King of Kentucky Returns at 14 Years, and the FTC Takes On Liquor Pricing

Brown-Forman put a 14-year-old King of Kentucky on sale Thursday at $399, three years younger than last year's edition and drawn from 99 barrels instead of 63. The next day, the Federal Trade Commission settled its lawsuit against the distributor that moves one in every three bottles of wine and spirits in the country, under rules that decide what your corner store pays for the same bottle the chain down the street gets cheaper. And a Vermont independent bottler opened the George Dickel warehouse wider than Diageo ever has.

A loud week for bottles and a louder one for the business behind them. The store-pricing story will outlast everything else on this page.

1. Release

   King of Kentucky returns at 14 years

   Why it matters: It draws on 99 barrels against last year's 63, so there will be more bottles, but it is $399 and in select markets only.

2. Legal

   The FTC settles its pricing case with Southern Glazer's

   Why it matters: Independent stores, where allocated bottles reach a shelf, get six years of monitored pricing against the big chains in 26 states.

3. Release

   Lost Lantern bottles George Dickel

   Why it matters: Three Single Distillery Series bottles and 15 single casks land October 21, up to an 18-year Tennessee whiskey at $249.99.

4. Business

   True Story Whiskey's parent company fires its CEO

   Why it matters: Wes Henderson was terminated after a sealed family lawsuit became public. He denies the allegations.

5. Release

   Angel's Envy Cellar Collection Volume 6 is a peach brandy rye

   Why it matters: About 36,000 bottles at $199.99 from October 9, so it will sit on shelves long enough to taste first.

6. Release

   Starlight's seven-year estate bourbon costs $59.99

   Why it matters: Cask strength, 80 percent estate-grown grain, and the strongest price-to-provenance case on this page.

The 2026 King of Kentucky is a single barrel bourbon aged 14 years, pulled from two lots totaling 99 barrels. Fifty-one of them matured on the third floor of Warehouse I and 48 on the first floor of Warehouse L at the Brown-Forman Distillery in Louisville¹. Proofs run from 125 to 135 depending on the barrel. Every bottle is filled, wax-dipped and numbered by hand, sits in a custom canister, and carries its proof, age, warehouse location, lot number, serial number and barrel number on the label¹². Suggested retail is $399, in limited quantities in select markets¹.

For context, the 2025 edition was a 17-year from 63 barrels that yielded about 5,000 bottles³. So this year trades three years of age for 57 percent more barrels. Brown-Forman did not publish a bottle count, but with that many more barrels and three fewer years of evaporation, it will land well above last year's roughly 5,000. The brand dates to 1881, was discontinued in 1968, and came back in 2018 as the company's collector-tier bourbon¹³.

Assistant master distiller Caleb Trigo described the profile as orange zest, caramel, dark chocolate and toasted marshmallow on the nose, dark maple syrup with vanilla wafers and baked banana on the palate, and a long caramel-and-chocolate finish¹. The official sheet reads like a dessert menu, which is consistent with 14 years on a high floor of a Louisville warehouse. The caveat is the one every single barrel release carries: a bottle from a 125-proof barrel and one from a 135-proof barrel are different whiskeys sharing a label, and the label tells you which you have.

Brown-FormanAnnounced

King of Kentucky 14 Year Single Barrel 2026

Age

14 years

Proof

125–135

MSRP

$399

Release

October 1

Bottles

99 barrels

Where

Select markets

Worth chasing

Worth chasing if older, high-floor Kentucky bourbon is your lane. Check the barrel proof printed on the label before you pay $399; a 125 and a 135 drink differently.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

The Federal Trade Commission announced Friday that it had settled its December 2024 lawsuit against Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, the country's largest distributor, which the agency says generated $26 billion in sales to retail customers in 2023 and distributes one of every three bottles of wine and spirits sold in the United States⁴⁵. The suit was brought under the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936, a price discrimination law the FTC had not enforced in a generation. It alleged that Southern charged independent stores significantly more for identical bottles than it charged chains like Total Wine, Walmart and Kroger, sometimes a few blocks apart, through discounts and rebates the small stores could not access⁴⁵.

