Blended American whiskey oftentimes doesn't get the same spotlight as single barrel bourbon or rye, but it's where some of the most interesting flavor engineering in the category happens — distillers building a profile from multiple mash bills rather than chasing one. This year, both finalists for Best Blended American Whiskey come from the same source: High Bank Distillery, the Ohio brand that built its name entirely on the art of the blend. Here's a closer look at the finalists competing for Best of Class at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Whiskey War is High Bank's flagship release and the whiskey that put the Columbus, Ohio distillery on the map. The name nods to a real piece of local history: a Prohibition-era saloon standoff just down the road from High Bank that's said to have helped spark the Anti-Saloon League. The whiskey itself takes a different kind of stand, built for easy, everyday drinking.

Double Double Oaked takes the same award-winning Whiskey War blend and sends it through not one but two additional maturations in new charred oak, a once-a-year release that adds noticeably more wood influence and complexity to the original. It's High Bank's showcase for what extra barrel time can do to an already proven blend.

Two finalists, one distillery, two very different lessons in what blending can do. Whiskey War shows the power of a well-built base blend; Double Double Oaked shows what happens when you push that same blend further in the barrel. Either way, High Bank has made a strong case for itself in a category that rewards exactly this kind of craftsmanship.