Properly people, it’s the second that almost all of you appear to have been ready for. Whiskey evaluations have been once more the preferred phase of protection right here on Drinkhacker in 2025, and who’re we to maintain you hanging? What did we like greatest — the easiest — of the lots of of whiskeys we tasted over the course of the 12 months? We’re about to inform you.
As all the time, this record wasn’t straightforward to provide, as dozens of candidates have 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 high 10 to a high 20. We’ve additionally made a concerted effort to function as many moderately priced merchandise as doable. Sure, a few unicorns made the lower this 12 months — they have been too good to not embrace — however by and enormous we predict you’ll discover the alternatives right here moderately priced and usually obtainable in the marketplace.
The enjoyable begins now and we’ll reveal just a few bottles every day till we hit our lastly on Friday, December 19, revealing the number one whiskey of the 12 months! Verify again day by day for updates, and completely happy holidays!
Need extra alternatives? Try the brand new version of our annual vacation buying information. And be at liberty to peruse our earlier high 10 whiskey lists: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017. Keep in mind if we don’t have a direct buy hyperlink, you may search a number of shops at wine-searcher to seek out one of the 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 neglect to subscribe to our publication, too, which digests solely one of the best stuff we style every week. Cheers!
The query lately hasn’t been whether or not Wild Turkey will make our Prime 20 record however which of its many standout releases to decide on. For 2025, the distillery returns to our high spot with the newest version of Russell’s Reserve 13 Years Previous. A noticeable improve in proof helped to ship extra of all of the issues we love about Russell’s Reserve bourbon from the peppery aroma chock filled 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 in some way even higher. There’s no scarcity of bourbons to hunt within the New 12 months, however this one must be on the high of your record. 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 conventional profile of lemon zest, smoke and salinity, however achieve this in a surprisingly approachable means in comparison with different installments on this ongoing sequence. Nonetheless, 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” sequence will in the end comprise 5 completely different bottlings — all variations on its stave ending program — every that includes staves chosen by a distinct division inside 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 plenty and which stays extensively obtainable 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 obtained 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 extensively obtainable at its $170 MSRP — it will have been our #1 whiskey of the 12 months. In reality, I used to be nonetheless pushing for as a lot as we obtained right down to the wire on this 12 months’s high 20. Alas, wiser heads prevailed, and, with VVS 2025 promoting for upwards of $700 (for those who may even discover it), it’s most likely 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 type of uncommon whiskeys that, as soon as it’s opened, is almost unattainable 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 virtually flew below our personal. Bushmills quietly launched a restricted version sequence in 2023 and it continued in 2025 with a few new choices, together with this 12 12 months outdated completed on crimson 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 many 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 one of the best deal within the high 10. $67 -CN [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Few years go with out us praising Booker’s and this fastidiously assembled sequence created with enter from a few of his closest buddies. This launch stands out instantly at 126.5 proof, a daring expression benefitting from slightly 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 crimson hots, and the end brings a full of life dose of baking spice to the forefront. There’s a lot to admire right here: It’s strong, layered, and absolutely 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 without doubt one of the extra persistently spectacular, restricted launch bourbons in the marketplace, so it’s no shock that it has made our greatest whiskeys record 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 could be tame on paper by comparability, however this one delivers in a giant means. 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 traditional bourbon excessive notes from chocolate to chewy caramel to the entire menu of baking spice with a beneficiant clove be aware 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 fascinating assertion of course. Debuting in 2025 (Batch #25-1801), it incorporates a Kentucky-distilled mashbill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley, aged not less than a decade in American oak earlier than receiving a year-long end in tight-grain French oak casks from Tonnellerie Radoux, chosen through 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. Fairly 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 closing mix — is purposefully executed. It’s an assured, top-tier launch that earns its place among the many 12 months’s most interesting whiskeys. 109.8 proof. $292 -JK [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
We’ve been followers of Nonetheless Austin for the reason that starting, with its Pink Corn version incomes a particular place in our hearts. The 5 12 months outdated model of this whiskey simply missed out on making the highest 20 record final 12 months, maybe overshadowed by Excessive Wire’s Jimmy Pink Bourbon, which was an actual delight. Now at a 12 months older, Nonetheless’s crimson 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 outdated subsequent 12 months, we’d have a stroke. 100 proof. $80 -CN [BUY IT NOW FROM RESERVEBAR] [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
To have a good time 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 largely Talisker with just a few particular Islay malts and a novel Benrinnes aged in closely toasted French oak. The result’s one the model’s greatest choices in latest reminiscence, showcasing a novel melding of seaside bonfire, toasted marshmallow, and earthy funk on the nostril and a chic 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 one more 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
Extra reporting by Drew Beard, Jacob Kiper, and Rob Theakston.
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