These are the 2026 award-winning bourbons you can buy from us. At the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, FEW Straight Bourbon won Double Gold, Widow Jane 10 Year Old won Gold, and Noah's Mill and Rowan's Creek each won Silver. We checked every result on The Tasting Alliance's own record and matched it to the exact bottle we carry.
| Bottle | Competition | Medal | Name on the official record | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FEW Straight Bourbon Whiskey | San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026 | Double Gold | FEW Straight Bourbon | 46.5% |
| Widow Jane Bourbon 10 Years | San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026 | Gold | Widow Jane 10-Year Old Bourbon | 45.5% |
| Noah's Mill Bourbon | San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026 | Silver | Noah's Mill Kentucky Straight Bourbon | 57.15% |
| Rowan's Creek Bourbon | San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026 | Silver | Rowan's Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon | 50.05% |
Every row comes from the results database of The Tasting Alliance, which runs the competition. Where a winning record could match more than one bottling, or did not name the age or strength of the bottle we carry, we left it out. Below: what the competition is, what each medal means, what a medal can and cannot tell you, and who each winner suits.
What is the San Francisco World Spirits Competition?
It is an annual spirits competition run by The Tasting Alliance, which also publishes the results. Producers enter their own bottles, choosing one category per competition, and the products are "judged within groups based on their category". The Tasting Alliance refers to "the standard San Francisco World Spirits Competition blind judging process": the judges taste without seeing the brand. The competition page also asks that samples "accurately represent the final product in terms of formulation and production quality".
What does Double Gold mean?
A Double Gold is not a separate tasting. In The Tasting Alliance's medal guidelines, it is "exclusively bestowed upon spirits that achieve Gold medal ratings from every discerning member of our esteemed judging panel". Put simply: Gold from every judge on the panel. FEW Straight Bourbon's 2026 medal means every judge on its panel scored it Gold.
Gold, Silver and Bronze
- Gold: spirits "residing near the summit of achievement within their respective categories". In short, near the summit of its category.
- Silver: "spirits that exhibit outstanding qualities within their category". Outstanding qualities within its category.
- Bronze: a spirit "commercially sound but modestly attractive, showcasing a commendable absence of appreciable flaws". Commercially sound, with no appreciable flaws.
Platinum, Best of Class and Best in Show
Above Double Gold, Platinum is "reserved for spirits that have achieved Double Gold distinction three consecutive years at the Competition": Double Gold three years in a row. Best of Class is "Selected from the Double Gold Medal recipients", so it is chosen from the Double Gold winners in a category, and Best in Show is "Selected from the year's Best of Class winners", chosen from the Best of Class winners.
Does a medal carry over to other bottlings?
No. The Tasting Alliance says its "medallion artwork may only be used on products that were submitted to and awarded by our judging panel", and that "Any changes made to a product after entry render it ineligible to use the artwork". A medal belongs to the product that was entered, not to the brand or to its other bottles.
That is why we match the exact bottling. One example: at the same 2026 competition, Old Bardstown Bottled-In-Bond Straight Bourbon won Gold. The Old Bardstown we carry is bottled at 45%, and the US rule for "bottled in bond" in 27 CFR 5.88 requires bottling at 50%. So ours is a different product, and it is not in our table, even though it is a fine bourbon in its own right.
Does a medal mean a bourbon is good?
It means a panel of judges thought so, tasting blind, on the day. That is useful, and it is not the whole story. Producers choose whether to enter, and The Tasting Alliance explains that brands are given a period in which they "may choose to opt out of public visibility for any reason", so "some entries and award-winning products may not be immediately visible in our published results". A bottle missing from a results list may simply not have been entered, or not shown.
Results also move from year to year. In the records the database shows, Widow Jane 10 Year won Double Gold in 2022, 2024 and 2025 and Gold in 2026, while FEW Straight Bourbon won Silver in 2022, 2024 and 2025 before its 2026 Double Gold. Treat a medal as one more good reason to try a bottle, then trust your own glass.
The award-winning bourbons, and who each suits
FEW Straight Bourbon, 46.5%: Double Gold
FEW is from Illinois, and it describes its bourbon as a three-grain recipe that adds "the spiciness of northern rye and a touch of malt", taking on "the spicy character of a fine rye". It suits the bourbon drinker who likes spice and pepper with the sweetness, and it is one of our eight picks in the best bourbon for an Old Fashioned.
Widow Jane 10 Year, 45.5%: Gold
Widow Jane says its 10 Year is "Hand assembled in Brooklyn" from straight bourbons, "only ever in 5 barrel batches", and proofed with mineral water from the Rosendale Mines of New York. Its own notes run to vanilla, cinnamon and cream on the nose, then orange, maple, cherry and almond. It suits a drinker who wants an older bourbon that is sweet and rounded rather than oak-heavy.
Noah's Mill, 57.15%: Silver
Noah's Mill is one of the Willett family's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers labels, bottled at 57.15%, so measure a 30 ml pour and add water. Willett's notes: walnuts, prunes and floral notes, then spice and lavender, with a long finish of burnt caramel. It suits the slow, contemplative sipper. The whole family is ranked in Willett and Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, ranked.
Rowan's Creek, 50.05%: Silver
Another Willett family label, a straight Kentucky bourbon at 50.05%, so measure the pour here too. Willett's notes put caramel and vanilla over herbal and floral notes, with an oily start, a dry finish and a lingering spice. It suits someone who wants a floral, herbal style of bourbon to drink neat with a little water.
What is the best bourbon in the world?
No competition settles that, and no single bottle wins for every palate. A Double Gold says one panel loved a bourbon on one day; your taste decides the rest. The better question is which style you like: sweet and soft, spicy, or rich and oaky. Our map of every type of whisky and our guide to types of bourbon will help you find it. When we do argue a "best" case, we show the evidence, as in why Kavalan whisky is the best.
For rye, see our rye whiskey guide. For a present, try our bourbon gift guide or whisky for Christmas, and for bottles from everywhere, the best whiskies to try.
Award-winning bourbon FAQ
Is Double Gold better than Gold?
It is a stronger result, though not a separate tasting. A Gold is the panel's award; a Double Gold means every judge on that panel gave the spirit a Gold rating, so the panel was unanimous. Neither tells you whether you will prefer the bottle, which is why we suggest tasting two side by side.
When are the 2027 San Francisco results announced?
The Tasting Alliance has not published a results date yet. Its competition page gives Friday 16 April 2027 as the registration deadline and Friday 30 April 2027 as the deadline for samples to arrive. We will update this page when the 2027 results are published and checked against the official record.
How can I check a medal myself?
Search the bottle's name on The Tasting Alliance results page, then compare the record name with the label in front of you: the age, the strength and words such as "bottled in bond" or "single barrel". If the record does not match those details, the medal may belong to a different bottling of the same brand.
Shop award-winning bourbon
Find more in our bourbon collection, with the Willett family labels together in Willett, and more in rye whisky and whisky. For rum, our award-winning rum guide follows Foursquare's medal record the same way.