Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 95 |
| Style |
Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Kentucky United States |
| ABV | 47.2% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $195.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2025-05-30 |
Michter's 10 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon (2025) Review
When it comes to limited release bourbons, few are as enigmatic as Michter’s age-stated lineup. The 10, 20, and (far more rarely) 25 year old expressions are only bottled when the distillery’s team deems them ready. In reality, that means we usually get at least one 10 year bourbon release per year, but as previous gaps in the calendar have shown, it’s far from a given.
Fortunately for Michter’s fans, the distillery has released a 10 year bourbon for 2025, the subject of today’s review. Like all previous “M10” releases, this one is somewhere significantly over 10 years old, though we don’t know how much older for sure. (The brand has taken to saying “overaged beyond 10 years.”)
As with all contemporary M10 releases, it’s not so much a batched product as a large series of single barrel bottlings. Michter’s is generally known to have some of the most consistent barrel-to-barrel flavor in all of whiskey, likely a testament to its age management system and proprietary filtration. The bottle we tasted comes from barrel number 25B0726. The bottling poof remains unchanged in recent years at a consistent 47.2 percent ABV.
According to Andrea Wilson, the company’s master of maturation, this year’s M10 bourbon boasts “a very inviting nose and draws you in like a good movie with its character development and complexity with the joy of a great story it has to share.”
Let’s see if the bourbon’s flavor can stand up to its cinematic description.
Michter's 10 Year Old 2025 Bourbon: Stats and Availability
For 2025, Michter’s 10 Year Old Bourbon carries a suggested retail price of $195, up a bit from $185 in recent years. It’s a limited release, allocated product, though the brand doesn’t provide a specific bottle count. As such, it’s not uncommon to see stores charge somewhat above MSRP, and I’ve seen recent bottlings listed from anywhere between $200 and $400 on New York City shelves. If you see this listed for anywhere within $10 of MSRP, consider it a solid find.
Michter's 10 Year Old Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
The early nose evokes some of the better Michter’s 10 Bourbon releases I’ve sampled in the past, with an immediate interplay of oak tannins, dark caramel sweetness and wood sugars, cooked fruit, toffee, and crème brûlée.
As with the 2024 version, those cooked fruits take center stage without quite hogging the limelight. Last year, I highlighted banana, dark cherry, and stewed peach. The nose can be biased from one tasting to the next, but on this 2025 release, scents are brighter and more pronounced, even beyond the norm. Here, we’ve moved in the direction of apricot jam, orange marmalade, maraschino cherry, and homemade cranberry sauce. It smells a touch more tart than other recent batches, and frankly, that helps it stand above most other expressions. A rich caramel and praline character is plenty noticeable on this Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey; when tart, cooked fruit punches through, it doesn’t present as a fragmented component, but instead elevates the whole experience.
Subtle baking spice folds in later on, along with the smells of gradually darker cherry liqueur, earthy fermented tea, and seasoned wood. Though perhaps well over 10 years old, this bourbon rarely if ever seems to get overpowered by wood influence. It’s not so oak-forward as to remind me of standing in the middle of a Kentucky rickhouse — but it’s not a stretch to believe I’m lingering near the doorway.
Nosing this, it’s tough to say there’s anything left out of a typical aroma range for Kentucky bourbon. The closer you smell, the easier it is to pick out almost any desirable scent. As per usual, I find myself spending upwards of 20 minutes on the nose alone.
Taste
I often wonder if Michter’s 10 would benefit from a proof above its standard 94.4. Tasting this year’s batch, I’m not dwelling on that question for too long. A first sip brings plenty of fruit and oak, perhaps just slightly above what one expects with its ABV. Notes settle into specifics with each sip, especially the early and lasting flavor of chocolate cordial cherries. It’s a little less spice-forward and a little more decadent compared to 2024, with the cherry/chocolate combo continuing in some capacity all the way through to the finish.
On the mid-palate, oak builds alongside a tiny pop of herbal funk. It’s a little earthen and still inherently sweet, with elements of unrefined molasses and sassafras; for a fleeting second, the whiskey reminds me of rustic country rootbeer. Sweet/hot cinnamon candy, grated nutmeg, cream cheese frosting, and creamy vanilla foam round out the sweeter flavorers before a turn toward leather and tobacco bridge the mid- and back-palates. The mouthfeel is both silky and viscous, with just enough effervescence to evoke cream soda.
Finish
Chocolate and cherry carry through to a lengthy finish, alongside campfire baked green apples, bananas foster, vanilla extract, allspice, and oak-infused caramel. The smallest hint of smoke and campfire embers add another layer to a finish that matches the palate almost blow-for-blow, then provides just enough of a twist to keep things interesting. It’s a fitting end to one of the better Michter’s products I’ve sampled in some time.
Michter's 10 Year Old 2025 Rating
95/100
Recap
As with all single barrel products, there’s likely to be some variance among this release of Michter’s 10 Bourbon. But assuming the bottle I sampled is close to par for the course, 2025’s release is a downright delicious Kentucky bourbon with few if any recognizable flaws. It’s a layered, complex pour, featuring notes easy to recognize but slow to overpower each other. I thought last year’s version was a high-quality release, and a worthy addition to one of American whiskey’s most consistent series. This latest version is even better — and for Michter’s fans, a can’t-miss pour.
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