(Credit score: Angel’s Envy))
We proceed The Whiskey Reviewer‘s custom of providing the workers’s Prime Picks for the earlier 12 months, introduced yearly in early January. That is our casual model of an awards present in print, with an notorious on casual. We don’t convene a panel, as a result of that’s an excessive amount of of a hassle! As a substitute, every member of the workforce might provide their separate and distinct opinion on all or any of three classes:
Finest New Whiskey: That is self-explanatory, however will probably be defined anyway. That is the staffer’s decide for the perfect whiskey launched in 2024.
Finest To Cross My Lips: This was the perfect whiskey imbibed by the member of workers throughout 2024. The whiskey needn’t be new. It could overlap with Finest New Whiskey, however in that occasion the above class needs to be stuffed by the runner-up.
Greatest Disappointment: This was the heaviest letdown of 2024 encountered by the workers member. It additionally needn’t be new.
Richard Thomas, Proprietor-Editor
Finest New Whiskey: Angel’s Envy Cask Energy 2024
Angel’s Envy Cask Energy is a constantly good annual bottling, however this 12 months Grasp Distiller Owen Martin determined to tinker with success, and I for one am glad he did. From its inception, the expression has been a cask energy, hand-selected tackle the usual Angel’s Envy, a bourbon completed in Ruby Port pipes. For 2024, Martin determined so as to add some Tawny Port-finished bourbon into the batching. The outcome actually took the expression up a notch. I’ve notes on all the sequence and have written up all however the 2013 launch for The Whiskey Reviewer, and that is my favourite but, beating out even the unique 2012 bottling.
Finest To Cross My Lips: Michter’s 20 Yr Outdated Bourbon 2022
In 2019, the 20 12 months outdated label of Michter’s Bourbon dropped the one barrel designation, buying the much less particular (however nonetheless applicable) “restricted launch” tag. The 2022 installment proves that alteration did nothing to alter the standard of what’s within the bottle. Certainly, if something it’s a plus: now you can rely on batching to make sure that every bottle is constant. Single barrels are fascinating and provide the buyer the fun of getting one thing that’s practically distinctive (if solely barely so), however when one pays a minimal of $1,200 a bottle to get it, it’s comprehensible that one may wish to know for positive what’s coming with that bottle. This one is richly aged whereas being removed from over-oaked, making for a pour that simply retains on giving and giving, sip after sip.
Greatest Disappointment: Triple Canine Irish Whiskey
Though not horrible, Triple Canine was actually unremarkable. Worse, it was overpriced. It shouldn’t be exhausting to discover a higher blended Irish whiskey for much less cash. The one excuse one has for choosing up this underwhelming bottle is ignorance, so right here I’m to warn you once more.
Kurt Maitland, Deputy Editor
Finest New Whiskey: Glengoyne White Oak 24 Yr Outdated Single Malt
Merely an important instance of what occurs whenever you take a whisky that has normally been present in Sherry Casks and do an extended maturation in bourbon. Nice style and completely totally different animal.
Finest To Cross My Lips: 3Rivers Bottling of Highland Park 24 Yr Outdated Single Malt
That is at all times exhausting to pick out as a result of forty whiskies could possibly be within the combine in a given 12 months. However I lean into latest feeling and decide one the releases I had on the finish of the 12 months: a 3Rivers bottling of a 24 12 months outdated Highland Park. The bottling reveals off the entire qualities that made Highland Park one among my first loves on the earth of Scotch.
Greatest Disappointment: American Massive Whiskey Doing Single Malts
It is a broad brush tarring, however the entire massive bourbon manufacturers making an attempt to doing an American single malt dissatisfied me, and there was much more of that in 2024. All the massive American distillers appear to wish to keep away from embracing the chance that American single malts presents. I think about they may sooner or later, however for 2024 it was the most important disappointment.
(Credit score: Randall H. Borkus)
Randall H. Borkus, Senior Contributor
Finest New Whiskey: Michter’s Toasted Barrel End Bourbon 2024
This one is superb once more. The nostril is filled with toasted honey Caramel. The entrance and mid-palate are chock filled with buttery caramel, French vanilla and butterscotch drizzle. And just a bit water brings out sprinkles of toasted brown sugar cookie crumbs. The mouth really feel is heat, juicy and viscus. The end is loaded with candy, toasted oak, a touch of butterscotch and a dry nuttiness. It is a worthy pour, and I’ve loads of backup on my bar. I so want they’d make extra of it! Fairly please Andrea?
Finest To Cross My Lips: Longrow 21 Yr Outdated Peated Single Malt
This was such an fascinating 12 months for me with plenty of nice whisky. For this class, I’m compelled to offer a shout out to the Preservation Distillery’s restricted version Consider 20 Yr Outdated Kentucky bourbon and the Sazerac 18 12 months outdated rye.
