What is Wild Turkey Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Edition?

A 16-year-old, 120-proof Kentucky straight bourbon released May 19, 2026 at a suggested retail price of $400. It reimagines the cult 1985-1992 Wild Turkey bottling known to collectors as 'Cheesy Gold Foil,' and Associate Master Blender Bruce Russell built the blend from a little over 100 barrels of old-distillery stock. Russell has said this may be the last release composed entirely of pre-2011 distillate.

What is the E.H. Taylor Four Grain and Cured Oak release?

Buffalo Trace reintroduced two long-dormant Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. expressions on May 21, 2026. Four Grain (corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley, distilled 2015, aged 10 years) is now an annual limited release at $79.99. Cured Oak, a Bottled-in-Bond expression aged in barrels made from staves air-dried for 13 months, is a one-time return at $79.99.

What is Heaven Hill's 2026 Year of Wheat lineup?

Heaven Hill announced three Grain to Glass wheated bourbon releases for 2026: the standard 6-year wheated bourbon at 107.8 proof ($99.99, shipping May), a French oak-finished version at 109.2 proof ($129.99, October), and a one-time 9-year extra-aged release distilled in 2017 ($149.99, December).

Bourbon Weekly: Wild Turkey Revives Gold Foil, E.H. Taylor Returns

The bourbon industry spent the week of May 18 firing every commemorative bottle it had in storage. America's 250th anniversary is six weeks out, and producers are racing to land their patriotic pours before the July 4 retail window closes. Underneath the bunting, the actual news was about old bourbon: Wild Turkey resurrected its most loved cult bottling, Buffalo Trace revived two E.H. Taylor expressions that had been gone for years, and Heaven Hill committed an entire release year to wheat. None of these will be easy to find.

The Week in Seven Bullets

Wild Turkey launched Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Edition, a 16-year, 120-proof homage to the cult "Cheesy Gold Foil" bottlings of 1985–1992, at $400¹
Buffalo Trace brought back Colonel E.H. Taylor Four Grain and Cured Oak, both 10-year, 100-proof, $79.99. Four Grain becomes annual, Cured Oak is a one-time return²
Heaven Hill declared 2026 the "Year of Wheat," with three Grain to Glass wheated bourbons shipping between May and December³
Rittenhouse released a 10-year Bottled-in-Bond rye for the U.S. 250th Anniversary at $99.99, with Liberty Bell packaging⁴
Remus bottled a Lou Gehrig Reserve at 109 proof in 9,665 bottles, donating $9,665 to ALS research⁵
Woodford Reserve added a heirloom Red Corn release to its Distillery Series at 90.4 proof, $64.99 for 375mL⁶
Green River launched a Honey Finished Bourbon finished with real Kentucky honey inside the barrel: 92 proof, $25⁷

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Wild Turkey Resurrects Its Most Loved Bottle

Bruce Russell, son of Eddie and grandson of Jimmy, has spent years sorting through old Wild Turkey stock looking for barrels that taste like the bourbon his grandfather made in the 1980s. The Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Edition, released May 19, is the result¹.

The reference point matters. Between 1985 and 1992, Wild Turkey shipped a 12-year, 101-proof export expression with gold foil around the neck. Collectors call it "Cheesy Gold Foil." A sealed bottle today goes for $1,500 to $3,000 on the secondary market, and the cult is built on the bourbon's depth: dense fruit, toasted oak, and a richness that fans say has not been matched since Wild Turkey moved distilling operations in 2011.

Russell's new release is 16 years old at 120 proof, not 12 and 101. He chose the older, hotter format to compensate for a different production era. The blend is composed of just over 100 barrels of pre-2011 distillate. In an interview with Gear Patrol, Russell said this might be the last release Wild Turkey puts out where the entire blend comes from the old distillery⁸. The suggested retail is $400, and quantities are limited to select markets.

$400 buys you a 16-year bourbon from barrels that no longer exist in any meaningful quantity. The price reflects scarcity of source liquid as much as it reflects the cult premium. If Russell is right that this is the last Old Distillery bottling, the secondary market will not stay at $400 for long.

