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Top Whisk(e)y Picks Of 2022

Here at The Whiskey Reviewer, we have never convened an annual rewards panel. Instead of handing out medals or drawing up a conglomerated list, every member of the team keeps her or his own voice, naming their personal choice in three categories. Best New Whiskey Best Whiskey To Pass My Lips (the absolute best, new …

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond Bourbon
(Credit: Heaven Hill)

Best New Whiskey
Best Whiskey To Pass My Lips (the absolute best, new or not)
Biggest Disappointment

Richard Thomas, Owner-Editor

Usually my choices for Top Picks are clearly decided at year’s end, but that wasn’t the case this year, that being because 2022 was a banner year for whiskey. Or, at least, the whiskeys that came across my desk. Normally, I might hand out one or two A grades per year, and most years I don’t assign an A+ at all. This year saw four A whiskeys and one A+. Yes, it was that good of a year.

This time, I had to ponder the matter, especially since all five were new releases. Best Whiskey To Pass My Lips was obviously the A+, but what about the four contenders for Best New Whiskey? That was a thorny dilemma. Ultimately, I found it necessary to mention to runners up, and do them proper justice: King of Kentucky 2022, Heaven Hill 17 Year Old Heritage Collection and Knob Creek 18 Year Old.

Best New Whiskey, Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond 19 Year Old, Fall 2022: Age isn’t everything in whiskey, as the maturation often has a sweet spot to it, a range in which the course of time typically reaches its apogee. That said, the exceptional stuff often is quite old, and an example is found in the oldest-yet installment of Heaven Hill’s bi-annual bonded bourbon series, Old Fitzgerald.

The simplest and most direct way I can praise this wheated bourbon is to tell you that after completing my evaluation, I drained all 200 ml of my sample bottle in a single evening. In so doing, I broke two rules: the first is about not drinking so much when I’m alone; and the second is about saving the good stuff for a later occasion, preferably when I can share it. This stuff was so wonderful I forgot all about that and kept on sipping, and I don’t regret it. Not one little bit.

Teeling 32 Year Old Irish Single Malt
(Credit: Kurt Maitland)

Best To Pass My Lips, Teeling 32 Year Old Irish Single Malt: The Whiskey Reviewer hands out an A+ grade to a whiskey every now and again, but speaking for myself and not my team, I rarely do. So rarely, in fact, I had to look up the last time I did so: it was five years ago!

Teeling Whiskey Company took 28 year old Irish single malt, acquired what must have been an excellent Purple Muscat from Setubal in Portugal, and gave that whiskey an extra four years of secondary maturation. The result was ambrosia. The five years since I last gave an A+ have been busy, and saw me produce five books about booze and countless articles for other websites and magazines, on top of my own website. So take that into consideration and know that when I call it a drink worthy of the gods, I mean it.

Biggest Disappointment, Broken Barrel Small Batch Bourbon: I can’t say I’ve ever been particularly impressed with the spirits coming out of what was first the O.Z. Tyler Distillery, and is now called Green River Distillery. Although I strive to retain an open mind, the modern wave of techniques promising to use science to shorten the maturation process for brown spirits has yet to deliver anything that matches its hype. TerrePURE is one of the better examples, but my opinion is that it doesn’t equal the results of even four or five years of traditional maturation.

Keeping that in mind, I had hopes that by relying on what is essentially stave insert finishing, the folks at Broken Barrel had found a way to make something of Green River whiskey. After all, choice aging and finishing stock was how operations like Kavalan managed to turn tropical climate into a maturation asset; the wood one uses can go a long way, in the right circumstances. Alas, that wasn’t the case here.

Randall H. Borkus, Senior Contributor

Widow Jane The Vaults 14 Year Old Bourbon
(Credit: Samson & Surrey)

Best New Whiskey, Widow Jane The Vaults 14 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Widow Jane Distillery has their new, annual series of oldest age-stated whiskey, “The Vaults.” The Vaults 2022 is a blend of bourbons ranging from 14 years up to 19 years old, selected and set aside in Widow Jane’s Red Hook, Brooklyn rick house by their previous Master Distiller Lisa Wicker.

As with all Widow Jane whiskeys, The Vaults 2022 is non-chill filtered, and cut with limestone mineral water from the Rosendale Mines of New York, (aka The Widow Jane Mine).

I thoroughly enjoyed this bourbon whiskey. It is rich and full bodied with loads of flavors and mature oak. It sits well on its own neat, yet with a few drops of water the flavor continues to burst with cherry cough drops and it holds up very well with a My Father The Judge Grand Robusto cigar.

