The 50 Best Whiskeys of the 21st Century From Bourbon to Scotch to Rye

Crown Royal is the most popular Canadian whisky on the market. The distillery mostly produces blended expressions that are made up of several different types of grain, so when Northern Harvest Rye hit the market back in 2015, whisky fans were intrigued. This is two-grain blend made from a whopping 90 percent rye grain, and the effect on the flavor is pronounced. This award-winning whisky is a little bit sweet with ample spice notes, and is a great example of a really well made Canadian whisky that also happens to work extremely well in cocktails.

Rye is a major part of the American whiskey category, but distilleries around the world have also been getting into this style. Countries like Scotland, Finland, Spain, and Denmark have all released rye whiskies, and a distillery called Stauning in the latter nation is crafting some of the best. This rye whisky is made from a mashbill of 51 percent malted rye and 49 percent malted barley and aged for about three years in virgin American oak. The result is something entirely different from American rye, with spice and fruit notes that evoke the flavors of Nordic rye bread, a great example of how another whisky culture can interpret this historic category.

Irish single grain refers to the fact that the whiskey is produced at one distillery from a mashbill that includes a mixture of grains (usually a large percentage of corn), most commonly in a column still as opposed to a pot still. In the case of Dublin distillery Teeling’s version, the mashbill is 95 percent corn and five percent malted barley. Teeling Single Grain was matured in French oak barrels previously used to mature Cabernet Sauvignon, giving the whiskey big notes of fruit and spice with a nice tannic finish.

Seattle distillery Westland is a leader in the American single malt category, and one of the most unique whiskeys it makes is the Garryana series. This is an annual release from Westland that focuses on the use of barrels made from Quercus garryana oak, a tree that is native to the Pacific Northwest and is prized for adding flavors like clove and molasses to the whiskey. The series celebrated a decade last year with the release of its first 10-year-old expression that was aged in a wide variety of casks, which of course included garryana. The result is a superb single malt with notes of citrus, dried fruit, maple, honey, oak, leather, and black pepper on the palate.

Woodinville Whiskey has been owned by Moët Hennessy since 2017, but the small Washington state distillery still really functions like a craft operation—and not just any craft operation, but one that happens to make bourbon that can stand up to any of the legacy distilleries in Kentucky. The whiskey is distilled in Woodinville just outside of Seattle, then sent to central Washington to age in warehouses, resulting in bourbon that is rich and complex with notes of maple, stone fruit, molasses, and cinnamon. And the core expression recently had a six-year age statement added to it, ensuring that every drop is going to be well aged.

This is a single grain Irish whiskey sourced by independent bottling brand High N’ Wicked. It’s made from a mashbill of 95 percent corn and five percent Irish malted barley in County Cork on a continuous Coffey still (a type of column still), and then aged in ex-bourbon barrels for an undisclosed amount of time. The key here is the secondary maturation—the whiskey then spent six months in barrels that previously held Mark X 2007 rum from famed Barbados distillery Foursquare. It’s bottled at 100 proof, and the palate is a perfect harmony of vanilla and caramel notes combined with tropical fruit flavors picked up from the cask finish.

Daftmill 2010 Cask Strength is a 12-year-old expression from a small family-run distillery that was aged in 15 first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, which ultimately yielded 2,400 cask-strength bottles clocking in at 58.7 percent ABV. Honey is one of the first notes that leaps out at you on the nose, along with vanilla and apricot. Vanilla continues onto the palate but morphs into yellow custard, complemented by flavors like fennel pollen, a hint of banana, a healthy dose of spice, and a bit of leather and oak.

Louisville blending and finishing house Barrell Craft Spirits first released its Dovetail expression in 2018. Since then there have been several iterations of this cask-finished blend, but the original deserves a spot on this list. This is a blend of American and Canadian whiskey that has been finished in three different types of barrels: rum, port, and Dunn Cabernet wine from California. This is a triple-cask finish done right, each barrel giving the whiskey notes of dried fruit, banana, pepper, and butterscotch pecan that all combine seamlessly together as you sip, even at cask strength.

This is a very interesting Japanese whisky in a category that is full of unique expressions. Takamine uses koji mold to ferment its whisky, a process that is usually employed for making soy sauce or miso. This 20-year-old expression is fantastic, a blend of casks distilled in 2003 and 2004 that were produced and matured in Japan. There are some other younger and older expressions available as well, but this one hits the sweet spot in terms of flavor, with notes of red berry, vanilla custard, maple candy on the palate, and smoky oak tannins on the finish.

