{"id":2144,"date":"2026-03-05T17:52:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T23:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/?p=2144"},"modified":"2026-03-05T17:52:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T23:52:33","slug":"bourbon-club-of-arkansas-announces-final-results-of-2026-blind-whiskey-of-the-year-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/05\/bourbon-club-of-arkansas-announces-final-results-of-2026-blind-whiskey-of-the-year-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Bourbon Club of Arkansas Announces Final Results of 2026 Blind Whiskey of the Year Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>PUBLISH DATE:<\/strong> March 5, 2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Bourbon Club of Arkansas (BCA)<\/strong> has revealed the final rankings from its annual <strong>Blind Whiskey of the Year competition<\/strong>, one of the most anticipated internal tastings within Arkansas\u2019s bourbon community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each year, BCA members conduct a blind tasting of standout barrels and releases associated with the club, ranking them purely on flavor without knowing the bottle identities during evaluation. The competition highlights some of the most memorable single barrels and picks connected to the group over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <strong>Gary Penna<\/strong>, the final rankings for 2026 are:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bunnycdn-block-stream-video\"><div style=\"position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;\" class=\"bunny-stream-video\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.mediadelivery.net\/embed\/608267\/97102dd4-7537-4ae1-a743-4c487c022af9?autoplay=false&#038;loop=false&#038;muted=false&#038;preload=false&#038;responsive=true\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border:0;position:absolute;top:0;height:100%;width:100%;\" allow=\"accelerometer;gyroscope;autoplay;encrypted-media;picture-in-picture;\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bca-blind-whiskey-of-the-year-final-rankings\">BCA Blind Whiskey of the Year \u2013 Final Rankings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/a-new-bca-private-blend-is-coming-built-at-barrel-king\/\">Barrel Kings \u2013 \u201cHello Darkness\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/19\/elijah-craig-dark-side-barrel-bca\/\">Elijah Craig \u2013 \u201cDark Side\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/bca-elijah-craig-light-side-barrel\/\">Elijah Craig \u2013 \u201cLight Side\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/24\/elliott-brothers-five-star-liquor\/\">Elliot Brothers<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/bca-x-ace-release-baby-billys-reserve-russells-reserve-single-barrel-pick\/\">Russell\u2019s Reserve \u2013 \u201cUncle Baby Billy\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/14\/bca-prepares-to-select-desert-diamond-barrel-pick\/\">Smoke Wagon \u2013 \u201cDesert Diamond\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/sagamore-spirit-barrel-18-9-year-old-high-rye-selection-110-proof\/\">Sagamore \u2013 \u201cRyed the Lightning\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/15\/straight-outta-bardstown-bca-announces-6-year-bardstown-bourbon-single-barrel-pick\/\">Bardstown \u2013 \u201cStraight Out of Bardstown\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>While <strong>Barrel Kings \u201cHello Darkness\u201d<\/strong> claimed the top spot in BCA\u2019s internal competition, it will <strong>not be submitted to the ASCOT Awards through the club<\/strong>. The distillery will instead enter the whiskey independently in a separate category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of this, the <strong>BCA entries advancing to the ASCOT Awards will be ranked #2 through #5<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"565\" height=\"509\" src=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gary-Penna-BCA-BCA-Blind-Whiskeys-of-the-Year-03-01-2026.jpg\" alt=\"Bourbon whiskey tasting lineup on a wooden barrel\u2014eight bottles of Kentucky straight bourbon and rye in a rustic bar setting with wood wall backdrop.\" class=\"wp-image-2145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gary-Penna-BCA-BCA-Blind-Whiskeys-of-the-Year-03-01-2026.jpg 565w, https:\/\/arkansasliquor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gary-Penna-BCA-BCA-Blind-Whiskeys-of-the-Year-03-01-2026-300x270.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source:  Gary Penna &#8211; Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Elijah Craig \u201cDark Side\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elijah Craig \u201cLight Side\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elliot Brothers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Russell\u2019s Reserve \u201cUncle Baby Billy\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These selections will represent BCA in the upcoming <strong>ASCOT Awards<\/strong>, an international spirits competition judged by a panel of industry experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a-track-record-of-award-winning-picks\">A Track Record of Award-Winning Picks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The announcement continues a streak of success for BCA, which has gained national recognition for its barrel selections in recent years. The club has produced multiple award-winning picks and has even landed <strong>top whiskey honors at the ASCOT Awards<\/strong>, a rare accomplishment for a private bourbon group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From carefully selected single barrels to creative collaborations with retailers and distilleries, BCA has helped elevate Arkansas\u2019s reputation in the national bourbon community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the ASCOT submissions now determined, many bourbon fans across Arkansas will be watching closely to see if this year\u2019s entries continue the club\u2019s winning streak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PUBLISH DATE: March 5, 2026 The Bourbon Club of Arkansas (BCA) has revealed the final rankings from its annual Blind Whiskey of the Year competition, one of the most anticipated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_gspb_post_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[13,135,136],"class_list":["post-2144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bca","tag-breaking","tag-hot"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bourbon Club of Arkansas Announces Final Results of 2026 Blind Whiskey of the Year Competition - Arkansas Liquor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Bourbon Club of Arkansas has announced the final rankings from its 2026 Blind Whiskey of the Year competition. 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