Buffalo Trace Brings Back Two Taylors

On May 21, Buffalo Trace reintroduced Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain and Cured Oak, both at 100 proof and $79.99 per 750mL². Four Grain last released in 2017. Cured Oak last released in 2015.

The Four Grain returns as an annual limited release. The mash bill includes corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley. The 2026 release was distilled in 2015 and aged ten years. Availability is restricted to the Buffalo Trace and Sazerac House gift shops and select retailers in Kentucky and Louisiana. Outside those two states, you are looking at the secondary market or a road trip.

Cured Oak is the bigger story for hunters. It will release once and not return. The expression is Bottled-in-Bond and aged ten years in barrels made from staves air-dried for 13 months, more than twice the standard curing time. The longer cure mellows the wood's harsher tannins and lets gentler vanilla, caramel, and baking-spice compounds dominate. Sazerac is shipping Cured Oak through its national distribution network, so it will appear in select retail accounts across the U.S. In practice, that means a handful of bottles per state.

The crowds confirmed the hype. By May 22, the Lexington Herald Leader was reporting snake lines at the Buffalo Trace gift shop, with bourbon hunters camping in line for the Four Grain⁹. If you want a chance, talk to your account manager at a serious retailer this week.

Heaven Hill Commits 2026 to Wheat

Heaven Hill announced on May 19 that its 2026 Grain to Glass series will focus exclusively on wheated bourbons³. Three releases roll out across the calendar:

Grain to Glass Kentucky Straight Wheated Bourbon (3rd Edition): 107.8 proof, $99.99, 170 barrels, distilled 2019, aged six years. Ships May.
Grain to Glass French Oak Specialty Release: 109.2 proof, $129.99, 170 barrels, six years in #3 char French oak. Ships September, retail October.
Grain to Glass Extra Aged 9-Year Wheated Bourbon: $149.99, distilled 2017, one-time only. Ships November, retail December.

Molly Vincent, Associate Director of Luxury Whiskey, framed the decision as a chance to "explore [wheat] more intentionally, how it softens, how it builds complexity over time"³. The strategic message is more interesting than the marketing one. Heaven Hill has been distilling wheated mashbills for years through Old Fitzgerald and Larceny Barrel Proof. Dedicating an entire premium series to wheat suggests the category sees the wheated bourbon market as durable rather than a passing fad chasing Pappy adjacency.

The French oak edition is the one to watch. French oak is rarely used for full maturation of American bourbon. Six years in those barrels should push the spice and tannin character well outside the typical wheated profile.

The America 250 Commemorative Wave

The bourbon industry is treating July 4, 2026 like Christmas. This week alone brought four separate 250th-anniversary releases:

Rittenhouse United States 250th Anniversary Commemorative Edition: 10-year, 100-proof Bottled-in-Bond rye at $99.99, Liberty Bell packaging, honoring Rittenhouse's Pennsylvania heritage⁴
Evan Williams America250 lineup: Black Label (86 proof, 1.75L), 1783 Small Batch (90 proof), and Single Barrel (117.76 proof, 250 barrels), with a $75,000 donation to Folds of Honor¹⁰
Maker's Mark 250th Anniversary Edition: 90 proof, $28.99, red wax with white and blue accents, supporting the Farmer Veteran Coalition (June 1 retail)¹¹
Four Branches Liberty Reserve: 100 proof, $119.99, 1,776 individually numbered bottles, veteran-founded brand (pre-sale opened May 20)¹²

The Rittenhouse is the pick of the group. A 10-year Bottled-in-Bond rye at $99.99 is genuine value, and Heaven Hill drew it from 90 carefully selected barrels across multiple rickhouses. The patriotic packaging is incidental. The liquid is the point.

A note on the broader strategy: every major distillery now has a 250th SKU, which means by August these bottles will be everywhere. The ones that hold value past Labor Day will be the ones with actual production constraints (Rittenhouse, Evan Williams Single Barrel). Bottles with broad national distribution at standard proof will discount before Christmas.