This series from Utah distillery High West first launched in 2013, and is now on its 13th edition. The makeup of a Midwinter Night’s Dram has changed over the years, but the constant theme is that it’s a blend of rye whiskeys finished in port barrels. This latest release consists of whiskey aged from four to 10 years—95 percent rye and 5 percent malted barley rye distilled at MGP, and High West-distilled rye made from a mashbill of 80 percent rye and 20 percent malted rye. This is another great edition, with notes of berry, chocolate, cherry, cinnamon, pine, and molasses on the palate.

Over the past few years, Jim Beam’s Old Overholt rye whiskey brand has gotten some upgrades, the most significant of which is the launch of this cask-strength, age-statement version. The most latest release arrived last year, a 12-year-old rye bottled at 117 proof that was distilled and barreled in the spring of 2013 and aged in four different warehouses on Beam’s Clermont, KY campus. There’s ample spice and heat present, along with a bit of sweetness and notes of maple, brown sugar, white pepper, cinnamon toast, wintergreen, and licorice. And if you like a Manhattan with a bit of a punch, this would be a great whiskey to use.

Indian whisky brand Paul John has been releasing an annual Christmas single malt since 2018, each one a different formulation of whisky styles (peated and unpeated) and combination of casks, ranging from bourbon to sherry to brandy to wine. This year’s release is an eight-year-old unpeated whisky (the oldest to date from the distillery) that spent five years in bourbon barrels and then another three in cream casks (barrels seasoned with a blend of sweet and dry sherry). This whisky is always interesting, and the 2025 edition is no exception with notes of apple, stone fruits, caramel, roasted nuts, and butterscotch on the palate.

Woodford Reserve became part of the Brown-Forman family in 1996, joining other brands like Jack Daniel’s and Old Forester. The focus was initially on bourbon, but the distillery has added many other expressions over the years, including Double Oaked which first came out in 2012. What makes this bourbon different is that the whiskey is put into a new set of charred oak barrels for about a year after initial maturation. This amplifies the liquid and gives it a new burst of flavors, bringing notes of chocolate, dark fruit, tobacco, leather, and burnt caramel to the forefront.

When it arrived in 2005, this 50-year-old Yamazaki was the oldest whisky to date from this distillery owned by Japanese drinks company Suntory (it has since been surpassed). Other releases followed, and while older whisky doesn’t always mean better whisky, this is ultra-aged Japanese single malt is superb. it was entirely matured in mizunara, a type of Japanese oak that can be very difficult to work with, and that has given it notes of rich leather, tannin, dark fruit, spice, and incense. This is an incredibly rare and exorbitantly expensive whisky, but it’s one worth trying if you can find it.

Old Forester is a whiskey brand known for releasing high-quality, affordable bourbon, but it also has a few higher priced gems in the lineup. One of those is 1920 Style Prohibition Whisky, a callback to the fact that Old Forester was granted a license to produce medicinal whiskey during the Noble Experiment. This bourbon is bottled at a strong 115 proof, but that heat doesn’t obscure the rich notes of dried fruit, baking spice, apple cinnamon, and oaky smoke on the palate.

This whiskey was released to celebrate 40 years of Midleton Very Rare, the excellent blend that is produced at the eponymous distillery in Cork where other brands like Jameson and Redbreast are also made. It’s a blend of three barrels that were put into a port cask to finish for nine months, resulting in notes of dusty oak, leather, chocolate, tobacco, dark fruit, cedar, and cherry on the palate. This is an Irish whiskey that is worth the splurge if you can afford it.

A couple of years ago, Maker’s Mark released its first aged-stated bourbon and its oldest expression to date, and the whiskey world received it with open arms. The whiskey is initially matured in the distillery’s regular rickhouses, then moved into its cooler limestone cellar for further maturation. The result is a fantastic age-stated bourbon that has increased in age with every release. The 2025 version of Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged was a blend of bourbon aged from 11 to 14 years and bottled at 112.9 proof, and it’s another winner with notes of dark chocolate, cherry syrup, baked pecan, caramelized brown sugar, and maple.

Islay distillery Laphroaig is known for its incredibly smoky scotch, and the 10-year-old expression is a staple at bars and restaurants everywhere. But the annual Cairdeas release is also worth paying attention to, and one of the best in the series was the 2024 expression. This was a 10-year-old single malt that included whisky from two previous releases: 2019’s Triple Wood and 2021’s PX Cask. The result is a high-proof scotch that combines seriously smoky notes with dried fruit, oak, toasted nuts, and vanilla cream in every sip.

