The Eight Best Whiskeys That Are Perfect for Fall

Hello, my fellow whiskey fans, it’s Brad Japhe, and a very happy Pumpkin Spice Latte Season to all who celebrate. I’m kidding, of course—I would never wish that on anyone. The notorious drink of fall is a cloyingly sweet artifice that contains neither pumpkin nor spice. (Discuss.) But that hasn’t stopped some cheeky whiskey brands from capitalizing on its annual infamy by crafting bourbons inspired by the meme-able phenomenon. The results have been … not so smashing.

Nevertheless, there are actual fall flavors to be mined from all manner of whiskey—especially American expressions, which offer deliver fig, baked apples, maple syrup, nutmeg and even pecan pie in the snifter. Today we’re going to take a closer look at the drams I recommend lining up alongside your jack-o-lantern. No tricks. All treats. But first, some booze news:

The biennial Distillers’ One of One charity auction, hosted by Sotheby’s, shattered estimates, bringing in over $3.85 million for the Youth Auction fund.
English whisky is about to be formally recognized as an official category, with its geographical indication (GI) nearing finalization this month.
The world’s first Antarctic-aged whiskey was just bottled by La Alazana Distillery in Argentina.
US spirits exports declined sharply in the second quarter, according to this midyear economic report from the Distilled Spirits Council, which attributes the drop-off to rising trade tensions.

Red IPAs are hinting at a vibe shift in craft beer.

Whiskey legends of the fall

Now for those real flavors of fall I promised. Let’s begin with a brief exercise. Close your eyes and envision a cornucopia. You know … the horn-shaped basket that definitely was a part of the Fruit of the Loom logo at some point. When I think of it, I see apples, pears, grapes, walnuts, almonds, pecans.

This imagery is where I set my baseline when it comes to autumn-friendly sippers. It’s only fitting that I find them so richly displayed in a pour of WhistlePig 12 Year Old World. After all, the wine-barrel-finished rye famously meets bottle in a Vermont farmhouse: fall in postcard form. It recalls fresh-baked apple cobbler, dusted in clove, with a walnutlike nuttiness to its body.

From the opposite side of the country, Washington state’s Woodinville Whiskey Co. showcases many of those same stars of the cornucopia in its 100% Rye, Aged 8 Years. It’s an aromatic number, brimming with fig and mulled cranberry spice. The 100-proof juice also introduces less obvious fall fruit—think quince and overripened persimmon—in its round, elegant finish. Released in June, it’s already earned double gold at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Fall Distillery exterior Source: Woodinville — Woodinville Whiskey Co.’s production blends with the fall leaves.

Despite the overtures to fruit, these ryes preserve some semblance of savoriness. When I reach for an optimal autumn bourbon, by comparison, I consider the confections of the season—mainly, pecan pie and anything drenched in maple syrup. And there are bottles I’ll always associate with each of those flavors.

The first is Michter’s 20 Year Old Bourbon, a barrel-strength rendering of the best and booziest pecan pie you’ve ever sampled. Almost molasseslike in body, it exists as a slow, warming journey of decadence. It’s unveiled every other autumn on average. Or whenever master of maturation Andrea Wilson says it’s ready.

The second is a single-barrel sensation aptly titled King of Kentucky. Maple syrup, brown sugar, stewed apple pie speckled with cinnamon—it’s all here for the taking. The annual allocation fluctuates in strength and age from year to year. For 2025 we were blessed with a 17-year-old gem clocking in at a fierce 127-proof—perhaps the best one yet. In the past it made my annual shortlist of spirits of the year. Don’t be surprised if it does so again, real soon.

King of Kentucky Source: Brown-Forman's — All hail King of Kentucky.

Both of these limited releases cost way more than the average Halloween hayride. In fact, you can probably purchase a secondhand tractor for less than a secondary-market-priced Michter’s 20. It’s meant to retail at $1,200. Here it is listed online for 10 times that amount. The latest King of Kentucky was initially priced at $400 at bottle. It’s haunting to think about how much more I might be willing to spend on one.

If you don’t mind “cheating,” you can meditate on maple syrup for far, far less in a bottle of Knob Creek Smoked Maple. I say cheating because this is a flavored bourbon, tweaked with sappy syrup prior to bottling. But it avoids cloying sweetness or overly artificial undertones, so it’s one of the precious few flavored bourbons on the market that I actually rate—positively dripping with autumn for under $40 a bottle.

