What’s happening in wine and whiskey this week:

This Week’s Unicorn Review Stories

🥃 Susannah Skiver Barton interviewed Julian Van Winkle III about Pappy Van Winkle, the infamous Jell-O shots, “Poor Man’s Pappy,” and secondary market price inflation.

New Bottle Releases

Star Hill Farm Whisky ($100)

Maker’s Mark’s Star Hill Farm Whisky has returned for 2026. When it was first released last year, it was made from the distillery’s first new mashbill in 70 years—actually, a blend of two mashbills: 100% malted wheat; and 70% wheat and 30% malted barley. The two were aged for seven to eight years, blended together, and bottled at 58.2% ABV, which is slightly higher than the first release. The whisky (Maker’s spells it without the “e” like the Scots) is also Estate Whiskey certified and made from regeneratively grown grains. Look for notes of ripe fruit, dark chocolate, cherry syrup, maple, and vanilla on the palate.

Ardbeg Dolce ($110)

This single malt is Ardbeg’s new Ardbeg Day release to celebrate the annual Fèis Ìle festival. Expect the typical intense smokiness that defines Ardbeg’s whiskies, but there’s a bit of sweetness in the mix as well due to the fact that this expression is a combination of whisky aged in bourbon barrels and whisky aged in Sicilian marsala dolce casks. Ardbeg Dolce is bottled at 47.8% and has notes of dark chocolate, soft smoke, salted nuts, and lemon rind on the palate. 

Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week

New Riff Duet ($80)

New Riff is one of the very best new-school Kentucky distilleries, an independent operation that produces fantastic bottled-in-bond bourbon, rye, and American single malt whiskey. New Riff's latest release doesn’t fall into any of those categories, however, but it’s a superb new whiskey nonetheless that was made in collaboration with a local brewery called Rhinegeist.

DUET American Whiskey was made from a mashbill of 57% malted barley, 37% raw barley, and 6% rye, so from the get-go this is not your usual whiskey (and notably one that doesn’t meet the qualifications of an American single malt because of the mashbill). The “majority” of the whiskey was then aged in a combination of barrels—new American oak, Spanish Oloroso, and Pedro Ximenez sherry (unclear where the minority of the whiskey was aged)—before being blended together. That blend was then put into a foeder, a large oak vat typically used to ferment beer or wine, and then put back into used American oak barrels for a period of time. The final whiskey was aged for a minimum of six years and bottled at 111.2 proof.

And it’s delicious, with notes of toasted nuts, dark and milk chocolate, ripe berries, dark roast espresso beans, orange candy, baked apple, and sherry spice on the palate. Once again, New Riff has come up with a really good, and really unique, whiskey that is truly worth hunting down. DUET American Whiskey is available now at New Riff’s gift shop and select retailers in Ohio and Kentucky, and you can also find it being poured at The Aquifer Tasting Room at New Riff and at Rhinegeist’s Tap Room.