Bomberger’s PFG is a straight bourbon that is unlike any other Michter’s has released. PFG stands for “Precision Fine Grain”—first the whiskey was aged in new toasted and charred barrels, then put into new French oak barrels that were toasted and charred using a proprietary process. This secondary maturation has transformed the whiskey into a spicy, woody, fruity delight without losing the bourbon’s core identity. There are notes of caramel, fermented grapes, leather, sweet tobacco, milk and dark chocolate, and a cabinet full of baking spices, with every sip revealing something new.

Sullivan’s Cove is a Tasmanian distillery that has been around since 1994, so this 25-year-old release is nearly as old as the distillery itself, and it’s one of the oldest new world whiskies you can find. Two different casks of the whisky were released in very limited numbers, one American oak ex-bourbon and one American oak refill cask. The palate will vary based on which cask you try, of course, but overall each has a really layered and complex palate with notes of vanilla, citrus, spice, oak, and dried fruit.

The Dalmore first released its King Alexander III expression back in the late 2000s, and it was a hit among whisky drinkers. It’s a blend of six different cask finishes: bourbon, Matusalem Oloroso sherry, Madeira, Marsala, Port, and Cabernet Sauvignon. That’s a lot of finishing to combine and balance, but the Dalmore has done it artfully here, yielding a single malt scotch with notes of vanilla, raisin, sherry, toasted nuts, spice, and dried orange peel.

Angel’s Envy was founded in 2006, released its first whiskey in 2010, and then added this cask-strength version a couple of years after that. Like all of the core bourbon made at the distillery, Cask Strength is also finished in port barrels, but it’s bottled without being diluted. The strength varies with every release, but usually hovers around the 120 proof mark. This is an excellent and flavorful barrel-proof bourbon that is never overpowered by heat and alcohol, and has become a fan favorite and collectible whiskey over the years.

Northern Ireland distillery Bushmills added this age statement to its core portfolio just a few years ago, along with a 30-year-old, and it turned out to be a very wise move. The 25-year-old single malt was initially aged in bourbon barrels and sherry butts for close to six years, then spent another 21 years in ruby port casks, resulting in a palate full of notes of fresh and dried fruit, dark chocolate, cherry syrup, and fresh citrus. There are many other Bushmills age statement single malts to explore, but this is one of the very best.

Kavalan is a Taiwanese distillery that makes truly excellent single malt whisky, and one of its best releases was this 15th anniversary expression. It was distilled in 2009, aged in ex-bourbon barrels, and bottled at cask strength of 50-60 percent ABV (depending on the batch). The tropical climate in Taiwan means that whisky tends to age faster, but in this case 15 years feels just right. This is a bright but intense whisky, with notes of tropical fruit like mango and pineapple, vanilla, butterscotch, almonds, and a hint of lemon zest on the palate.

Bardstown Bourbon Company is one of the best newer distilleries in Bardstown, the small enclave at the epicenter of Kentucky bourbon. BBC does it all: sources, contract distills for other brands, and releases its own whiskeys. This whiskey, part of Bardstown’s Collaborative Series, is a blend of bourbons aged for six, seven, and 12 years from Kentucky and Indiana that was finished for 17 months in Amaro Riserva Nonino barrels from Italy. The whiskey is full of fruit and spice notes that do not obscure the bourbon’s vanilla, nut, maple, and oak notes.

Islay distillery Bruichladdich is known for making some of the most heavily peated whiskies you can find as part of its annual Octomore series. But the core expression, the Classic Laddie, is actually an unpeated whisky that is a “classic” for a reason. This non-age statement expression is a blend of whiskies aged in variety of cask types, and the end result is a single malt that you can sip on its own or mix into a highball, with notes of vanilla, oak, citrus, honey, and caramel on the palate.

A few years ago, Jack Daniel’s started releasing batches of its first age statement whiskeys in more than a century, beginning with a 10-year-old and culminating with a 14-year-old (there may be older expressions in the future). The sweet spot is the 12-year, however, an older, higher proof version of Old No. 7. It’s made from the same mashbill, but has layers of flavor that make it far superior to the original. Look for notes of brown sugar, creme brûlée, and rum raisin ice cream, with a dollop of Jack’s signature banana note as well.

Knob Creek, which is part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection, has been regarded for decades as a solid whiskey brand that packs a punch at 100 proof. The core expression has a nine-year age statement, but the brand started adding older whiskeys to the lineup a few years ago. The 15-year-old hits the Goldilocks zone in terms of age and flavor, with notes of cherry, stone fruit, vanilla, and brown sugar on the palate, with some woodiness that is very present but not overpowering.