Best to Pass my Lips, The GlenDronach Cask Strength: The GlenDronach Distillery was established in 1826 and is one of Scotland’s oldest licensed distilleries. This expression is created from the marriage of Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. Bottled at a barrel strength of 117.2 proof (58.6% ABV).

This has become one of my go to Scotch options, when I can find it. It is simply delightful on the palate neat or with a few drops of water to further open the complex flavor profile releasing the sherry notes and it always holds up well with a fine cigar.

Jack Daniel’s Bonded Tennessee Whiskey
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Biggest Disappointment, Jack Daniel’s Bonded: I saw all the hype, so I bought a bottle. It drinks smooth and suggests Tennessee whiskey start to finish. I found it an average whiskey at best with nothing earth shaking, yet it drinks a little hotter than the traditional Jack Daniel’s. I’m simply not impressed in the least bit, and the hype is mind-boggling.

Emma Briones, Senior Contributor

Best New Whiskey of 2022, Method and Madness Oats and Malt: Opening to the ideas of new generations can be tough, specially in the whisky industry. Method and Madness though, has proven differently. With the second release of whisky produced in the Midleton micro-distillery, the brand has turned to a different mash bill, using 60% of Irish Oats.

It might not be perfectly rounded as some might rather, but this creamy and mild whisky hits different. A wonderful mix of sweet fudge notes and a chilly touch. Some whiskies were just born to be fun.

Best Whiskey To Pass My Lips, Widow Jane The Vaults 15 Year Old (2021): My latest obsession in the US whiskey landscape has been Widow Jane. And it’s been like this for a while. Their 10yo is a steady one of my top 3 go-to whiskies. But then, there’s The Vaults series.

Oh my! The moment I tasted the 2021 edition of Widow Jane The Vaults 15 I knew I wanted to steal the bottle. The right amount of sweetness and caramel, perfect warmth, a hug on the palate. I want to hold on to this one when I’m aline but also want to share it with friends and family. A keeper.

Biggest Disappointment of 2022, Frysk hynder: When I moved to the Netherlands, I was eager to discover all the whiskies produced in the country. Before that, I had only tried Millstone Rye (which was a great discovery).

So when I found Frysk Hynder in the local shop, I quickly grabbed a bottle. And, quickly too, left the bottle on my shelf. This is a really small production whisky, and I’m sure the team behind it has out a lot of heart and effort. But the result is still too young and too much unbalanced. It’ll be good some day, but just not yet.

Andrew Graham, Contributor

Best New Whiskey, GlenDronach 1992 28 Year Old Pedro Ximenez Sherry puncheon cask #6052: OK fine, between the price point and the scarcity, I get that this isn’t exactly something you’ll drink on the regular, but this amazing expression from GlenDronach gets my Best New Whiskey of 2022 recognition.

What makes it so exceptional? Well, if you’re a fan of barley and sherry, then I honestly don’t think it can get any better than this. I could almost feel the skin of the grapes used to make the sherry that flavored the cask that this badass dram lived in for the better part of three decades. Behind the sherry, there’s flavor notes of espresso, blackberry, and tobacco to this one, too.

This is the sort of whisky that is just supposed to be exceptional, and it exceeds the loftiest of expectations.

Best Whiskey To Pass My Lips, Famous Grouse 18 Year Old: The deal with The Famous Grouse is that it’s a blended Scotch based on single malts from Macallan and Highland Park. Regular old The Famous Grouse costs about twenty bucks a bottle and is available more or less everywhere, so you’d just assume those single malt stocks they’re using to make the blend aren’t great.

But the deal with The Famous Grouse 18 Year Old is that those single malts from Macallan and Highland Park need to be at least 18 years old. This is to say nothing of other malts and the grain whisky used. Interested? I sure was.

I found a dusty bottle of The Famous Grouse 18, which I’d never even heard of before seeing it, at a cash-only dive bar and bottle shop in Chicago, a couple blocks off the glitz of Michigan Avenue. Evidently, this expression was discontinued some time ago. I got an earthy nose and cola and cherry on the palate. It’s just really, really great to drink—and also, enjoying whisky is about telling stories. So, this one gets a best-of nod from me for the uniqueness factor.

Kenrick Thurston-Wilcox, Contributor

Leopold Bros Three Chamber Rye
(Credit: Leopold Bros)

Best New Whiskey, Hibiki Blossom Harmony: A blended whiskey finished in Sakura casks and meant to symbolize what the cherry blossoms represent to the people of Japan. Everything people love about the original with an added elegance of floral notes and a touch of smoke and spice.