Two Bottles to Drink, Not Hunt

Green River Honey Finished Bourbon

Green River launched its Honey Finished Bourbon on May 15 at $25 for 750mL, 92 proof⁷. The construction is unusual. Most honey-flavored whiskeys are infusions or liqueurs (Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Wild Turkey American Honey). Green River instead takes four-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon and adds raw local honey directly into the barrel, letting the two marry naturally. The honey comes from Above the Dirt Garden and Honey Shop, a beekeeper-owned operation sourcing across the Midwest and South.

The result is closer to a finished bourbon than a flavored spirit. Tasting notes mention honey, caramel, orange peel, toasted oak, vanilla, and cinnamon spice. At $25, this is a porch pour, not a collector bottle. It would also slot cleanly into a Gold Rush in place of the honey syrup.

Woodford Reserve Red Corn Distillery Series

Woodford Reserve added Red Corn to its experimental Distillery Series on May 21⁶. The bourbon uses an heirloom red corn variety grown on a farm adjacent to the Versailles distillery, and a storm wiped out a significant portion of the crop several years back, making this release particularly limited. Bottled at 90.4 proof, $64.99 for a 375mL bottle, sold primarily at the gift shop and select Kentucky retailers.

Red corn brings savory and spicy notes that yellow dent corn does not. Woodford lists clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, pecan, walnut, and dried cherry in the official notes. The Distillery Series exists for exactly this kind of single-grain or single-variable experiment, and at $130 per 750mL equivalent, it is priced for collectors more than drinkers. Skip unless you collect the series.

Cultural Signals: Indy 500 and Lou Gehrig

Blue Run x Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Blue Run Spirits and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway launched a one-state, one-time bourbon on May 18, six days before the 109th running of the Indy 500¹³. The bottle is a 111-proof high-rye bourbon at the suggested retail of $80, sold only at IMS retail outlets and Indiana liquor stores. Race fans cleared the allocation by race day. The bourbon trades for $200 to $300 on the secondary market as of Memorial Day. This is the second consecutive year Blue Run has done an IMS tie-in; expect a third in 2027, and expect the Indiana allocation to be even harder to find.

Lou Gehrig in a Bottle

Remus Bourbon, distilled at MGP's Ross & Squibb facility in Indiana, released Remus Lou Gehrig Reserve on May 19⁵. The bottle is 109 proof — a reference to Gehrig's 109 RBI season in 1926, the first of his 13 consecutive 100+ RBI campaigns. Production is capped at 9,665 bottles, matching Gehrig's career plate appearances. MGP is donating $9,665 to the Live Like Lou Foundation, which funds ALS research.

The whiskey itself is a four-component blend: 14% 2016 bourbon with 44% rye mash, 70% 2017 bourbon with 49% rye mash, 8% 2019 bourbon with a 99% corn mash, and 8% 2019 bourbon with 36% rye mash. The high-rye core puts this firmly in MGP's wheelhouse, and the bottle ships with a QR code that tells buyers what Gehrig did in the actual game corresponding to their bottle's plate-appearance number. Suggested retail is $129.99.

Remus did the same exercise with Babe Ruth Reserve in 2024 and 2025, both of which sold through quickly. The Gehrig will follow the same pattern. If you want one to drink, $130 is a fair price for a 109-proof MGP blend with verifiable provenance. If you want one to flip, the Babe Ruth bottles are trading at $250–$400 on the secondary market, which sets a realistic ceiling here.

What to Watch

E.H. Taylor Four Grain and Cured Oak hitting select retailers this week and next. Check Drops for sightings and use the store map to find Kentucky and Louisiana retailers carrying the Four Grain.
Wild Turkey Gold Foil Edition allocations dropping in select markets through May and June. This is the one to chase if you can find it at retail.
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass 3rd Edition shipping this month at $99.99.
Memorial Day and July 4 retail windows will accelerate the America250 wave. Expect at least four more commemorative releases announced between now and June 15.
DISCUS Q2 export figures land in late July. The Q1 numbers showed continued declines against an already weak comparison year. If Q2 follows the same trend, expect another round of inventory management announcements from large producers.
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye A925 took America's Greatest Whiskey at the ADI International Spirits Competition on May 20 (12 years, 108 proof)¹⁴. Suggested retail is around $70 if you can find it.

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