The Whisky Advocate Top 20 Whisky List
The Whisky Advocate is more than just an online store and whisky critic, it goes into tastings and evaluation of expressions released by the world’s best and newest distilleries. Each year the company releases a list of the top twenty spirits in the world. Why is this list worth it?
Whiskies are known for their age and their taste. How many years old, or how long was it aged and what type of maturity? Even more common, which may surprise you, is where was it aged.
How the Whisky Advocate Selects the Top 20 Whiskies?
Some locations just aren’t helpful to the aging process, and the Whisky Advocate considers all this. However, the single most determining factor in a whisky bottle is the taste. How is it on the tongue? What aromas are awakened? How is it on the palette and does it linger?
According to the Whisky Advocate, it has a unique process that follows established criteria.
- The Whisky Advocate Buying Guide’s expert team samples a variety of whiskies
- All whiskies must score 90 or above on their 100-point scale.
- they also consider the whisky’s value and accessibility.
This is where the selection process gets even more interesting. While most lists are bent on sales, shows, and titles, this list is established based on the whisky taste. The organization describes it as a “crucial step”.
The process begins with an international panel that conducts blind tasting. Each panel member tastes “the contenders in a series of blind flights, unaware of each whisky’s producer, origin, age, or price”. The ratings of this panel supersede the initial Buying Guide’s scores.
A list of the best average scores is then reduced to the Top 20 rankings.
Although the list is unique, its true value lies in the blind tasting of the international reviewers who voted for a spirit they had no idea was.