight Bourbon

🏆 Dark Arts Barely Legal Bourbon – Small Batch, Cask Strength

Also tasted: Sergeants Valor Anniversary Small Batch Bourbon

Best Special Barrel-Finished Bourbon

🏆 Barrell Bourbon Cigar Blend

Also tasted: Dark Arts The Empyrean – Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Red Port and White Port Wine Casks • Dark Arts Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished with Toasted Mizunara Oak Staves

Best Single Barrel Bourbon

🏆 Starlight Distillery Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey

Also tasted: Crittenden's Cut Above Eight Year Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey

📌 Not eligible to compete for Best Bourbon.

🇺🇸 American Whiskey Winners

Best Blend of Straight Whiskeys

🏆 The Tennessee Collective

Also tasted: Coors Whiskey Co. Blended American Malt Whiskey

Best American Whiskey

🏆 Traveller Full Proof

Best Special Barrel Finished American Whiskey

🏆 291 XIV Colorado Whiskey

Best Craft American Whiskey

🏆 Talnua Distillery American White Oak Whiskey Bottled in Bond

Best American Rye

🏆 Thomas H. Handy

Also tasted: Smokeye Hill Barrel Proof Blended Rye Whiskey

Best Craft Rye

🏆 Black Band Cask Strength Rye

Best Special Barrel-Finished Rye

🏆 Drumkey Spirits Rye'd Cymbal – by Jason Callori of The Mash and Drum

Also tasted: Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Specialty Barrel Series – KY Straight Rye Whiskey

Best Blend of Straight Rye

🏆 Pursuit United Barrel Proof Rye

Also tasted: Widow Jane Paradigm Rye Whiskey

Best Single Barrel Rye

🏆 Ponfeigh Westsylvania Rye

Also tasted: Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye Whiskey

📌 Not eligible to compete for Best in Show.

Best American Rye 11+ Years

🏆 Circle City 12 Year Straight Rye Whiskey Batch 2

Best Tennessee Whiskey

🏆 Leiper's Fork Distillery Bottled-In-Bond Tennessee Whiskey Batch 22

Best Rice Whiskey

🏆 J.T. Meleck High Proof Small Batch American Rice Whiskey

Best Wheat Whiskey

🏆 Bernheim Barrel Proof B925

Best Light Whiskey

🏆 Old Hickory Hermitage Reserve 15-Year-Old Barrel Proof

Best Flavored Whiskey

🏆 Five Springs Blood Orange Infused Bourbon

Best American Single Malt

🏆 Stranahan's Mountain Angel 12 Year

🌍 Scotch & World Whiskey Winners

Best Single Malt Scotch

🏆 Glenmorangie The Altus 25 Years Old

Also tasted: Aberlour A'bunadh Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Best Blended Scotch

🏆 Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky

Best Irish Whiskey

🏆 Red Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey

Best Indian Whiskey

🏆 Indri Dru Cask Strength Single Malt Indian Whisky

Best Canadian Whiskey

🏆 WhistlePig Estate Oak Rye Aged 15 Years

🍸 White Spirit Winners

Best Blanco Tequila

🏆 DESNUDA Blanco Organic Tequila

Best Reposado Tequila

🏆 Tequila Ocho Reposado

Best Añejo Tequila

🏆 1800 Guachimonton

Best Mezcal

🏆 Mezcal Vago Elote

Also tasted: Mezcal Vago Espadin Joel Barriga

Best Gin

🏆 Black Band Gin

Also tasted: Devil's Grin Gin • Guided Trail Gin • Vexed Gin

Best Vodka

🏆 Woody Creek 100% Potato Vodka

Best Flavored Vodka

🏆 The Original Pickle Shot Spicy Pickle

Also tasted: Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka

Best Rum

🏆 Myers's Signature Cask Collection T.H. Handy

Best Brandy

🏆 The Distillarium Sky Captain Brandy 8 Years

Best Cognac

🏆 Martell VS

Best Liqueur

🏆 Rivulet Artisan Pecan Liqueur