The brand debuted in 2024, making this win an impressive early milestone.
Key Points
- Comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Fathertime Bourbon won Best New Bourbon at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, with The Caboose: Empty Nester Strength earning 97 points and a Double Gold Medal.
- Founded by Gaffigan and longtime friend Stu Pollard in 2024, Fathertime has released a lineup of whiskeys inspired by Gaffigan’s five children, including the award-winning The Caboose.
- The Caboose: Empty Nester Strength is a Kentucky straight bourbon bottled at 121 proof and is the fifth release in the brand’s lineup.
A good sense of humor will get you far in life. And apparently, it’s helpful in whiskey, too.
The 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) has crowned its Best New Bourbon, and the winning bottle comes from the mind (and palate) of comedian Jim Gaffigan. Fathertime Bourbon’s The Caboose Small Batch: Empty Nester Strength earned an impressive 97 points, securing a coveted Double Gold Medal and the Best New Bourbon title.
Fathertime is a relatively new brand in the whiskey scene, debuting its first bottlings in 2024. The company was founded by Gaffigan and his longtime friend, Stu Pollard, a film producer, director, and Kentucky native. Over the past two years, Fathertime has released a range of whiskeys, most named in honor of Gaffigan’s five children: Firstborn Edition, Second Child Syndrome, The Middle Child Mystery, Fourth & Long, and The Caboose…