Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2025 från Whisky Advocate

Even if you like to explore different whisky styles, one that you may not have seen is light whiskey. It’s a curious, mysterious genre, and people are often left wondering what it really means. Spoiler alert: it’s not called light whiskey because it’s diet-friendly, because of its color, or because of its proof. The term is partly meant to describe the whiskey’s flavors, but that isn’t the whole story. By definition, light whiskey must be produced in the U.S., with a distillation proof of more than 160° (80% ABV) but less than 190° (95%), and aged in new uncharred or used oak containers. There is no rule on what grains can be used; a fairly typical part of most other whiskey definitions. It seems to fly in the face of…

“Pssst—which one used to be a dead priest?” That from my friend Mrs. Kessler at my mother’s wake; she’d heard the stories. She’d also heard about whiskey at Irish wakes, but never believed that either until I took her to the back room and made her a drink—after I’d pointed out my cousin Jimmy, the formerly deceased cleric. It’s a longish story. Jimmy was what another cousin always called the golden boy. Star student and a big, good-looking kid; signed on with a seminary straight out of high school. Half a generation ahead of me, he was always there, faintly glowing in the family background. I was in high school when we attended his ordination in a Chicago parish run by the order he’d joined. Shortly thereafter, when we visited…

AS I STOOD IN MY KILT about to deliver my groom’s speech in front of my bride, our parents, friends, and relatives, I was about to reveal a secret—even to my bride. This was 2006, and our fairytale wedding reception in a picturesque Scottish village was in full swing. After praising my wife and thanking the wedding party, I lifted my dram and invited everyone to charge their glasses for a toast. At this moment, I revealed that I’d ordered a cask to be filled at Bruichladdich Distillery to mark the occasion of our wedding. Furthermore, my intention was to bottle this whisky for our silver wedding celebration in 25 years’ time, when guests at our party could take home a bottle of whisky that was as old as our…

Tequila is firmly in the spotlight, occupying a huge slice of pie for new spirits releases outside the whisky world. Here aged expressions reign supreme, with many of them matured or finished in a variety of casks. Outside of that, there’s also a well-aged cognac, an artisanal Irish gin from Donegal, a mezcal made from a rare type of agave, and an herbal liqueur that’s a great choice for home bartenders. Lalo High Proof, 54%, $75 TEQUILA This is the first new expression from Lalo since the brand’s debut. It was made from Highlands agave, champagne yeast, and well water, and it’s bottled at 54% ABV—a sizable leap from the brand’s flagship tequila, which is 40%. High Proof is available nationwide for a limited time. Alma Del Jaguar Añejo, 40%,…

Scotland SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALT 91 Creetown Distillers 1995 Speyside Distillery 28 year old Sherry Butt Matured Single Cask (No. 9), 51%, $200 Caramelized sugar, grilled pineapple, and baked apples make for an enticing nose, pulling you back for more; if you stick with it awhile, you’ll be rewarded with earthier notes and minerality. Java on the palate; flavors of coffee ice cream and café con leche enhance a delightfully creamy texture. The finish sees more of that espresso influence, and it’s amplified by dark chocolate brownie batter and cardamom spice. No complaints here!—JH 91 Tamnavulin Red Wine Cask Edition American Cabernet Sauvignon Cask Finished, 40%, $42 The nose puts you in a lumberyard—aromas of timber, sawdust, and paper bag waft upward. There’s more to this than wooden must, however, with…

Mint is a multifaceted herb, with spearmint and peppermint being the best-known examples. Peppermint offers a stronger, more minty flavor, whereas spearmint is milder and more understated, seemingly closer to the plant where its flavor originates. It’s most commonly found in rye whiskey or high-rye bourbons, and once you tune into it, there’s no escaping the mintiness in a glass of either. But is it all down to just the grain? Fermentation produces spicy mint notes from rye grain, but fresh discoveries suggest mint flavors can arise from another part of the whisky-making process, most notably the barrel. Researchers in Bordeaux demonstrated the presence of barrel-sourced volatile odorant compounds similar to those in peppermint oil as likely candidates for the mint notes in red wine. Turning to whisky, they analyzed…

