K. Luke Bourbon Batch 16, 100 Proof Batch 6, & 12.7 Year Single Barrel

Batch 6 Small Batch is crafted from hand-selected barrels sourced from distilleries in Kentucky and Indiana. Built on straight bourbon whiskeys aged at least seven years and complemented by older barrels that add depth and layered character, it is bottled non-chill filtered at 100 proof to deliver elegant yet rich complexity. This quickly became one of my most reached-for bottles when it re-released earlier this year given its flavor and price, but we only have a handful of cases available again, so don’t hesitate.

The nose is rounded and sugary, with fresh raspberry, baked apple, and wildflower honey. It continues to layer into notes of salted caramel, candied almonds, and warming sweet oak.

The palate is nicely balanced and silky, opening with vanilla custard and strawberries and cream before moving into lightly spiced apricot jam and sweet oak.

Creamy cherry syrup carries long into the finish, joined by chewy caramel and charred sweet oak, with lingering notes of vanilla-chocolate swirl pudding.

K. Luke's Barrel Strength Bourbon placed #14 in Fred Minnick’s American Whiskey of 2025 and #54 on UPROXX’s Bourbon of 2025, and we’re back today with our second new barrel strength bourbon release of 2026.

Batch 16 Bourbon is sourced from several distilleries in Kentucky and Indiana, featuring mash bills with up to 36% rye. Similar to Batch 14 & 15, the bourbons in this blend are aged 8 to 12 years, allowing the focus to remain on building multi-layered, exciting blends rather than highlighting the individual components. Batch 16 builds on much of what I've loved in recent batches but seems to add further fruit notes and an even better balance of age. 

The nose begins dense, buttery, and sweet. Elegantly creamy, with initial notes of crème brûlée that give way to raspberry, black cherry, and apricot in a honeyed, softly fragrant package, before moving into juicier notes of lemon-lime soda concentrate or Tiger’s Blood shaved ice.

The palate is richly syrupy and excellently balanced. It begins with a velvety, sugary oak note with a touch of leather, quickly moving into fruit cocktail alongside a honeyed, almost nectary peach and gummy lime fruitiness. Spice is not the focus here, but those lemon-lime soda concentrate-like dances of citrus continue to give plenty of enjoyable, tingly sensation.

The finish is certainly the harmony of it all, a perfect crescendo of everything that came before: fruit, citrus, and sweetness. This is layered and expressive, and while earlier blends may have featured highlights of age in the base and highlights of spice and fruit up top without a complete bridge bringing them together, this is possibly the most elevated blend from the Maisanos.

Last up is a 12.7 year Indiana single barrel bourbon selected by Master Blender Jonathan Maisano himself. You may notice the 106.8 proof, and if you're familiar with other similar Indiana single barrels we've had on the site in recent years you know they don't usually last very long. 

At nearly 13 years old, the age is present but slightly masked by notes of brown sugar, caramel sauce, pipe tobacco, and sweet leather. While it certainly has red fruits and citrus, there’s a slightly dry oakiness above it, lingering with a fun, slightly savory sorghum note.

On the palate, sweet oak and fresh leather meet flat Vanilla Coke before moving into richer layers of mature oak and fudge brownies. It’s silky, balanced with spice, and incredibly easy to throw back.

The finish is where the maturity is highlighted, moving from sweet oak, leather, and tobacco into dark chocolate gelato and rich simple syrup, with a long, rich linger.