Best Whisky to Pass My Lips 2022, Leopoldo Bros 3 Chamber Rye: A call back to an earlier time in America, this is history in a bottle and a labor of love. Bold and spicy like you’d expect, but with a hugely pleasing body that leaves you wanting to travel back to the times before Prohibition.

Biggest Disappointment of 2022, Fuji 30 Year Single Grain Japanese Whiskey: This release goes to show that more time in wood does not always equal a better product. Being created by the second Japanese person to enter the Whiskey Magazine Hall of Fame, Jota Tanaka, I expected a liquid with more depth and nuance (especially with a $3000 price attached). Instead wood and ethanol dominate, to the detriment of everything else in the glass, making this an average to slightly above average whiskey.

Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Cask Strength Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B When it comes to California’s Redwood Empire, I’m most familiar with their in-house, bonded whiskeys. Before that, however, both I and past contributor Padre John took a crack at their American Whiskey. That expression followed the model of blending stocks of sourced, mature or old whiskey with youthful, in-house make. …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Pipe Dream Cask Strength 2022 Bourbon
(Credit: Redwood Empire)

When it comes to California’s Redwood Empire, I’m most familiar with their in-house, bonded whiskeys. Before that, however, both I and past contributor Padre John took a crack at their American Whiskey. That expression followed the model of blending stocks of sourced, mature or old whiskey with youthful, in-house make. Some four years later, I’m circling around to another example of the latter model from Redwood Empire, Pipe Dream.

This whiskey’s namesake is the 14th tallest tree standing alive today, standing more than 367 feet tall and over 1,100 years old. As stated, this is a mix of the distillery’s own bourbon with sourced stock. No notes were available as I wrote this on what the sourcing and ages therein was, with even the distillery’s own website referring back to the 2021 release. The 2022 version differs markedly from the 2021 release, however, as can be seen with its amalgamated four-grain mash bill: 74% corn, 20% rye, 4.5% malted barley and 1.5% wheat. Despite the variance in sourcing, the age of the stock remains in the four to twelve year range. This batching came out at 58.4% ABV.

The Bourbon
In my glass, the bourbon took on a copper-leaning, light amber coloring. That was rather surprising, given that it’s a pretty strong whiskey. At the same time, that lighter coloring pointed right to one of the best aspects of this Pipe Dream: it doesn’t require any water, despite pushing hard on 120 proof. The sniffing and sipping are fairly mellow as is, so enjoy.

The scent certainly doesn’t offer a hint of the potency. It’s softened and heathery, atop a base of butterscotch and dried cherries. The palate follows through on that to a large extent, offering up a sweetness that is more honey than brown sugar, coupled to the currents of butterscotch and dried cherry. A certain nuttiness rises up on the back end, which carries over into a mild woodiness on the finish.

The Price
This item is already sold out with the distillery, but one might still find it on liquor store shelves. With online retailers, it’s fetching between $80 and (shamefully) $200.

Bourbon Podcasters Release Their Own Bottling With Pursuit Spirits

Pursuit Spirits is announcing a new line extension to their portfolio of award-winning bourbon and rye whiskeys. The Oak Collection starts with a curated blend of whiskeys that has been developed to precisely pair with certain styles of secondary oak finishes. The result is a union of flavors where the original blend shines through while the secondary finish provides perfect balance. The Oak Collection will be an ongoing series that provides exploration of whiskey tastes and constant innovation. This initial release will feature two limited expressions, Pursuit United Bourbon Finished with Toasted American and French Oak and Pursuit United Rye Finished with Sherry French Revere Oak. Both will be available in limited quantities with a SRP of $74.99.

“I guess you’re not a real whiskey company until you have a toasted release,” says Co-Founder Kenny Coleman. “In all seriousness, the Oak Collection creates a better whiskey than traditional rebarreling because it allows us to develop a custom blend to match a particular wood finish.” This line extension marries the concept of Pursuit United by blending different distillates, states, barrel types and aging environments with various oak types to develop unexplored taste profiles.

For the initial debut of the Oak Collection, a new bourbon blend was introduced that marries two types of oak. “Finding the right blend and wood finish proved to be a challenge because there are many variables at play,” says Co-Founder and blender, Ryan Cecil. “My goal was to complement the whiskeys being used. I did not want to hide them behind the flavors of the wood.” The Pursuit United brand provides the flexibility to use any barrel and achieve a blend that works with different wood finishes. After testing multiple blends, oak types, and finishing times from a few days to a couple of weeks, a perfect union was found.