The order runs six years under an independent monitor and covers nearly all of Southern's sales to the five largest chain retailers in 26 states, including Kentucky and Tennessee⁴. It targets paired transactions: the same product sold to a chain at one price and to a nearby independent at a significantly higher one. Where the difference exceeds a state-specific cost threshold, or adds up to more than $5,000 over 12 months, Southern can resolve it by paying the independent retailer 1.5 times the aggregated difference. If it does not and the FTC prevails in court, the payment doubles⁴. Southern must hand the monitor detailed records twice a year⁵.

Two details keep this from being a clean win for small stores. The original complaint named 33 states; the FTC says its investigation could not show discrimination in seven of them, so those dropped out⁵. And FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said he did not initially support the lawsuit and believed Southern could justify most of the price differences by cost. He called the settlement self-calibrating: Southern pays only where a monitor finds an independent actually paid more than a competing chain⁵. Southern's chief legal officer, Alan Greenspan, said the company did not and is not violating the law, that the order does not prohibit any particular business activity, and that it does not anticipate material changes to its pricing⁵. A settlement both sides describe as changing nothing is one to watch for what it changes.

Why a bourbon buyer should care: the independent store is where allocated bottles actually surface at retail (it is the whole premise of catching bourbon drops in your own city), and the margin it pays its distributor is part of why its shelf price on a Blanton's or a Weller runs above the chain's. This is also the same distributor that paid $12.5 million three weeks ago to resolve a separate federal bribery case over shelf placement. Two settlements in a month, on opposite ends of how bottles reach a shelf, say more about the middle tier of American liquor than any release does.

Lost Lantern, the Vermont independent bottler, announced a Fall 2026 collection devoted entirely to George Dickel, its first collection built around one distillery and its first partnership with a large heritage producer⁶⁷. It goes on sale October 21 through the Lost Lantern site, Seelbachs.com, the tasting room in Vergennes, and select retailers in California, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois⁶.

Three Single Distillery Series bottles anchor it, and 15 single casks across seven styles sit behind them⁶⁷.

Everything is cask strength, non-chill-filtered and uncolored, and the proofs show what Dickel barrels do over time: the 11-year sits at 93.2 and the 18-year casks land near 80 proof⁶. That is barrel strength, not a watered-down bottle, and it is why old Dickel drinks the way it does. Head blender Nora Ganley-Roper said these were whiskies the company did not know Dickel made until it visited and started working with distiller Nicole Austin⁶⁷. A wheat whiskey, a light whiskey and an unmellowed bourbon from Tullahoma are styles the distillery has rarely, if ever, released under its own name; our distillery guides cover what Dickel does sell under its own name and why the Lincoln County charcoal step is the dividing line. Whether 677 bottles of 4-year wheat whiskey at $79.99 find buyers is a fair question. The 18-year at $249.99 will not have that problem.

TKC Distilling, the parent company of The Kentucky Castle hotel in Versailles and the True Story Whiskey brand, terminated chief executive Wes Henderson on October 3, effective immediately, after the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Courier Journal reported on a sealed lawsuit filed in June in Oldham County by members of his family⁸⁹. The suit accuses him of secretly recording guests and relatives with hidden cameras at the castle and other locations; the plaintiffs say 40 people were recorded without their knowledge⁸. Henderson unequivocally denies the allegations, and no criminal charges have been filed⁹.

The board said it will conduct a full and independent investigation, and Kyle Henderson, the oldest of Wes Henderson's six sons, has taken over as chief executive of both the castle and the whiskey brand⁸⁹. Henderson co-founded Angel's Envy, which was later sold to Bacardi, and is a Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee. Angel's Envy has removed his name from the "Our Story" page on its website⁸. The Courier Journal also reported he faces separate, unrelated lawsuits over more than $1.5 million in business debts⁸. The allegations are untested in court. The leadership change is not, and True Story Whiskey is now a young brand whose founder's name has become a liability.