The Italian liqueur limoncello is made from lemon zest, with flavors to match. “Limoncello has a bright, zesty, and sweet profile,” says Kate Williams, bar director at Nostrana in Portland, Oregon. “More like a syrup than lemon juice, it can add another layer of citrusy depth to a cocktail while maintaining balance thanks to its alcohol content.” Williams points out that there’s a general rule in cocktail-making that lime pairs well with clear spirits—think blanco tequila, gin, and vodka—while lemon is a good fit with dark spirits like cognac, amari, and, of course, whisky. “Bourbon, rye, and scotch all work well with limoncello—it’s a match made in boozy heaven,” Williams says. The Whiskey Sour is perhaps the most well-known whiskey and lemon cocktail, and it makes a great starting point…

If you haven’t tried a light whiskey before, it’s definitely a style worth exploring, characterized by subtle sweetness and airy notes of fruit, vanilla, honey, and other soft flavors, which make it an ideal after-dinner dram or refreshing summertime sipper. Most light whiskeys have attributes that modern whiskey drinkers like: high proof, high age statements, and an occasional bargain price. As the category continues to evolve, the best of light whiskey may be yet to come—but now is a great time to jump aboard to see what you’ve been missing. 92 Austin 121 Cask Strength, 65.6%, $94 Peach, apricot, vanilla, earthiness, apples, dark berries, and a hint of anise 92 King’s Family Distillery 17 year old Single Barrel Select, 67.5%, $100 Caramel, mellow oak, gentle herbs, grape jelly, açai, cocoa…

Most of the world makes whisky from malted barley. Americans use mostly corn and rye. We could have made malt whiskey; for the most part we just didn’t. But now American single malt (ASM) is recognized by the Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department (TTB), which regulates how alcohol beverages here are labeled. It is the first new official whiskey type since light whiskey was adopted more than 50 years ago. The campaign for ASM began in 2016, led by the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC), a coalition of distillers. Since then, the TTB has approved labels with the wording “American Single Malt Whiskey” but didn’t apply standards because they didn’t yet exist. For the most part, what the TTB adopted is what the ASMWC…

The tiny Hudson Valley hamlet of Ancram, New York is a picturesque place punctuated by lush green pastures, forested hillsides, and small-town charm. The area’s first settlers were Scottish farmers (in fact, the town takes its name from founder Robert Livingston’s hometown of Anchoram, Scotland), and today that agrarian nature is alive and well, with 73% of the land still farmed. Taking full advantage of this pastoral backdrop is Hillrock Estate, a distillery that opened its doors in 2010 and has evangelized the gospel of estate-grown whiskey ever since. Together with his wife and Hillrock co-owner Cathy Franklin, Jeffery Baker has built Hillrock’s farm holdings from just 10 acres in 2010 to nearly 1,000 acres today. The distillery has played a critical role in bringing barley and rye back to…

The Buying Guide provides ratings of whiskies from around the world with an emphasis on new releases available for purchase in the U.S. Complete tasting notes are provided for all whiskies scoring 84 points or more (on the Whisky Advocate 100-point scale). Lower-scoring whiskies are included at the discretion of the editors, and some may appear exclusively on whiskyadvocate.com. Ratings and prices Ratings are to provide a relative comparison of quality with reference to both directly competing products and whiskies in general. Price is not a consideration when arriving at ratings. Prices shown reflect the suggested retail price or a representative retail price. Actual retail prices may vary. Whiskies sold in the U.S. have prices marked in dollars; any whisky priced in other currency is not presently available in the…

Scotland SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALT 94 Benromach 50 year old, 54.6%, $25,000 Distilled in December 1972 and matured in sherry casks for five decades, the nose is mature and complex with leather and smoke, chocolate pudding, clove, peppercorn, aged balsamic vinegar, and dried orange. A supple, oily dram—noticeably cask strength—with fruitcake, baked orange, clove, peppercorn, red velvet cake, red currant, preserved strawberries, and woodsmoke, with fruit chews on the finish. Water coaxes out sweet fresh citrus. (Release date: 9/24; 248 bottles worldwide)—JM 94 Gordon & MacPhail Recollection Series No. 3 Convalmore 1984, 51.1%, $3,400 Matured for 39 years in a refill sherry hogshead, this closed-distillery dram shows aromas of fig, sultana, prune juice, cacao, arabica beans, treacle, and cinnamon. It has all the hallmarks of long sherry-cask aging, with a…

