Effectively of us, it’s the second that almost all of you appear to have been ready for. Whiskey evaluations had been once more the most well-liked section of protection right here on Drinkhacker in 2025, and who’re we to maintain you hanging? What did we like finest — the easiest — of the a whole bunch of whiskeys we tasted over the course of the 12 months? We’re about to inform you.
As all the time, this checklist wasn’t simple to supply, as dozens of candidates had been up for dialogue, all worthy of reward and sipping by the discriminating drinker. As we did in 2024, we’ve expanded our protection from the same old prime 10 to a prime 20. We’ve additionally made a concerted effort to characteristic as many moderately priced merchandise as potential. Sure, a few unicorns made the reduce this 12 months — they had been too good to not embody — however by and huge we predict you’ll discover the alternatives right here moderately priced and usually out there available on the market.
The enjoyable begins now and we’ll reveal a couple of bottles every day till we hit our lastly on Friday, December 19, revealing the #1 whiskey of the 12 months! Verify again each day for updates, and completely satisfied holidays!
Need extra alternatives? Try the brand new version of our annual vacation buying information. And be at liberty to peruse our earlier prime 10 whiskey lists: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017. Bear in mind if we don’t have a direct buy hyperlink, you possibly can search a number of shops at wine-searcher to search out the very best costs on all these merchandise and extra.
Agree, disagree? Love us? Hate us? Pontificate right here or on social and tell us what you assume! And don’t overlook to subscribe to our e-newsletter, too, which digests solely the very best stuff we style every week. Cheers!
The query lately hasn’t been whether or not Wild Turkey will make our Prime 20 checklist however which of its many standout releases to decide on. For 2025, the distillery returns to our prime spot with the newest version of Russell’s Reserve 13 Years Previous. A noticeable enhance in proof helped to ship extra of all of the issues we love about Russell’s Reserve bourbon from the peppery aroma chock stuffed with wealthy toffee and toasted coconut to a decadent and expressive palate of candy butterscotch, apple pie, cinnamon sugar, and chocolate-covered peanuts all wrapped within the quintessential Kentucky hug. It’s paying homage to the distinctive previous releases however someway even higher. There’s no scarcity of bourbons to hunt within the New 12 months, however this one must be on the prime of your checklist. 123.8 proof. $300 -DB [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
The “.3” quantity of this, the sixteenth version within the Octomore library, retains its formidable smoke and peat barrier, but additionally mutes itself a shade to permit for others to share the stage. Notes of darkish chocolate and toasted sesame seeds interaction with a standard profile of lemon zest, smoke and salinity, however achieve this in a surprisingly approachable manner in comparison with different installments on this ongoing collection. Nevertheless, don’t mistake this for being mild: that is nonetheless a giant, burly single malt, and one not for these beginning to discover all that the class has to supply. This simply wins first prize on this 12 months’s trio. Sure, it’s expensive, however the Islay lover in your life deserves some nice reward for making it to the end line of 2025. 123.2 proof. $244 -RT
Maker’s Mark’s “Launch” collection will in the end comprise 5 totally different bottlings — all variations on its stave ending program — every that includes staves chosen by a distinct division throughout the distillery. The “keepers” are the rickhouse employees, so it is sensible that they’d lean into wooden for this whiskey, which options 10 virgin toasted staves added to the barrel for ending. It’s a massively profitable launch that has been slept on by the lots and which stays broadly out there for simply round its preliminary MSRP. Beautiful fruit notes, silky vanilla, and milk chocolate all play in opposition to an amply wood-driven core. It’s received every thing you need from an excellent wheated bourbon, all in a single glass. 109.2 proof. $77 -CN [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Had Previous Fitzgerald’s newest VVS launch been extra accessible — and extra broadly out there at its $170 MSRP — it could have been our #1 whiskey of the 12 months. In reality, I used to be nonetheless pushing for as a lot as we received right down to the wire on this 12 months’s prime 20. Alas, wiser heads prevailed, and, with VVS 2025 promoting for upwards of $700 (should you may even discover it), it’s in all probability destined to be tasted solely by those that make investments ample time and coin to trace it down. In fact, if the whiskey was extra available, it wouldn’t be Very Very Particular, I suppose — and what a really very particular launch it’s: buttery and undulating, consuming with a great deal of sweetness alongside the trimmings of orange peel and late-game tropical fruits. That is a kind of uncommon whiskeys that, as soon as it’s opened, is sort of unimaginable to place down, and a showcase of how Heaven Hill’s operation is completely firing on all cylinders. 100 proof. – $700 -CN [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