Angel's EnvyAnnounced

Angel's Envy Cellar Collection Volume 6

Age

8–11 years

Proof

106.4

MSRP

$199.99

Release

October 9

Bottles

About 36,000

Where

Nationwide

A straight rye finished in peach brandy and toasted oak barrels, the first dual finish in the series. The ryes were aged eight to 11 years in total, with components spending 15 to 23 months in peach brandy barrels or six to 12 months in toasted oak. It is bottled at 106.4 proof, and about 36,000 bottles reach stores nationwide on October 9 at $199.99¹⁰. The distillery's master distiller said the brandy barrels bring the fruit and the toasted oak brings the warmth¹⁰. Thirty-six thousand bottles is not a small release, so this one will sit on a shelf long enough to be tasted first.

Digital Dram take

A dual finish on rye, released in enough volume to taste a pour before buying a bottle.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

Widow JaneAnnounced

Widow Jane Black Opal 2026

Age

20+ years

Proof

99

MSRP

$500

Release

October

Bottles

3,300

Where

Select markets

The second edition of the Brooklyn blender's 20-year bottle: Tennessee and Kentucky bourbons aged at least 20 years, finished 13 months in old-growth Mizunara oak, proofed to 99 with limestone water from the Rosendale mines in New York. Head distiller and blender Sienna Jevremov evaluated more than 50 barrels to build it. The price is $500, with 3,300 bottles in select markets beginning in October¹¹.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

Starlight DistilleryAnnounced

Starlight Estate Collection 7 Year Cask Strength Bourbon

Age

7 years

Proof

110.8

MSRP

$59.99

Release

October 3

Where

Distillery and online

It comes from the Huber family's seventh-generation farm in Borden, Indiana. It is a sweet-mash, double-pot-distilled bourbon with 80 percent of its grain grown on the estate, aged seven years in the farm's original red warehouses and bottled at 110.8 proof for $59.99, at the distillery and online from October 3¹². Seventh-generation distiller Christian Huber said estate whiskey is how whiskey was always meant to be made, grown, distilled, aged and bottled on the same land¹². Among the bottles on this page, this is the one whose price and provenance line up.

Value pick

Seven years, cask strength and estate-grown grain for $59.99. Every older bourbon in this issue costs at least $99.99.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

Garrison BrothersAnnounced

Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon 2026

Age

8+ years

Proof

141

MSRP

$249.99

Release

October 1

Bottles

16,000

Where

National retail

It reached national retail on October 1: 141 proof, at least eight years old, 16,000 bottles, $249.99¹³.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

Garrison BrothersAnnounced

Garrison Brothers Duck Camp Single Barrel

Proof

94

MSRP

$109.99

Release

October 31

Bottles

400

Where

Distillery and online

The Texas distillery also announced this single barrel with a camouflage label for duck season, 94 proof and $109.99, limited to 400 bottles split between the distillery on October 31 and the online store the same day¹⁴.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

Oaklore Distilling Co.Announced

Oaklore Story Series Prohibition Oak Cask Finished Four Grain Bourbon

Proof

96

MSRP

$69.95

Release

October

Where

NC and SC stores, national shipping

From Charlotte, North Carolina, it spent more than four years in new oak, two more in a second set of new barrels, and then six to 12 months with toasted staves cut from oak the distillery says was harvested and aged since the Prohibition era. It is 96 proof and $69.95, in North Carolina and South Carolina stores with national shipping from October¹⁵. It took a Double Gold at the 2026 New York World Spirits Competition¹⁵.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

Wanderfolk DistilleryAnnounced

Wanderfolk Tallbird American Whiskey

Age

7 years

Proof

93

MSRP

$25

Where

Online; AR, KS, MO, NE, OK

A 7-year blend of straight bourbons from Bardstown Bourbon Company and TN Distilling, married and aged in Guthrie, Oklahoma, bottled at 93 proof for $25¹⁶. It is sold online and in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma¹⁶. A seven-year age statement at $25 is rare enough in 2026 to be worth a detour.