Pursuit United Bourbon Finished with Toasted American and French Oak uses a proprietary combination of three different straight bourbon whiskeys. After the barrels were blended together, it was split into two different containers where one was finished with Toasted American oak while the other was finished with French oak. After each achieved a desired flavor, the two containers were blended together again for the final product. The nose is met with a flamed orange peel followed by dusted dark chocolate roasted nuts. The chocolate notes continue with a hazelnut spread along with cherry cola on the palate. Familiar notes of toasted oak, cloves, and black pepper are prominent on the finish.

The bourbon whiskeys included in the proprietary blend are from three different distilleries:

TN – Undisclosed but NOT in Tullahoma (80% Corn, 10% Rye, 10% Malted Barley)

IN – MGP (60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Malted Barley)

NY – Finger Lakes Distilling (70% Corn, 20% Rye, 10% Cherry Smoked Barley)

Pursuit United Rye Finished with Sherry French Revere Oak uses the same award-winning and proprietary blend as the flagship using three distillates from two different distilleries. The barrels were blended together at final proof before finishing with Sherry French Revere Oak. This release provides aromas of tropical fruits, coconut, and herbal tea. The initial taste has a creamy texture, like warm fruit cobbler, followed by brown sugar. The finish leaves soft spices and hints of cocoa.

The three rye whiskeys are from two different distilleries:

MD – Sagamore Spirit (A: 52% Rye, 43% Corn, 5% Malted Barley / B: 95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley)

KY – Bardstown Bourbon Co. (95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley)

Pursuit United Bourbon Finished with Toasted American and French Oak and Pursuit United Rye Finished with Sherry French Revere Oak is limited to 300 6-pack cases and are bottled at 108 proof. They will be available in very limited quantities in IL (Binny’s only), KY, MO, NM, TN (Knoxville market only), TX and online at Seelbachs.com with a SRP of $74.99.

Tincup Launches A 14 Year Old Whiskey

Tincup American Whiskey has announced the release of its oldest whiskey to-date, Tincup Fourteener Bourbon. To celebrate their roots in Colorado and pay tribute to the adventures that take place above 14,000 feet, Tincup Fourteener is a 14-year aged bourbon whiskey. Colorado is home to over 50 of the famous “fourteener” mountains. Additionally, TINCUP is donating $14,000 to the Colorado Fourteener Initiative (CFI) to help preserve and restore trails on these 14ers. This limited edition, middle-aged bourbon is bottled at 84 proof and priced at $70.

Stellum Spirits Expands To Add Two New Expressions

Stellum Spirits, the regular release line made by Barrell Craft Spirits, has introduced two new Stellum Black specialty blends. These blends feature an alternate blending profile and incorporate rare barrels to create limited edition bourbons and ryes that deliver robust flavor alongside profound complexity. Blending in steps and with smaller batches allows the team to …

The base for all Stellum Black specialty blends is a blend of Indiana bourbon/rye, which is then layered with older bourbons/ryes from Kentucky and Tennessee, creating a unique, but everyday drinking whiskey. These are the two latest limited edition blends:

Hunter’s Moon

This warm, oak driven bourbon is made in preparation for winter,inspired by the Hunter’s Moon of October. It is marked by a high rye spice and a robust woodiness meant for the time of year when days get shorter and the nights get longer. Bottled at cask strength (115.52 proof)

The Lone Cypress

This savory and delicate rye blend is defined by notes of dried herbs and pine, with a hint of salt-air salinity. It’s named for one of the world’s most famous trees, found on the picturesque coast of the Monterey Peninsula. Bottled at cask strength (115.34 proof)

All Stellum Black specialty blends have an SRP of $99.

Puncher’s Chance Releases A 14 Year Old “Left Cross”

Puncher’s Chance has unveiled its oldest whiskey to date with the release of Puncher’s Chance Bourbon: THE LEFT CROSS. Aged for 14 years in wood rickhouses, THE LEFT CROSS was finished in freshly dumped 12-year-old Jamaican rum casks for two to six months – an extremely rare finish for a bourbon at this maturity. The …

Puncher’s Chance has unveiled its oldest whiskey to date with the release of Puncher’s Chance Bourbon: THE LEFT CROSS. Aged for 14 years in wood rickhouses, THE LEFT CROSS was finished in freshly dumped 12-year-old Jamaican rum casks for two to six months – an extremely rare finish for a bourbon at this maturity. The result is a balanced and nuanced spirit where the natural bourbon characteristics and the rum finishing co-exist beautifully.

