What is the Knob Creek 9 Year Independence Edition?

A limited America 250 release of Knob Creek's standard 9-year bourbon at 100 proof, $36.99. The liquid is unchanged, but the brand swapped its signature black wax for a blue seal for the first time in its history and added a red, white, and blue label. It shipped nationwide at the end of June, ahead of the July 4 anniversary.

How much is the Bulleit 20-Year Rye and when does it release?

It carries a $299 suggested price and is limited to 1,776 bottles at cask strength (137 proof, 68.5% ABV). Built from Bulleit's 95% rye mash bill, distilled in Indiana and aged two decades in Kentucky, it reaches the Bulleit distillery and select cities in July 2026.

Why are so many premium and ultra-aged bourbons coming out at once?

Kentucky warehouses hold record barrel inventory while consumption and exports have softened. MGP idled two Kentucky distilleries in May over oversupply. Distillers are putting their oldest, most distinctive stock to work at the high-margin end of the shelf, where collector demand still holds even as mid-priced bottles sit longer.

Bourbon News: America 250 Releases and Bulleit's Oldest Rye Yet

The country turns 250 next week, and bourbon showed up in costume. Knob Creek swapped its black wax for blue, Lost Lantern bottled whiskey from all 50 states, and a run of premium releases landed in a single stretch of late June. The backdrop is less festive. Distilleries are sitting on record barrel inventory, exports are down, and one major supplier just idled two Kentucky plants. The bottles keep getting older and fancier because the middle of the market has gone quiet.

The Week in Five Bullets

Knob Creek changed its wax for the first time ever, a blue seal on its 100-proof, 9-year Independence Edition for the 250th at $36.99¹
Lost Lantern blended bourbon from all 50 states, including a 13-state "1776 Edition" for the anniversary, priced $79.99 to $199.99²
Wild Turkey revived the "Cheesy Gold Foil" as a 16-year, 120-proof archives release at $400³
Bulleit announced its oldest rye ever on June 24, a 20-year cask-strength bottling at 137 proof ($299, 1,776 bottles)⁴
Four Roses broke its 10-recipe tradition with a Mizunara-finished Experimental Series, the first in the brand's history⁵

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America Turns 250, and Bourbon Leans In

The Semiquincentennial gave distillers a reason to print red, white, and blue, and they took it. Knob Creek put out a 9 Year Old: Independence Edition on June 26, notable mostly for what changed on the outside¹. The brand swapped its signature black wax for a deep blue seal, the first time it has changed wax color in its history, and wrapped the bottle in a patriotic label. The bourbon inside is the same 100-proof, nine-year-old expression you already know. At $36.99 and available nationwide, it is the rare commemorative bottle you can actually buy at a normal price. Pick it up for the shelf, not for a new pour.

Lost Lantern did something harder. Its United States of Bourbon is the first blend of straight bourbon drawn from a distillery in all 50 states, the product of five years of co-founders Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski driving the country and tasting their way through it². It comes in three expressions: 100 Proof at $79.99, Cask Strength at $99.99, and a one-time 1776 Edition, a 13-state blend at $199.99 built for the anniversary. Every component distillery is printed on the label. Between the two patriotic releases, this is the one that says something about where American whiskey actually is in 2026.

Wild Turkey Revives the Cheesy Gold Foil

Wild Turkey reached into its own past for the Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Edition, a 16-year bourbon at 120 proof, non-chill filtered³. It was selected from roughly 500 barrels resting on the top floors of the Camp Nelson rickhouses, where the heat pushes maturation harder. The release carries a $400 price and opens a new annual archives series led by associate master blender Bruce Russell.

The name does the work. Collectors have chased the gold-foil-capped Wild Turkey bottles from the 1980s and 1990s for years, trading them as the "Cheesy Gold Foil." Putting that look on a 16-year release is a direct appeal to the people who already get the reference. The liquid earns its age. At $400, you are paying for the nostalgia as much as the years, and that is a long way from the 101 you keep on the everyday shelf.

Bulleit's First 20-Year-Old

Bulleit announced its oldest whiskey to date on June 24, a 20-year straight rye bottled at cask strength, 137 proof⁴. The run is limited to 1,776 bottles at $299, reaching the distillery and select cities in July, with tasting notes that lean toward oak, baking spice, dried fruit, and the caramelized sweetness two decades in wood tends to produce.

One detail the press materials soften: Bulleit rye has long been distilled in Indiana at the old MGP plant and aged in Kentucky, and this bottling follows that path. That is not a knock. Some of the most sought-after rye on the secondary market shares the same origin. It is worth knowing what is in the glass. A 1,776-bottle cask-strength run will clear fast, and the number is a nod to 1776, not a hint at supply.

Four Roses Breaks Its Own Rules

The most interesting release of the week was the one that abandoned a 138-year habit. Four Roses launched its first-ever Experimental Series on June 23, stepping outside the rigid 10-recipe framework that has defined the brand⁵. Experimental Series No. 001 is a six-year OBSK bourbon finished in rare Japanese Mizunara oak, bottled at 104 proof. It runs $55 for a 375ml bottle, available July 30 at the distillery visitor center.

Mizunara is notoriously hard to work with and porous enough to lose more whiskey than most oak. Seeing it on a Four Roses label signals that even the most tradition-bound heritage distilleries now feel the pull of the finished-whiskey market. At $55 for a half-size bottle, this is a tasting curiosity, not a daily drinker. The reason to chase it is the chance to taste Four Roses outside its own house style for the first time.

All this premium activity sits on top of a cooling market. MGP idled two Kentucky distilleries, Limestone Branch and Lux Row, effective May 1, citing a structurally oversupplied whiskey market. Kentucky warehouses hold record barrel inventory⁶. Releasing 16-, 20-, and one-of-a-kind bottles at once is the high-margin response to a soft middle shelf, not a sign of broad demand.

What to Watch

Bulleit's 20-Year Rye and Four Roses Mizunara both land in July. Track sightings on Drops before they clear the shelf.
Knob Creek Independence is the easy July 4 pick. It is widely available at $36.99, no hunting required, unlike most of this list.
Gold Foil allocation is spreading through select markets now. Check stores near you if it is on your list.
US-India trade talks. American whiskey exports fell 19% in 2025, and India, which cut its bourbon tariff from 150% to 100% last year, is the category's clearest growth lever as the EU and Canada slump⁷.

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