Review: Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon (2026)
If it seems like we just visited Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon, you’re not taking crazy pills. The 2025 batch dropped around November, and not even six months later, we’ve got a new release. Indeed, along with a new (age-stated) rye, this year’s bourbon is part of a double-header that coincides with the company moving Cask Strength releases to the Spring.
Unlike the 2025 version, which was 10 years old, this year’s Cask Strength Bourbon ditches an age-statement entirely. That’s largely due to a dual shift in focus. First, the company is embracing a “Solera-inspired process” wherein a portion of prior releases are held back, rebarreled, and added into new Cask Strength blends. Indeed, the 2026 bourbon includes whiskey from the 2023 (8%), 2024 (20%), and 2025 (9%) releases. That 2024 inclusion is especially noteworthy, since it featured some tawny port finished bourbon in addition to the brand’s traditional ruby port finish.
Second, the 2026 release marks an increased emphasis on in-house distillate. According to Master Distiller Owen Martin, a majority of this year’s blend comes from Angel’s Envy’s own stills, which came online in 2016. All told, all whiskey in the 2026 Cask Strength Bourbon release was distilled between 2014 and 2019, with an age range (including Port finishing) from 6 years, 11 months to 12 years, 3 months. The longest port finishing period was 3 years, 3 months.
Around 20,640 bottles will be released to the U.S. market, and an additional 1,446 bottles will hit global retail. The whiskey is bottled at 117.8 proof with a retail price of $250. Let’s dive in.
Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon (2026) Review
The nose opens with a big wave of cherry cough drops. It takes a minute to acclimate beyond that, but frankly, I was in no rush; it’s a pretty engrossing first hit of red fruit. Up next come some more “traditional” Kentucky bourbon notes, like a progression out of central casting: dark caramel, marzipan, praline, baked apples, and clove. Aromas gradually move away from juicy/fruity to oaky and tannic, with an increasing bias toward tanned leather the longer you sniff. Generally, the bourbon noses right around what you’d expect from its proof.
Similar to the nose, a first sip brings syrupy, bright red fruit, including cherry and raspberry candied, in addition to some candied grapefruit peel. Tart, not-quite-ripe apples and apricots build a few more sips in, creating a little fun push-and-pull between sweet and tart. The bourbon leans viscous, and perhaps as a result, the midpalate is notably pronounced. Dark cherry meets leather, tea, and dark chocolate. It’s both decadent and tannic, like a (very) dark chocolate ganache topped with a deeply reduced berry sauce.
The finish starts strong, with continuing red fruits, nutty praline, and lingering chocolate and mocha notes. Flavors then turn even more tannic, and while not lip-puckeringly sharp, the final impression is a touch dryer than I was hoping for. This year’s Cask Strength Bourbon isn’t age stated, but there’s no question the blend features plenty of oak; if anything, I would have welcomed slightly less in that department, at least at the very end.
At its peak, Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon can feel like one of American whiskey’s sneakiest sleeper hits. (I’m personally a big fan of 2024.) The 2026 version hits some real highs, though that final act pulls things down just a touch. A few drops of water certainly help in that regard, extending those luscious red fruits, lending some marmalade, and helping tamp down dryness on the finish.
117.8 proof.
A- / $250 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
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