We Tasted Hundreds of Whiskeys. This Limited Release From Michter’s Is the Best Bourbon of the Year

Every year Men’s Journal sets outs to find the best bourbon. That task has gotten ever harder, since over the last 20 years, the American whiskey industry has boomed and now there are hundreds of distilleries around the country making excellent bourbon.

That said, one bourbon truly stood apart from the rest during our taste-testing in 2025: Michter’s 10-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon. It was our overall best bourbon of the year and the award should be no surprise to anyone who's tasted the rich and complex whiskey. And if that wasn’t enough, we also named Michter’s the best splurge bourbon for its decadent and expensive 20-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, which sells for up to $5,000 a bottle. 

While this achievement would be impressive enough, the modern incarnation of Michter’s is not even 30 years old. This chapter of the brand’s history began because Joe Magliocco was a big fan of the original Pennsylvania-based Michter’s distillery, which closed on Valentine’s Day 1990. It was not surprising, given that at the end of the 20th century, whiskey was having a hard time with drinkers around the world switching in droves to vodka, gin, and rum. 

In the late 1990s, Magliocco and his partner, Richard Newman, decided that they would try to bring Michter’s back. They soon learned that the company was completely gone. So for $245, they were able to register the dormant trademark and began to rebuild the brand from scratch. (Read about Michter’s incredible rebirth in Wayne Curtis’ excellent profile of Magliocco he wrote for our Whiskey Issue.) Ultimately, Magliocco and Newman constructed a new distillery for Michter’s in Louisville, KY, as well as an impressive visitors center.

For many years, there were plenty of skeptics of the plan to bring Michter’s back, but those critics have largely now become the brand’s cheerleaders, since the finished whiskey is undeniably wonderful. The secret to the success of Michter’s is that it never cuts corners and employs a host of truly old-school whiskey-making techniques. 

We hope you’ll join us in lifting a glass of Michter’s to toast the brand on being named our best bourbon of the year!