Hey Friends,

Quick one this week because I'm packing. Tomorrow I head to Bardstown for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival — 35th anniversary, 70+ distilleries — and I'll be posting from the road on Facebook, Instagram, and Patreon all week. If there's a bottle or a distillery you want me to track down while I'm there, reply and tell me.

But first, a few things I need from you.

The Big News: Mark Carter is coming to Fort Wayne. 15 seats left. On Friday, September 25 — the night before Fort Wayne Bourbon Fest — Mark Carter, the founder of Old Carter, is coming to Auburn to walk us through the history of everything he's built. That includes pours of Old Carter, pours of his Carter Cellars wine, and pours of Kentucky Owl — the brand he founded before Old Carter, and some of the hardest bourbon to find anywhere. It's at the Annex in Auburn (424 W 9th St), tickets are $100, and it's a room of 50. We started with 50 seats. 35 are gone. That leaves 15, and I'd love to close this out before I'm back from Kentucky. Get Tickets

Bottle Share at ZBar — you pick the night The last Bottle Share at ZBar was one of the best nights we've had this year, so we're doing it again — and going LIVE on YouTube from it like last time. Unfortunately with Kentucky Bourbon Fest 9/11 and 9/12, the Fort Wayne Bourbon Fest 9/25 and 9/26 and my son getting married 10/3 there are not a lot of dates that work. Vote for your date:

Quick ZBar updates WE DID IT! Three barrel picks in three different states in 7 days. The last one was an RV trip to Ben Holladay and was an absolute blast. The barrel is picked, and five of you rode along. Thank you to the crew — the full video is coming in September, and it's a crazy one. The Bottle Interest form we soft-launched last week already produced its first real order. It works. If there's a pick you want — Bardstown Wheated and Larceny 8 Yr at Hoffman's are both still on the shelf — the form is the fastest way to tell us.. Interested in Bottles?

This Week in Whiskey News

• Maker's Mark Cellar Aged 2026 landed September 1 — 112.1 proof, $175, a blend of 11, 12, and 14-year wheated bourbon. This is the one I'm hunting first. The 2025 was excellent, and I want to know if they topped it.
• Baker's 13 is back for Baker Beam's 90th birthday — 13-year single barrel at 107 proof, $149.99. Baker started as a night watchman at Clermont and retired as master distiller. Great story, great bottle.
• Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2026 ($199.99) is sweepstakes-only this year with in-person pickup at the Louisville distillery. If you're a Birthday Bourbon hunter, the rules just changed.
• Willett at Sotheby's: 328 bottles from the "Wax Top Collection" — the largest Willett Family Estate offering ever auctioned — is live through September 18. Doug's Green Ink ryes are estimated at $13,000–15,000 a bottle.
• Also out this month: Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon (146.4 proof, $249.99), Basil Hayden Cognac Cask Reserve, Woodford Reserve Super Seasoned Oak, and Bib & Tucker 8 Year Bottled-in-Bond ($64.99).

One for the group chat: Of everything releasing this month, which one would you actually hunt at retail? Maker's Cellar Aged has my vote. Reply and tell me yours.

Sip together, learn together, have fun together

— Steve