The 'World's Most Admired Whiskey' Brand Is Releasing A Rare 20 Year Bourbon Just In Time For The Holidays

Taking home the title of "World's Most Admired Whiskey" just once is an incredible accomplishment for a distillery; doing it three times is something special. In August 2025, Drinks International awarded Michter's that honor for the third year in a row. The award is decided by a panel of whiskey experts based on quality and consistency — of course — but also the whiskey's price-to-quality ratio and the strength of the brand. With a bottle of Michter's, you know that you're not just getting a great whiskey, but you're also getting your money's worth. And now, with the holiday season on the horizon, Michter's is releasing a 20-year-aged bourbon that is sure to be admired by any and all takers.

Michter's 20 Year Straight Kentucky Bourbon is a unique bourbon, bottled at an elevated 114.2 proof (57.1% ABV) and carrying a deep complexity thanks to its long aging. "Details matter when it comes to aging bourbon gracefully," says Andrea Wilson, Michter's master of maturation, in a press release. "Michter's 20 Year Bourbon is an exemplary representation of how oak can be used to deepen vanilla, toffee, chocolate, spice, fruit, and confectionery notes that enhance complexity in bourbon."

The law requires that straight bourbon whiskey be aged for a minimum of two years, but wonderful things can happen when you increase that mandatory period by a factor of 10. With this bottle of Michter's you can trust that the aging process has been done to perfection.

"To age a whiskey that will taste wonderful after two decades in a first-use barrel is an extremely difficult endeavor that requires a skillful balance of art and science," says Michter's President Joseph J. Magliocco in a press release. "I believe that people will appreciate the thoughtful and conscientious work of our production team when they taste this exceptional whiskey."

Michter's is known to take great care in its longer-aged products, carefully monitoring and controlling the maturation environment to achieve the best results. Some of this comes down to the location of the distillery — Kentucky is known to have an ideal climate to age whiskey — but Michter's won't put just any aged bourbon on the shelf. While the brand does seek to put out a 20-year-aged bottle most years, it will skip a year if the product is not up to the distillery's exacting standards. There is a reason that Michter's is ranked among the very best bourbon brands.

Michter's 20 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon will set you back a pretty penny — the suggested retail price for a 750 milliliter bottle is $1200 — but it is an investment worth making. Not only is this a spirit of exceptional quality that also makes a wonderful holiday gift for someone special, but previous iterations of this bourbon have been known to skyrocket in value. If you are looking for a premium bottle of bourbon for your home bar, expect to start seeing these bottles hit the shelves around December 1.