Tennessee whiskey lives by its own rulebook — the Lincoln County Process, the charcoal mellowing, the in-state production requirement — and this year's finalists show just how much range exists inside that framework. From a brand built on reclaiming whiskey history to the most age-stated release Lynchburg has produced in over a century, here's a closer look at the finalists competing for Best of Class at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Uncle Nearest honors Nathan "Nearest" Green, the formerly enslaved man widely credited as America's first known African American master distiller and the man who taught Jack Daniel how to distill. 1884 Small Batch, named for the year Green made his final batch of whiskey before retiring, is now distilled, aged, and bottled entirely in-house, with each batch curated by Green's great-great-granddaughter and the brand's Master Blender, Victoria Eady Butler.

The 14-Year-Old expression marked the first time in over a century that Jack Daniel's released a whiskey at this age, and Batch 2 builds on that benchmark. Bottled at a robust 117.6 proof from the brand's classic mash bill and run through the full Lincoln County Process, it represents the longest age statement currently in Jack Daniel's production lineup.

Leiper's Fork Distillery was the first legal distillery in its Williamson County town in more than a century, and it has built its identity on doing everything by hand — mashing, fermenting, distilling, aging, and bottling entirely on-site from locally grown grain. This Bottled-in-Bond release meets the federal requirements of the 1897 act in full: produced in one distilling season, aged at least four years, and bottled at 100 proof, all under one roof.

Three very different paths to the same designation: a brand reclaiming a piece of distilling history, an icon pushing its own age statements further than ever, and a small, hands-on operation proving that Bottled-in-Bond standardsand craft scale aren't mutually exclusive. That range is exactly what makes Tennessee whiskey worth watching right now.