Jack Daniel’s may be the best-known name in Tennessee whiskey, but plenty of other producers in the state have been winning top awards too. The six bottles here earned their medals at competitions held between 2024 and 2026, including the World Whiskies Awards, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the London Spirits Competition, and the Global Whisky Challenge.
If your experience of Tennessee whiskey has mostly been a bottle of Old No. 7, there’s a good deal more to explore in the state, and these whiskeys have proven themselves in front of judges at international competitions.
Below are six worth seeking out, along with the awards they won and what to expect when you pour one. Let us know in the comments which one you’d most like to try.
What Makes Tennessee Whiskey Different?
Tennessee whiskey is made in much the same way as bourbon, with one extra step before aging. The new spirit is filtered through sugar maple charcoal before it goes into the barrel, a method known as the Lincoln County Process.
At Jack Daniel’s, the whiskey drips through 10 feet of charcoal on its way to the barrel. A 2013 Tennessee law made this process part of the legal definition. The same law requires the whiskey to be made in Tennessee from a mash of at least 51% corn and aged in new, charred oak. Benjamin Prichard’s, which doesn’t use the charcoal step, was given an exemption from that rule.
Peg Leg Porker filters its whiskey through hickory charcoal after aging instead, which is why its label says bourbon and not Tennessee Whiskey. However, I thought it deserved to be included here anyway.
Old Dominick Bonded Tennessee Whiskey
Price: $60
Award: Double Gold and Best Tennessee Whiskey, 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (honored at the 2025 Top Shelf Awards Gala); Double Gold, 2026 SIP Awards
Old Dominick revived a Memphis whiskey name from the 1800s, and this bonded expression is made at the company’s distillery in the city. The mash bill is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley.
Under Bottled-in-Bond rules, the whiskey comes from a single distilling season and spends at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, although the distillery says the current release is six years old. It was made under Alex Castle, who left her role as master distiller in 2024.
Expect rich oak, toasted caramel, baking spice, dark honey, and vanilla bean, with a soft, warm finish that lingers. It’s also one of the more affordable bottles on this list.
Leiper’s Fork Distillery Bottled-in-Bond Tennessee Whiskey
Award: Double Platinum (Batch 22), 2026 ASCOT Awards; Double Gold, 2026 SIP Awards
Leiper’s Fork has a local edge, as most of the corn in this whiskey comes from the distillery’s own land. The brand grows about 75% of the corn it uses and sources the rest from within 10 miles, then combines it with rye and toasted malted barley in a 70/15/15 mash bill.
Its flavors include sweet corn, toasted oak, maple syrup and vanilla bean, along with gentle rye spice and a warm, velvety finish. The whiskey is distilled on a single Scottish swan-neck pot still and filtered through sugar maple charcoal before it’s barreled.
Lee Kennedy founded the distillery with his family in 2016 and serves as chief distiller, with Kendra Anderson as head distiller since 2023.
Bottled-in-Bond rules call for at least four years of aging, although the distillery lists the current release at six, and Batch 22 is the one that won Double Platinum at ASCOT.
Peg Leg Porker Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey Black Label 12 Year Old
Price: $189
Award: Platinum, 97 points, 2026 Global Whisky Challenge; Gold, 91 points, 2026 North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition
This bourbon took the only Platinum medal at the 2026 Global Whisky Challenge, and its 97 points were the highest score of the competition.
Black Label is the 12-year-old expression from Peg Leg Porker, the brand Nashville pitmaster Carey Bringle named after losing his leg to bone cancer as a teenager. The whiskey is sourced, and after at least 12 years in new charred oak, it’s filtered through hickory charcoal burned in Bringle’s own smoker pit.
Its profile includes toasted caramel, vanilla, sweet corn and subtle oak, with a hint of hickory smoke spice on the finish. Peg Leg Porker releases it once a year in small, numbered batches.
Uncle Nearest Master Blend Edition (Blend 072)
Price: N/A
Award: Gold, 92 points, and American Blended Whiskey of the Year, 2026 London Spirits Competition; Gold, 2026 Denver International Spirits Competition; Gold, 2026 SIP Awards; Gold, 2026 North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition
Master blender Victoria Eady Butler sets aside barrels from each batch of 1884 Small Batch she oversees, and those barrels go into the Master Blend Edition. Butler is the great-great-granddaughter of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the distiller the brand is named after. Nearest Green was a formerly-enslaved black distiller who is credited with teaching Jack Daniel how to make whiskey.
The Master Blend Edition was sold only at the Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville until its national release in 2025. It’s filtered through sugar maple charcoal, and its notes include dark chocolate, caramel, honey, marzipan, baking spices, toasted oak and ripe stone fruits, with a long, velvety finish, although the notes do vary by release.
Uncle Nearest has been in court-appointed receivership since August 2025, after its lender sued over more than $100 million in loans. In June 2026, the receiver removed founders Fawn and Keith Weaver, who deny any wrongdoing.
Jack Daniel’s 12 Year Old Tennessee Whiskey (Batch 2)
Award: World’s Best Tennessee Whiskey (Category Champion), World Whiskies Awards USA 2025; Gold – Category Winner, World Whiskies Awards 2025; Double Gold, 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition
Now we finally land on the brand that everybody knows, Jack Daniel’s. The 12 Year Old starts with the same mash bill as Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7, which is 80% corn, 12% malted barley, and 8% rye, and goes through the same sugar maple charcoal.
After charcoal mellowing, it went into new, toasted and charred American white oak barrels and aged for 12 years, starting on the upper floors of the barrelhouse and finishing on the lower ricks.
Master distiller Chris Fletcher released Batch 2 in February 2024 at 107 proof. There is brûléed banana on the nose and brandy-soaked red and stone fruits on the palate with pipe tobacco, seasoned oak, butterscotch, caramel, vanilla, and spice.
Jack Daniel’s 14 Year Old Tennessee Whiskey
Price: $580
Award: Category Champion – Best Tennessee Whiskey (13 to 20 Years), World Whiskies Awards America 2026; World’s Best Tennessee Whiskey, World Whiskies Awards 2026
A year after the 12 Year Old won the title, the 14 Year Old was named World’s Best Tennessee Whiskey at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards. Jack Daniel’s released Batch 1 in February 2025 in limited quantities in the US only. It is the oldest age statement the distillery has put out in more than 100 years.
It uses the same 80% corn, 12% malted barley and 8% rye mash bill as Old No. 7 and is mellowed through sugar maple charcoal before aging. During its 14 years in the barrel, it spent time on the upper floors of the rickhouses.
It was bottled at 126.3 proof. Its notes include sweet, creamy pipe tobacco, seasoned oak, butterscotch, rich caramel, maple and deep spice. At the World Whiskies Awards America ceremony, master distiller Chris Fletcher was also named Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year.
Which Tennessee Whiskey Should You Try?
If you’re after a straightforward bonded whiskey, Old Dominick and Leiper’s Fork are both bottled at 100 proof, and Leiper’s Fork grows most of its own corn. Peg Leg Porker offers 12 years of age with a hickory-filtered twist. Uncle Nearest and the two Jack Daniel’s bottles suit drinkers who want older, higher-proof whiskey. Which of these would you pour first? Let us know in the comments.
Read the full article at 6 Award-Winning Tennessee Whiskeys That Aren’t Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7