However, the perfect whisky to go my lips this 12 months is Longrow 21 Yr Outdated from Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown, Scotland. Longrow whisky’s heavy, smoky character is rumored to replicate the Campbeltown whisky model from its Victorian peak. Its taste comes from the heavily-peated malted barley, and from Springbank’s direct-fired wash nonetheless, double-distilled and sluggish cooling by the spirit nonetheless’s worm tub. The malted barley is peated to 50-55 elements per million (ppm), which is far larger than the standard 8-10 ppm of the Springbank expression. Longrow 21 12 months outdated is non-chill-filtered, free from added coloration and bottled at 46%.
(Credit score: Randall H. Borkus)
The nostril holds a stable hit of peat smoke, mocha, blackberry jelly and vanilla. The palate is wealthy, creamy and viscus with a great deal of mocha, citrus peel, espresso and a crisp apple sweetness. The end is lengthy and oily with a smoky citrus splash, touches of smoked pineapple and sea brininess. This is a superb single malt that caught me off guard with its taste complexity. This whisky screamed I’ve arrived with the very first sip!
Greatest Disappointment: Kentucky Owl Batch 12 Bourbon
Kentucky Owl Batch 12 was an enormous disappointment. Binny’s DSRP was $399.99 in Chicago, and nobody purchased it. I believed I used to be fortunate to seek out it on sale at $149.99, however I used to be mistaken concerning the fortunate half. The flavour profile lacks any critical complexity which I grew to become accustomed to when Dixon Dedman was on the helm with the early batches 1-10. Batch 12 is a NAS intermingling of seven to 14-year-old bourbons blended with 4-year-old bourbons that drinks like a backside shelf bottle. It’s nice in a cocktail like an Outdated Usual. My brother Rick digs it with Coke over ice, which he would inform you is its finest use as he laughs at me for getting it within the first place.
Andrew Graham, Contributor
Finest New Whiskey: Woodinville Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 8 Years
Once I first tasted Woodinville’s eight-year bourbon expression, launched Sept.1, my rapid response was to marvel what the hell they’d performed to this specific whiskey to make it so uniquely distinctive.
Nicely, it seems that quite a lot of it’s within the barrels. You may learn the press launch for the entire particulars, however briefly, they used this lengthy, drawn-out course of and a few chemistry to determine which barrels have been producing the perfect taste compounds. They waited a very long time after which bottled it, and that’s what this whiskey is.
The result’s an expression that’s an absolute taste bomb for bourbon followers. Vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, darkish chocolate, cocoa powder, espresso: All these flavors are there, on the entrance of my palate, after I drink these things—and so they’re cooperating, not competing with one another. Then there’s a fast wisp of mint on the end. It’s simply excellent.
This expression is 100 proof and has a high-rye mash invoice of 55% corn, 35% rye, and 10% malted barley, a bit spicier than the mash of the distiller’s flagship bourbon, which is 72% corn, 22% rye, and 6% malted barley.
(Credit score: Richard Thomas)
Finest To Cross My Lips: Shenk’s Homestead Bitter Mash Whiskey 2020
For 2025, I resolve to get extra into the American single malts, which is lastly an actual factor within the eyes of the legislation. (This class has been rising steadily for awhile. However, domestically, it can explode bigly in the doubtless state of affairs that there are extra import taxes placed on Scotch whiskies.)
Nonetheless, for this 12 months’s best-of, I’m going to stay with what I do know finest, and what I do know finest is bourbon. One of the best whiskey to go my lips this 12 months was the 2020 launch of Michter’s Shenk’s expression.
Most Michter’s expressions give my palate a dusty, umami-rich funk, form of like how a contact of truffle oil will add quite a lot of earth and musk to a dish. To me, this high quality is uniquely Michter’s; no different distiller I’ve ever had can replicate it.
This expression has that in droves, as if they may add an additional sprint of that distinctive taste in only for good measure. Past that, my palate picked up notes of vanilla extract (wealthy sweetness balanced with a nuttiness), after which baking spice and ultimately mint, virtually as in the event that they’d married the perfect elements of Michter’s bourbon and its rye.
It’s exceptionally clean and tannic, and the end is longer and stickier than the comparatively modest proofing of 45.6% ABV might suggest.
Michter’s is famously cagey about their mash payments and age statements, and there are two methods to reply to that. A technique is to simply not care—they make nice stuff constantly; simply go away them alone about it and allow them to cook dinner.
The opposite means is to marvel about it, and this expression does make me marvel about it. I think it’s a young-ish whiskey with an outdated soul. An instance of precisely how distinctive a comparatively younger sour-mash bourbon will be.
