Caramel | Milk Chocolate | Orange | Dried strawberry | Touch florial

Cherry | Dark chocolate | Dark brown sugar | Leather | Cinnamon syrup

Baking spices | Mixed nuts | Charred oak | Vanilla | Touch of pine | Lingering, increasing spice

Duck Club Bourbon Co. was founded in 2025 by spirits company Morningside Brands, The Silent Group, and country music artist Riley Green. The brand was created to celebrate the “people who spend time outdoors” and “anyone raised in the tradition of family, land, and time spent outside.” The brand’s two initial bourbon releases, Duck Club Blend of Straight Bourbon: 92 Proof and Duck Club Bourbon: 110 Proof - High Brass, were blends that ranged between 5 and 8 years old, sourced from Kentucky and Indiana, with an emphasis on delivering quality pours at approachable prices. Conservation is a core part of the brand's identity, with Duck Club supporting North American wetland preservation through partnerships such as its collaboration with Ducks Unlimited.

Duck Club's previous two releases were pleasant surprises that nailed the classic bourbon profile. Wetland takes that same mentality and zeroes it in even further, resulting in a bourbon you’ll have a hard time putting down.

It opens with an aroma that showcases the bourbon’s most unique notes. The mix of caramel, milk chocolate, orange, cherry, and floral scents doesn’t sound overly unique, but it is in practice. The palate and finish are where the bourbon really shines. Cherry, dark chocolate, dark brown sugar, leather, and cinnamon syrup are beautifully balanced and executed. The finish continues in the same positive direction, with rich baking spices and mixed nuts, combined with charred oak, vanilla, and pine.

Although this flavor profile seems routine and the sources of this blend aren’t wholly original, how it all comes together is what makes this bourbon work. It’s perfectly proofed, which allows just enough flavor to envelop your palate, and then some. It takes the traditional flavors everyone knows so well and adds the perfect amount of intensity and richness. This isn’t a bourbon you’ll need time to get to know. It instantly hits. Combined with its bottle shape, the imperfection in its glass, the throwback label, and the incredible value it offers at $60, you get one of the year’s most unexpected hidden gems.