Sleeper

Bardstown Bourbon Company and TN Distilling bourbon at seven years, for the price of a supermarket bottle. Distribution is five states plus online.

Watch bottle

Not on shelves yet. Watching it sends a drop alert once it is reported in a store.

No new competition results were announced this week beyond Oaklore's medal. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition names its Platinum medalists the week of October 19¹⁷.

On the auction side, Whisky Advocate's September tally put an 18-year Very Very Old Fitzgerald distilled in 1950 at $84,900 at Unicorn Auctions on September 27, and a Park Avenue Liquor selection of Van Winkle Family Reserve 18 Year at $42,300 two weeks earlier¹⁸. The month's single most expensive bottle was a 1960 Karuizawa at $500,000 through Sotheby's in New York¹⁸. That is the gap between a 1950 distillate and anything on a shelf this week, and nothing released this year is closing it.

Drink responsibly, and only if you are 21 or older.

Sources & methodology19 sources

Every claim in this issue links to its source. Reporting draws on distiller announcements, regulators and trade outlets, and prices are suggested retail at the time of publication.

Footnotes

1. PR Newswire / Brown-Forman, "King of Kentucky Returns in 2026 with 14-Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon," October 1, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Fred Minnick, "Brown-Forman Releases 2026 King of Kentucky," October 2, 2026 ↩

3. The Whiskey Wash, "Brown-Forman Announces King of Kentucky 2026 Single Barrel Bourbon," October 2, 2026 ↩ ↩²

4. Federal Trade Commission, "FTC Secures Settlement that Protects Small Businesses from Illegal Price Discrimination," October 2, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Associated Press via ABC News, "FTC settles with Southern Glazer's over claim it discriminated against smaller alcohol sellers," October 2, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

6. Breaking Bourbon, "Lost Lantern Launches the George Dickel Collection," September 29, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

7. Fred Minnick, "Lost Lantern Set to Release George Dickel Collection," September 30, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³

8. Louisville Courier Journal via Yahoo News, "Wes Henderson ousted as Kentucky Castle company CEO after voyeurism lawsuit," October 3, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

9. WKYT, "Kentucky Castle terminates CEO following voyeurism lawsuit," October 3, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³

10. PR Newswire / Angel's Envy, "Angel's Envy Introduces Latest Cellar Collection Release, Featuring a Dual Finish in Peach Brandy and Toasted Oak Barrels," September 28, 2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³

11. Fred Minnick, "Widow Jane Releases Second Edition of Black Opal Bourbon," October 2, 2026 ↩

12. The Whiskey Wash, "Starlight Distillery Releases 7-Year Cask Strength Estate Bourbon," October 2, 2026 ↩ ↩²

13. Breaking Bourbon, "Garrison Brothers' Legendary Cowboy Bourbon Rides Again," August 11, 2026 ↩

14. Breaking Bourbon, "Garrison Brothers Distillery Partners with Duck Camp to Celebrate Texas Duck Hunting Season," September 29, 2026 ↩ ↩²

15. Breaking Bourbon, "Oaklore Distilling Co. Releases New Limited Story Series: Prohibition Oak Finished Double-Oaked Bourbon," September 28, 2026 ↩ ↩²

16. Fred Minnick, "Wanderfolk Distillery Launches Tallbird American Whiskey," September 30, 2026 ↩ ↩²

17. The Whiskey Wash, "5 Double Gold Bourbons Battle for SFWSC 2026 Best of Class," 2026 ↩ ↩²

18. Whisky Advocate, "Auction Update: The 20 Highest Single Bottle Hammer Prices for September," October 2, 2026 ↩ ↩²

19. Breaking Bourbon, "Four Roses Set to Launch 2026 Limited Edition Small Batch on October 10," September 1, 2026 ↩