This one flew below everybody’s radar — and nearly flew below our personal. Bushmills quietly launched a restricted version collection in 2023 and it continued in 2025 with a few new choices, together with this 12 12 months previous completed on pink Bordeaux wine casks. It’s a quiet delight of a whiskey, although it by no means a lot evokes wine, letting the malty Irish core do a lot of the speaking. After a cereal-laden assault, notes of lemon, nougaty taffy, and natural rosemary and thyme spherical out a fancy and prolonged end. At below $70, it’s the very best deal within the prime 10. $67 -CN [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Few years cross with out us praising Booker’s and this fastidiously assembled collection created with enter from a few of his closest mates. This launch stands out instantly at 126.5 proof, a daring expression benefitting from a bit persistence and a drop or two of water to completely reveal its full hand. As soon as it settles, the palate affords beneficiant layers of fruit, adopted by notes of roasted peanuts and cinnamon pink hots, and the end brings a vigorous dose of baking spice to the forefront. There’s a lot to admire right here: It’s sturdy, layered, and totally dedicated to creating an impression, very like Booker himself and his legacy. 126.5 proof. $100 -RT [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is among the extra persistently spectacular, restricted launch bourbons available on the market, so it’s no shock that it has made our greatest whiskeys checklist not as soon as however twice, touchdown spots in each 2020 and 2021. It returns for a 3rd time with the January 2025 launch which showcased an uncharacteristically low proof for what is sort of all the time a daring, barrel power whiskey. It might be tame on paper by comparability, however this one delivers in a giant manner. The aroma, burly and leathery at first, evolves to brown butter and citrus with time within the glass whereas the palate is completely sweetened and hits all of the basic bourbon excessive notes from chocolate to chewy caramel to the entire menu of baking spice with a beneficiant clove observe that simmers on an extended and enchanting end. 126.5 proof. $85 -DB [BUY IT NOW FROM RESERVEBAR] [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Penelope Bourbon’s Omega launch stands as a excessive level for the model and an attention-grabbing assertion of path. Debuting in 2025 (Batch #25-1801), it includes a Kentucky-distilled mashbill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley, aged at the very least a decade in American oak earlier than receiving a year-long end in tight-grain French oak casks from Tonnellerie Radoux, chosen by way of the OakScan course of for consistency of character. The aroma affords toasted marshmallow, aged leather-based, dried cherry, and nutmeg whereas the palate shifts into chai spice, black-tea tannin, and toasted marshmallow marked by a firmer char, adopted by darkish brown sugar. Quite than merely including one other French oak whiskey to the market, Omega reveals how properly the strategy can work when each stage — from stave choice to last mix — is purposefully executed. It’s an assured, top-tier launch that earns its place among the many 12 months’s best whiskeys. 109.8 proof. $292 -JK [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
We’ve been followers of Nonetheless Austin because the starting, with its Crimson Corn version incomes a particular place in our hearts. The 5 12 months previous model of this whiskey simply missed out on making the highest 20 checklist final 12 months, maybe overshadowed by Excessive Wire’s Jimmy Crimson Bourbon, which was an actual delight. Now at a 12 months older, Nonetheless’s pink corn-driven launch could also be even higher, a flavor-filled and wholly cohesive exploration of nut butter, banana bread, spice field, and a few tart citrus mentioning the rear. When this inevitably hits 7 years previous subsequent 12 months, we’d have a stroke. 100 proof. $80 -CN [BUY IT NOW FROM RESERVEBAR] [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
To rejoice 1 / 4 century of whiskymaking, boutique blender Compass Field gave its followers a really particular version of its much-loved Flaming Coronary heart blended malt. Head whisky wizard James Saxon went heavy on the peat for this commemorative launch, mixing principally Talisker with a couple of particular Islay malts and a novel Benrinnes aged in closely toasted French oak. The result’s one the model’s finest choices in latest reminiscence, showcasing a novel melding of seaside bonfire, toasted marshmallow, and earthy funk on the nostril and a sublime palate of pie spice, barbecue, and cigar ash that lingers on an extended end of coastal smoke, lemon oil, and chocolate. Right here’s hoping we received’t have to attend 25 extra years for an additional one like this. 97.8 proof. $161 -DB
Rounding out the highest 20…
11. Arran Sauternes Cask – $62
12. GlenDronach Grasp’s Anthology Ode to the Darkish – $87
13. Bruichladdich Port Charlotte SYC:01 2013 – $130
14. Templeton Single Barrel Rye – $58
15. Previous Grand-Dad Bonded Bourbon 7 Years Previous – $41
16. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye A925 (September 2025) – $75
17. Barrell Bourbon French Oak End 12 Years Previous – $150
18. Lagavulin “Grain & Embers” 12 Years Previous Restricted Version 2025 – $185
19. Bardstown Bourbon Co. Distillery Reserve Cathedral French Oak End – $800
20. Bomberger’s PFG (2025) – $650
Further reporting by Drew Beard, Jacob Kiper, and Rob Theakston.
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