This Sober October, the New Drybridge No. 86 is Betting the Future of NA Whiskey Belongs at the Bar

Fresh off three 2026 award wins, the San Diego-born whiskey-inspired NA spirit is pushing the category beyond substitution and into the sipping ritual and nightlife.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The non-alcoholic spirits category has spent years answering one question: What can you drink instead?

Drybridge No. 86 is asking a different one: Why should the ritual have to change?

The San Diego-born, veteran-owned whiskey-inspired non-alcoholic spirit was developed around a simple premise: someone choosing not to drink alcohol should still be able to sit at the bar, pick up a heavy rocks glass and have something worth sipping slowly.

And when it goes into a mocktail, it should bring enough character to carry the drink.

That puts No. 86 in a different corner of the rapidly evolving NA category. Rather than focusing only on replacing whiskey in a recipe, the brand is working to expand whiskey culture to include people who are not drinking alcohol.

That idea is already being tested in the places where whiskey culture actually lives.

No. 86 is now being poured across a growing roster of San Diego bars and nightlife institutions including the iconic whiskey bar Aero Club, plus other top bars like Waterfront Bar & Grill, Werewolf, The Hills, Hearth House, Sycamore Den, Harbor Town and Club Marina.

The common thread is not wellness.

It is bar culture.

Waterfront Bar & Grill, founded in 1933 and known as San Diego’s oldest tavern, offers an especially fitting proof point. The Little Italy institution has spent generations serving traditional bar culture, making its embrace of No. 86 a sign that non-alcoholic drinking is increasingly finding a place in venues that were never built around sobriety or wellness.

“For us, it has to work in a real bar,” said Chad Cline, owner of Waterfront Bar & Grill. “Our guests come in for a drink, not because they’re shopping a wellness category. What I like about No. 86 is that it gives someone who isn’t drinking alcohol something that still feels right in that environment. You can pour it over ice, build a cocktail around it and serve it alongside everything else we already do.”

Heading into Sober October, that positioning now comes with significant industry validation.

It took 172 formulations, tasting sessions and feedback from whiskey drinkers, bartenders and hospitality professionals before arriving at the version that became Batch 173. Launched this year, Drybridge No. 86 has already earned three 2026 award wins spanning taste and design:

• American Whiskey of the Year at the 2026 International Non-Alcoholic Competition

• Silver Award with a score of 80 at the 2026 Summer PR%F Awards tasting competition

• Double Gold at the 2026 Summer PR%F Awards design competition

Awarded for taste. Recognized for design. Built for the ritual.

For co-founder Jason Nichols, the distinction between creating an NA cocktail ingredient and creating a spirit people actually want to sip was fundamental from the beginning.

“There were already ways to make a non-alcoholic cocktail,” said Nichols. “What I was looking for was the experience of pouring something into a rocks glass and actually wanting to sit with it. The glass, the ice, the oak, the slow pour, the bar itself. We wanted something that could stand on its own, but still give bartenders a strong foundation for a great zero-proof cocktail.”

FROM ZERO-PROOF COCKTAIL INGREDIENT TO SIPPING SPIRIT

Non-alcoholic spirits have traditionally had an obvious proving ground: the cocktail.

Take the alcohol out of an Old Fashioned, Manhattan or Whiskey Sour, replace the base spirit and rebuild the familiar drink around it.

No. 86 wanted to prove the bottle did not always need the rest of the recipe.

The spirit was developed specifically to hold its own neat or over a large cube, with notes of toasted oak, smoke, vanilla and caramel, gentle warmth and a long, dry finish. At the same time, it was built with enough structure and character to work in zero-proof whiskey cocktails.

It contains less than 0.5% ABV and can be served neat, over ice, in mocktails or as part of a 50/50 pour with traditional whiskey.

The goal was not to fool someone into believing alcohol was in the glass.

The goal was to make that irrelevant.

“We’re not trying to win a game of ‘guess which one is bourbon,’” Nichols said. “We wanted to make a spirit people genuinely enjoy drinking. If someone wants it neat, it should hold up. If a bartender wants to build a great zero-proof cocktail around it, it should do that too.”

FROM WELLNESS PRODUCT TO NIGHTLIFE PRODUCT

The product philosophy also reflects a larger idea about who non-alcoholic drinking is for.

For years, the conversation around drinking less has largely lived in the language of wellness, moderation and abstinence.

No. 86 believes it can also live at the neighborhood bar, the concert, the steakhouse, the dive and the late-night table.

In other words, the places people drank whiskey in the first place.

The growing NA category creates a third option: stay for the night and change what is in the glass.

SOBER OCTOBER, WITHOUT SITTING OUT

That philosophy becomes especially relevant during Sober October, when consumers across the country will experiment with going 31 days without alcohol.

No. 86’s invitation to them is simple:

86 the alcohol. Not your social life.

Keep the reservation. Keep the concert. Keep the rocks glass.

“Drinking less doesn’t mean you suddenly stop liking bars, whiskey glasses, live music, good dinners or staying out late,” said Nichols. “For me, this started with wanting to drink less without giving up the parts of the experience I actually enjoyed.”

ABOUT DRYBRIDGE NO. 86

Drybridge No. 86 is a veteran-owned, San Diego-based, whiskey-inspired non-alcoholic sipping spirit co-founded by Navy veteran Sean Sailes and Jason Nichols. Developed through 172 formulations before arriving at Batch 173, Drybridge No. 86 was created to bring the ritual of whiskey to drinkers choosing less or no alcohol. With notes of toasted oak, smoke, vanilla and caramel and a long, dry finish, No. 86 is designed to be enjoyed neat, over ice, in mocktails or as part of a lower-ABV 50/50 pour. In 2026, Drybridge No. 86 was named American Whiskey of the Year by the International Non-Alcoholic Competition and earned Silver for taste and Double Gold recognition for design at the Summer PR%F Awards.

Drybridge No. 86 is available at DrinkNo86.com, Amazon and at select bars throughout San Diego.