And let’s not keep ourselves confined to American whiskey, implores Noah Rothbaum. The author of the acclaimed new book The Whiskey Bible believes the best autumnal offerings can be plucked from the other side of the pond. “This time of year, I prefer a dram that features notes of apple, pear and baking spice,” he says. “My preferred examples include Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey, Compass Box Spice Tree Blended Malt Scotch and Glenrothes 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch. These whiskies taste to me like drinking liquid fall.”

Spice Tree Source: Compass Box — Spice Tree comes highly recommended from the author of *The Whiskey Bible*.

You can’t go wrong with anything in that trio: hearty drams filled with harvest fruit, reasonably priced (each of them sits squarely within the double-digit range) and widely distributed. I’d personally tag the Compass Box as the most quintessentially fall. It’s a refined blend, nosing with clove-studded apple streusel, plumbing robustness in its 92-proof body. It’s also existed for two decades as one of the best values in the category, finishing with a sophisticated cinnamon spice warmth you won’t typically encounter in a $65 bottle of Scotch.

The development of these flavors is largely the happenstance of aging, though they come together more in the hands of a capable and cognizant blender. Barrel maturation retains a remarkable degree of mystery. We do know that more time in a barrel will generally yield more of those wood sugars. And the virgin charred oak necessary for American whiskey yields more caramel and cinnamon. As for the grains involved, you’re going to perceive more of the fall desserts in corn and wheat. And more savory autumnal herbs/vegetables and orchard fruit from rye and malted barley, respectively.

Ranking the season’s most coveted release

American whiskey drinkers are currently fired up about the annual release of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Ever since its debut in 2000, well ahead of the modern bourbon boom, it has attracted an impassioned fanbase. The trove of limited-edition liquids—well-aged, often barrel-strength offerings from a storied producer in scant supply—foments a perfect storm for taters, slang for geeky collectors who often flip for a profit.

This October, buzz is at an all-time high. For the first time in almost 20 years, the collection has added a new bottling, bringing its total number of entries to six. And the newcomer, a 15-year-old E.H. Taylor, isn’t just a novelty. It’s damn delicious.

The four bourbons and two ryes comprising the collection are each meant to retail at $150 per bottle. We wish you luck in landing one at that price (remember what we said about the taters). On the secondary, it will command 5x markups, at least. I’ve pored through all the pours.

Buffalo Trace Distillery Antique Collection 2025 Source: Buffalo Trace Distillery — We rank the Buffalo Trace Distillery Antique Collection 2025.

If you’re prepared to shell out serious cash for American whiskey, here’s how you should prioritize that spend, according to my ranking of the 2025 releases:

6. Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon—The most approachable of the bunch is a 101-proof caramel bomb. It emanates orchard fruit in the nose and arrives at a lingering leathery note in the finish.

5. William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon—The fact that this is my fifth favorite speaks to the excellence of the field. It’s a rounded, high-proof ”wheater″ that tickles the tongue with toffee crunch. Despite 14 years of aging and 64.5% in ABV, it actually holds balance between oak and spirit.

4. Sazerac 18-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Rye—The lowest-proofed liquid in this year’s collection is still assertive with caraway, caramel and menthol at 90 proof.

3. Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye—Bright, bold and spicy, this 129.8-proof behemoth is not for the faint of heart. But if you can fight through the heat (or just add a few drops of water), you’ll find an alluring conflation of vanilla and peppermint to ponder—for what feels like forever—after each sip fades.

2. George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon—I must admit, I’m a sucker for this label. It’s always high on ABV and full-on flavor. This year it dials those traits up even further, transcending the 70% mark into Hazmat territory. The headline here is not the booziness, however. It’s all about an exotic potpourri of tobacco leaf and cedar.

1. E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Whiskey—I told you it was much more than a novelty. Aromas of maple-drenched pancakes, a palate of cherry pie and a finish that retreats with stone fruit, this is the fall bourbon you’ve been waiting for. The newcomer follows all the standards of bottle-in-bond whiskey, as established by its legendary namesake back in 1897. That means it sits at an exacting 100 proof and comes from a single distillation season. In this case, that was just over 15 years ago.

Drinking Game: Alphadots!

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Love crosswords, charts or a challenge? Meet Alphadots, where each day we’ll give you a chart that has a hidden word or phrase inside. Your goal is to find the answer, using the chart and some wordplay to help you get there:

Ready to play for real? Today’s clue: Where director’s cuts are made? Play now!

Whiskey legends of the fall

Ranking the season’s most coveted release

Drinking Game: Alphadots!

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