David Levine, Contributor
Finest New Whiskey 2024: Copperworks Launch #49 Fritz Pale Malt
I gave my highest score of the 12 months to Russell’s Reserve 15 Yr Outdated, and it’s exhausting to argue towards it being the perfect factor I tasted as a brand new launch in 2024… however simply to be contrarian (whereas acknowledging how nice the RR15 was) I’m going to say the perfect new launch I had in 2024 was the Copperworks Launch #49 Fritz Pale Malt.
It was an extremely complicated single malt from brewers-turned-distillers that explored the grain in a totally intentional means. The Copperworks workforce knew what they needed to realize, and so they did it. I like that. I like profitable intentionality. Solely about 5% of issues I style all year long charge above an 8/10 on my scale – different extremely rated (8+) releases this 12 months showcased top-quality mixing, single barrel choice, and long-term maturation. None, nevertheless, demonstrated the step-by-step, grain-to-glass-to-lips meticulousness and success therein than Copperworks’ launch.
(Credit score: Richard Thomas)
Finest To Cross My Lips: Michter’s 25 Yr Outdated Bourbon 2023
This was simply f***ing sensible. I don’t understand how Michter’s manages to seek out these few barrels at this age that aren’t oak focus, however they do it. I’ve my suspicions that they’ve a “skillful chill filtration” approach that minimizes tannins and oakiness, and I don’t care. In the event that they use it to make a 25-year outdated American whiskey of any kind simply the tiniest bit palatable, not to mention mind-blowing, might they discover 50 barrels a 12 months of these things. It’s a testomony to Willie Pratt’s imaginative and prescient and Dan McKee and Andrea Wilson’s capability to deliver that imaginative and prescient to fruition every time attainable. And thanks to a fellow author on this website for generously offering from his personal bottle for me to style. I tasted this to start with of February and nothing all year long – not even Russell’s Reserve 15 YO – got here remotely shut. Now to simply discover an oz of that 25 12 months outdated rye to style….
Greatest Disappointment (Together with a Particular Rant!): Sazerac Traveller Whiskey
I’m going to separate my vote right here and provides a largest disappointment for a particular product then one for the business.
Product-wise, the massive letdown was Sazerac’s Traveller Whiskey, bar none. I received blowback for calling this out in early February, however I stand by my reasoning. Sazerac made an enormous deal about this being a concurrently premium whiskey (the 40th mix out of fifty+ tasted, chosen as the perfect by Harlen Wheatley and Chris Stapleton) and a low-priced, broadly out there one (~$40 and located just about anyplace). So, it’s a low-priced premium whiskey that’s simply findable… what? Add within the botched rollout about whether or not Stapleton was sober, sober-ish, consuming carefully, and many others. whereas selecting a whiskey to bear his title, and this was an absolute mess. Lastly, in the event that they tasted over 50 blends and this was genuinely their prime one, I significantly fear concerning the palates of each particular person concerned in that call.
OK, particular rant time. Trade-wise, my largest disappointment is the dearth of effort (perceived or actual) in massive model tasting notes. It’s not new, by any means, however I really feel like this 12 months hit peak laziness. Booker’s and Little E book made a few of my favourite bourbons this 12 months, but the tasteless, quotidian, unspecific tasting notes from batch to batch have been at finest uninspiring and at worst (Little E book The Infinite) insulting. Lest somebody suppose I’m singling out Beam-Suntory, the identical goes for descriptions of Stagg no-longer-Jr, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof and Larceny Barrel Proof batches, Outdated Fitzgerald editions, and lots of others from heritage and huge manufacturers that will merely belabor the purpose. To make this extra salient, let’s simply give attention to the batched merchandise. Merely put, in case you’re placing out a batched product, the thought assumedly is that every batch is singular, is saying one thing, has some extent that ultimately differentiates it from the others, be it two three or 4 batches per 12 months. What made ECBP A124, B524, and C924 totally different from one another? All of them tasted totally different and had totally different ages, however why? Identical for Larceny, Outdated Fitz, and Booker’s. Altering age statements and proofs does make them “totally different,” however I’m anticipating a objective. Simply batching for the sake of some particular person attempting to “accumulate all of them” Pokémon-style is boring. And for Booker’s, in case you’re going to undergo the difficulty of naming the batches (a practice I somewhat take pleasure in), join the story and the product and the tasting notes ultimately. Calling 2024-04 Jimmy’s Batch in honor of Jimmy Russell is a beautiful tribute however inform me extra. Was the date important? Have been you aiming for a Wild Turkey-like profile? Was there some that means to the naming different than simply slapping his title on it? Embrace objective. Embrace intentionality. Embrace thought transparency. Embrace the trouble required to make this stuff particular. If I’m paying $75-$150 for these “premium”, particular releases, make me really feel particular for getting them, such as you put the identical effort in that makes it value my whereas to purchase and recognize.
