What does it take to be #1? We wanted to know. So our May 2024 tasting featured expressions that had each held the #1 spot in the annual Whisky Advocate Top 20 list.
The goal was to get the exact expression that won in that year. Unfortunately, as time goes by things change. And even though the distillery has pains-takenly tried to maintain the same flavor profile year-after-year, they cannot control for the differences in the soil, the changing in the wood used for the barrels nor any number of minor differences in the products used to distill the expression. Granted, distillers do an awesome job at this. And you will most likely never notice a difference year after year. But our goal was to get the exact expression.distilled that year. We were mostly successful.
So who was #1 of the #1s? Below is the list of those expressions, listed in order of least favored by our tasters to the most favored.
Fifth Place: Jack Daniels Bonded, Tenn. Whiskey, 50% ABV, $30
No.-1 Whisky Advocate Top 20 2022 (Whisky Advocate Rating: 97/100)
Fourth Place: Nikka Whisky from the Barrel, Japanese, 51.4% ABV, $52
**This is a recent version of the winner
No.-1 Whisky Advocate Top 20 2018 (Whisky Advocate Rating: 94/100)
Second Place (tie): George Dickel, BIB, 13 Yrs Old, Tenn. Whiskey, 50% ABV, $46
No.-1 Whisky Advocate Top 20 2019 (Whisky Advocate Rating: 94/100)
Second Place (tie): Glenglassaugh, Sandend, Highland Single MaltScotch, 50.5% ABV, $80
No.-1 Whisky Advocate Top 20 2023 (Whisky Advocate Rating: 95/100)
First Place: Larceny Barrel Proof, Bourbon, Batch B520, 61.1% ABV, $65
No.-1 Whisky Advocate Top 20 2020 (Whisky Advocate Rating: 95/100)
Larceny, by Heaven Hill, continues to be an outstanding whiskey. It hit the market in 2012 in what appeared to be direct competition to Makers Mark (both wheated bourbons at nearly the same price-point). The Barrel Proof hit the market in 2020 and immediately took the top spot in Whisky Advocates annual competition. Even with the high proof it is an easy drinking bourbon with smooth texture and a long finish.
This was a fun tasting. And even more fun trying to round up the whiskies. Thank you to all those who attended this tasting and congrats to the distillers who produced these fine expressions.
Okay, what a second. It is hard for me to be totally thankful for the above listed expressions. One of them should not be a #1 whisky. It is not a bad whisky, but it is certainly not a #1. This is not just my opinion judging by the plethora of internet posts asking how Jack Daniels Bonded won the top spot in 2022.
Either way, we had a great tasting. And maybe someday Whisky Advocate will ask my opinion. But until thenSlainte.
Doug