Sometimes the best bottles aren’t planned.

I was in a liquor store in Woodstock, Georgia, during my visit to see Lizzi last week. I have a bad habit of lingering too long in these places — talking bourbon with the owner or an employee — and then feeling a little guilty when I realize I’ve taken up time and haven’t bought anything. When that happens, I usually look for something I don’t already have that’s reasonably priced and call it a day.

That’s how I ended up with a bottle simply labeled Uncharted.

I did a quick Google search in the store, saw a couple of solid reviews, and took a $40 chance.

That night, I blinded it against three other bottles I’d brought with me:

• A Bardstown Origin Series

• An Old Louisville K Series

• A true bottom-shelf wildcard — Stedman’s Bottled-in-Bond, which I’d picked up at Walmart the day before for $24

I’ll be honest: I fully expected the Bardstown and the K Series to dominate.

They didn’t.

The biggest shock was Stedman’s, which finished second. It had dusty peanut notes, creamy caramel, and just a touch of cinnamon — nothing flashy, but shockingly solid for the price.

But the real surprise was Uncharted, which came out on top.

The whole “riverboat aging” thing sounds like a marketing gimmick… until you taste it. This bourbon is viscous, rich, and unapologetically sweet — a brown sugar and honey bomb loaded with caramel and milk chocolate, with some genuinely pleasant oak showing up on the back end. It drinks bigger and more layered than its price point suggests.

Seriously — if you have a chance to grab a bottle of this, don’t hesitate. I’m confident it’ll shine neat, hold up beautifully on a cube, and make an outstanding Old Fashioned.

In the end, hanging around the liquor store a little too long worked out just fine. I may need to start doing that more often.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.