The World Whiskies Awards has announced its 2026 winner for World's Best Finished Bourbon, recognising excellence in a category that's seen explosive growth over the past few years.
Finished bourbons - where the spirit spends additional time in secondary casks after its initial maturation - have become increasingly popular among Australian collectors. These releases often command premium prices, but the best examples justify the outlay with added complexity and depth.
The award highlights what distillers can achieve when they push beyond traditional bourbon maturation. What makes Maker's Mark 46 stand apart is that while bourbon drinkers are well accustomed to toasted barrel finishes, this isn’t that.
There’s no secondary cask in play - no port, sherry, or wine influence. Instead, Maker’s took a different path.
They finish the whisky by inserting seared French oak staves directly into the barrel, building structure and depth from within rather than layering it on from another cask.
It’s a small shift in process, but a meaningful one - and one that helped define a category that’s now everywhere.
Congrats on a well deserved win to the Maker's.
Source: World Whiskies Awards