What ages together, goes together. Or at least that’s the case with whisky and rum. Though one starts with starch and the other with sugar, both are imparted with color and flavors from their time spent in barrels, and while they’re distinctly different, they share similar flavors. So when you shake or stir whisky and rum together, the uniform flavors fade to the background, allowing their unique attributes to take the spotlight. “It creates a beautifully layered and balanced drink,” says Keena Hanson, training and development bar manager for Ida Claire and Haywire in Dallas, Texas. To form a harmonious marriage for a tasty cocktail, note the spice levels, alcohol contents, and flavors of your spirits. Since rum tends to be sweet, it lends itself to partnering with peated scotch,…

Here are five ways to structure your approach to collecting Irish whiskey, given the expansion of new distilleries, bonders, and independent bottlers across Ireland. Setting aside the classics from Midleton, Redbreast, and Bushmills, we look at the collectible potential from the new players. • Inaugural releases There were many of them in 2024. These first-time bottlings were released to great fanfare, but often are only available in Ireland. Distilleries such as Wild Atlantic, Copeland, Echlinville, Killowen, Micil, Blackwater, and Crolly have recently reached that milestone, and while they may be little known in the U.S. at the moment, that will soon change now that the whiskey is ready for bottling. But in the absence of a U.S. release, auctions are the solution for whiskey lovers with Irish roots, vacation memories, or…

There’s a BBC sketch comedy from “That Mitchell and Webb Look” set in a German machine gun nest as two uniformed SS officers prepare to repel a Russian attack during World War II. The first soldier bristles with the anticipation of engaging the enemy in battle, but his conscientious colleague is troubled, contemplating the implications of the human skull emblems sewn on their caps. “Hans,” he inquires, with creeping realization, “Are we the baddies?” Glenturret Distillery, owned by Lalique Group, is phasing out the use of peated malt in its production, and expects to be using unpeated malt exclusively by 2026. The distillery’s previous owners, The Edrington Group, best known for Macallan, ran regular peated distillation runs to provide stock for blending, continuing a tradition going back to the 18th…

One of the biggest hurdles to tasting a small, sought-after craft whiskey is finding it. We’ve all been there: You hear about an interesting craft whiskey from a friend, or you fall in love with one at a tasting event, only to discover that these bottles are impossible to find at nearby liquor stores. It’s a problem that’s long plagued the craft scene. Many craft whiskeys are small and lack national distribution, but the issue is also a symptom of the way alcohol sales are regulated in the U.S. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the federal government left alcohol regulation up to the states, with one key stipulation: It mandated the establishment of the so-called three-tier system, under which the producer (Tier 1) sells to a distributor (Tier…

SCOTCH BLENDED MALT 94 Compass Box Flaming Heart 2025 Release, 48.9%, $165 This is mighty; a nose of sweet malt, vanilla cupcakes, Creamsicle, marmalade, dried apricot, and grilled pineapple, bolstered by dunnage earth, peat, star anise, peppercorn, and a hint of chocolate. A swirl of honeycomb, malt, apple, berries, and sultanas on the tongue, there’s a crescendo of peat smoke, gingerbread, hazelnuttopped chocolate cake, brown sugar, and black pepper, spilling over to leave a long chocolaty, smoky finish. (Release date: 3/25)—JM IRISH SINGLE POT STILL 93 Drumshanbo Marsala Cask, 43%, $80 A beautifully balanced whiskey from The Shed Distillery that’s fully matured in marsala casks. It has a fragrant and fruity nose of honey, apricots, florals, peach, dried apple ring, clove-studded oranges, and dry spices. It’s all in the mouthfeel,…

This trio of Japanese whiskies from Kagoshima marks the U.S. debut of the Ghost Series by Stefan Van Eycken. Launched in Japan in 2013, the label artwork on this collectible series is inspired by Edo-period wood block prints known as ‘New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts’ by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka. The first 22 releases included closed cult Japanese distilleries Karuizawa and Hanyu, with Kanosuke making a previous appearance as the 16th release, a single malt expression. For the 23rd release, three whiskies were chosen to showcase the diversity and craft of Japanese whisky making at Hioki, Kanosuke’s sister distillery. Releases 23a and 23b are both single cask expressions made in pot stills from malted and unmalted barley, and enable the enthusiast to compare the difference between maturation in new American oak to…