Booker's The Reserves Rye 2026 750mL

The 2026 Booker's The Reserves is one of the most unconventional releases ever to carry the Booker's name: a barrel-proof rye whiskey finished in apple brandy barrels and infused with cinnamon. Bottled at a powerful 125.1 proof (62.55% ABV), it is released uncut and unfiltered by the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky.

This is the third annual release in the Booker's The Reserves series and the first rye whiskey to appear in the collection.

Created by eighth-generation master distiller Freddie Noe, The Reserves was introduced in 2024 as a tribute to his grandfather, legendary Beam master distiller Booker Noe, who launched Booker's Bourbon in 1988 after years of sharing barrel-strength whiskey with friends and family.

Unlike standard Booker's batches, The Reserves is produced in much smaller quantities from specially selected barrels, with Freddie Noe personally choosing whiskey from Beam's warehouses for each annual release. Every edition is intended to stand on its own, with no repeat batches.

The series has become increasingly experimental with each release. The inaugural 2024 Booker's The Reserves was an exceptionally limited bourbon assembled from just eight barrels ranging from approximately eight to fourteen years old. The 2025 edition became the first Booker's release to receive a secondary barrel finish, spending eleven weeks in tequila casks with a remarkable history: the barrels had previously held Booker's 30th Anniversary Bourbon before being used in Mexico to mature El Tesoro 85th Anniversary Tequila.

For 2026, Freddie Noe takes the series another step outside traditional Booker's territory.

Instead of bourbon, this release begins with rye whiskey, which is then finished in apple brandy barrels and infused with cinnamon before being bottled at full strength.

That combination makes the 2026 edition particularly unusual within the Booker's lineage. The brand built its reputation around uncompromising, barrel-proof American whiskey with minimal intervention. An apple brandy-finished, cinnamon-infused rye represents a dramatically different interpretation of what a Booker's release can be.

Rye whiskey itself has rarely appeared under the Booker's name. The most famous example remains Booker's Rye "Big Time Batch," released in 2016, a 13-year-old limited edition that went on to become one of the most coveted modern releases associated with the brand.

For collectors and longtime Booker's drinkers, the appeal of the 2026 The Reserves is straightforward: scarcity, experimentation and a combination never previously released under the Booker's name.

The Reserves is produced as a limited annual release rather than an ongoing expression, making each year's bottling a distinct chapter in the series. The 2026 edition stands alone as the first The Reserves rye and the first to combine rye whiskey, apple brandy barrel finishing and cinnamon infusion.

Bottle Details

Proof: 125.1 Proof / 62.55% ABV
Origin: Clermont, Kentucky, USA
Distillery: James B. Beam Distilling Co.
Whiskey Type: Rye Whiskey Finished in Apple Brandy Barrels & Infused with Cinnamon
Cask Finish: Apple Brandy Barrels
Bottling: Uncut & Unfiltered
Series: Booker's The Reserves
Edition: Third Annual Release
Selection: Hand-selected by Freddie Noe, Eighth-Generation Master Distiller
Release: 2026
Availability: Limited Release

Age: 6yr 2months 23days