Produced under the careful stewardship of Master Distiller Kevin Curtis and Master Blender Stephen Hughes of IJW Whiskey Company, just 70 barrels of Puncher’s Chance Bourbon: THE LEFT CROSS are available – making this a must have for collectors and connoisseurs. Bottled at 96 proof, The LEFT CROSS starts with a mash bill of 84 percent corn, eight percent malt and eight percent rye.

Aged in new American oak barrels, the whiskey picks up the flavors of a long-matured bourbon, including vanilla, dark fruit, and warm oak. The rum finishing enhances the sipping experience by introducing Jamaican rum’s famous and distinct “funk” – adding rich flavors of brown sugar, ripe bananas, and sweet baking spice reminiscent of Bananas Foster. The finish is long and soft with the slightest hints of rum lingering for a near eternity.

THE LEFT CROSS is the second limited-edition release from Puncher’s Chance – a new American Whiskey entry from Wolf Spirit, out of Eugene, Oregon. It comes on the heels of its first-ever limited time offering called The D12TANCE (January 2022) – a 12-year-old bourbon finished in California Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.

The brand name of Puncher’s Chance itself is a boxing reference, denoting that almost anyone is possible of a knockout punch, no matter the odds. Earlier this year, Puncher’s Chance inked a deal with the Professional Fighter’s League to bring its whiskey to the growing MMA community – while also proudly partnering with MMA legend Bruce Buffer and ESPN/New England Sports Network veteran Charlie Moore.

The name The LEFT CROSS is a reference to Jamaican heavyweight fighter Donovan “Razor” Ruddock, a southpaw who, with a devastating left cross punch, battled the likes of Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. The left cross finishing blow became Ruddock’s much-admired calling card.

“Like its predecessor THE D12TANCE, our journey with THE LEFT CROSS is about taking an older whiskey and experimenting with unique finishing techniques – in this case dark Jamaican Rum casks,” said Umberto Luchini, founder of Wolf Spirit. “Our objective was to use the rum finishing to coax out more of the existing characteristics from the whiskey while adding a unique hint of sweetness. It’s a special craft to finish such a mature bourbon, but the masters at IJW Distillery have done an exceptional job finding the right balance.”

With an SRP of $150 for a 750ml, only 2,000 bottles of Puncher’s Chance Bourbon: THE LEFT CROSS are available

Blue Run Releases Their Second Rye

Blue Run Spirits has released the second rye whiskey in their line-up, Blue Run Emerald Rye Whiskey. This marks the first Blue Run Rye Whiskey to be contract distilled by Blue Run Liquid Advisor Jim Rutledge at Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky and the first Blue Run Rye to be bottled at barrel …

Blue Run Emerald Rye serves as the follow up to Blue Run Golden Rye Whiskey, a Gold Medal winner at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Emerald, a limited collection, was crafted from just 189 barrels and embraces the distinct, spicy characteristics of Rye Whiskey, yet with the approachability and depth of a fine Bourbon. Blue Run Whiskey Director Shaylyn Gammon expertly blended Emerald to highlight a myriad of Blue Run’s favorite flavor characteristics.

“This was an incredibly fun project to work on as I asked the Blue Run team what aspects of Rye Whiskey they truly loved,” said Gammon. “I then went about focusing my blend on those key attributes, zeroing in on fragrant herbs, fresh peppers and robust spice. Those three prominent notes provide the foundation for a complex, deep flavor experience all the way through to the finish.”

Adding to the complexity, several Emerald barrels were aged at different locations more than fifty miles apart in Bardstown and Frankfort. The difference in aging environments helped contribute to the blend’s approachability at this high of proof. In addition, Shaylyn crafted Emerald with whiskies born from three different mash bills with varying degrees of the core grain of rye, creating a rich liquid palette for her to work with when applying her award-winning blending skills.

On the nose, Emerald Rye has dreamy butterscotch and creamy caramel leading to toasted oak and spicy peppers. The palate is awakened with a quick hit of buttercream and shishito peppers followed by a blast of apples and pears evolving into a woody sprinkling of cloves and rye spice. The finish will leave you with lasting memories of leather, oak and brown butter.

Blue Run’s signature butterfly medallion on the bottle glimmers with anodized emerald green, making it easily identified by whiskey enthusiasts and collectors alike. Designed by renowned Nike sneaker designer and Blue Run cofounder Devon McKinney, Emerald is the second butterfly medallion in Blue Run’s Rye Whiskey series inspired by precious objects.

Blue Run Emerald is available for $109.99 SRP and is barrel proof at 116.7.