Welcome back to Your Bourbon Journey! It’s that time of the month again, and Wayne and Rebecca are diving headfirst into an absolute powerhouse lineup for our May 2026 Whiskey of the Month blind tasting! As we continue our high-stakes Road to the Sweet Sixteen, the competition is tighter than ever. With our current leaderboard running a massive scoring range of 91 to 99.5 and a Top 10 average sitting at an elite 94.95, every single point counts. Will this month’s winner have what it takes to secure a permanent spot in the year-end playoffs?
In this episode, we shake things up with a rapid “express tasting” to see the gorgeous legs and color consistency before diving deep into our traditional scoring system. Every bottle starts at a baseline of 80 points, with up to 5 points for the nose, 10 for the taste, 3 for the finish, and up to 2 elusive wild card points reserved for something truly outstanding.
We also announce some massive channel updates coming this December—including our upcoming hard-to-get distillery exclusive playoff, vintage whiskey of the year, and cocktail of the year!
Our May 2026 Contenders (In Alphabetical Order):
🥃 Cigar Blend “First Cut” | American Single Malt Whiskey (Virginia Distillery Co.)
🥃 Fresh Bourbon Single Barrel | Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Fresh Bourbon, LLC)
🥃 Hard Truth 7-Year Wheated Bourbon | Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Hard Truth Distilling Co.)
🥃 Jackson Purchase Full Proof (Special Festival Release) | Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Jackson Purchase Distillery)
🥃 Left Bank Single Cask (Release 5) | Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Left Bank Distilled Spirits)
From sweet honeysuckle aromas and rich butterscotch notes to deep barrel char and bold baking spices, this flight completely blindsided our palates. Watch until the very end to see the final score adjustments and find out which of these bottles completely stunned us, shook up the leaderboard, and forced the very first bottle elimination of the year!
Drop a comment below: Have you tried any of these expressions? Which bottle did you think would take the crown this month?
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📊 SEE THE LIVE LEADERBOARD: Want to see where these bottles rank against the rest of the field? Check out our real-time leaderboard here: 👉 https://yourbourbonjourney.com/2026/02/27/the-live-leaderboard-road-to-the-sweet-sixteen/
🥃 OUR NEW SCORING PROCESS: We’ve revamped our scoring to be more transparent than ever. Read the full breakdown of our new rubric and the “Sweet Sixteen” bracket process on our website: 👉 https://yourbourbonjourney.com/2026/02/27/decoding-the-pour-the-new-your-bourbon-journey-scoring-woty-process/
❌YOUR BOURBON JOURNEY DOES NOT SELL ALCOHOL❌
Original Reviews for Today’s Bottles:
🥃 Cigar Blend:
🥃 Fresh Bourbon, Jackson Purchase, and Left Bank:
🥃 Hard Truth:
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NOTE: The spirits in this review were purchased by us. We were not compensated by the spirit producers for this review. This is simply our opinion based on what we tasted on this day. Please drink responsibly.
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