Kentucky distillery New Riff has released several batches of its American malt, and all have been uniformly excellent. The 2025 release was a blend of three different mashbills, all 100 percent malted barley as is now required by law. The whiskey was put into six different types of barrels and aged for seven to 10 years: new charred oak, de-charred and toasted bourbon barrels, de-charred and re-charred bourbon barrels, Madeira casks, Oloroso sherry casks, and red wine French oak barrels. The final blend is superb with notes of candied orange, Cherry Coke, black pepper, caramel, oak, cocoa powder, and hints of leather.

Eddie Russell, the son of the legendary Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell, is the man responsible for the Master’s Keep series from Wild Turkey. The younger Russell experiments with the whiskey in ways his father wouldn’t be interested in—case in point is this 10-year-old bourbon finished in rum casks sourced from Appleton Estate that was released in 2023. This is one of the best cask-finished bourbons of the 21st century, an artful blend of complementary flavors that stands with the best.

Tamdhu 21 Year Old was the oldest whisky to join this distillery’s core lineup (and the first of this age), and one that will satisfy every sherry-loving cell in your body. This new single malt was aged entirely in European and American oak sherry casks, resulting in a palate that is rich, decadent, and vibrant despite its elevated age. Dried fruit immediately jumps out as you sip, as you might expect, along with a range of flavors like baking spice, caramel, and milk and dark chocolate.

When Vermont distillery WhistlePig was founded in 2007, the ultra-premium rye whiskey category wasn’t really a thing. But that changed quickly as the distillery began to source well-aged rye from MGP and Canada and finish it in different types of casks. The core 12-year-old is aged in new charred oak and then finished in Madeira, Sauternes, and port casks, imbuing it with enough flavor to sip on its own or use in a cocktail with notes of fruit, spice, and oak in every sip.

The Macallan relaunched its M Series in 2022, but the original expression came out a decade before that in 2013. Whisky maker Bob Dalgarno was behind that inaugural bottling, a non-age statement expression that included liquid from seven casks, some of which had been matured for several decades. M came in a specially designed Lalique decanter, a stunning vessel to match the quality of the whisky, with its rich notes of sherry, dried fruit, chocolate, spice, and ripe berries.

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Tamdhu 21 Is a Fantastic Sherry Bomb Whisky

Oban is a small distillery that is one of Diageo’s core operations, with a portfolio anchored by a 14-year-old expression. This release is a year older than that one, but really stands out—it was matured in European oak butts and American oak hogsheads, and then finished for more than four years in Oloroso and Palo Cortado sherry casks and bottled at cask strength of 55.3 percent ABV. There’s a wisp of smoke on the palate, along with big notes of sweet fruit, caramelized brown sugar, black pepper, rum raisin, and cinnamon, and a nice amount of heat on the finish.

Four Roses stands out from other Kentucky distilleries for the fact that it uses 10 different recipes to make its bourbon, a combination of two mashbills and five yeast strains. The Small Batch expression, however, which launched in 2006, is a blend of just four of these recipes with a focus on notes of baking spice, fruit, and vanilla. This is a versatile and flavorful bourbon that is consistently one of the very best to come out of Kentucky, and can be sipped neat or used in any whiskey cocktail you can imagine.

Booker’s is the OG member of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection, a barrel-proof bourbon that comes out four times per year in batches that vary in proof and age. But in 2016, the distillery decided to release a rye whiskey version of Booker’s that proved to be very popular (and very elusive). The whiskey was said to contain quite a bit more rye grain than most Jim Beam rye, and it was bottled at a bit over 68 percent ABV. Booker’s Rye became a legendary whiskey for a reason, with powerful notes of black pepper, dried fig, ripe apple, vanilla custard, and maple on the palate, and no shortage of heat as each sip lingers on your tongue.

Nikka Coffey Grain is made from a mashbill that is mostly composed of corn, as opposed to a single malt which is made from 100 percent malted barley. This is a Japanese whisky for bourbon lovers, produced in continuous column stills instead of pot stills and matured in American ex-whiskey barrels. The liquid is full of notes of caramel, vanilla, fruit, and butterscotch, with a bit of spice on the finish. Try this next to the Coffey Malt from Nikka to really see the difference in styles.

Remember, just because a whisky is old doesn’t mean it’s good—but sometimes that means it’s actually very good, as in the case with Ardbeg 25. The quarter-century-old expression from this Islay distillery is one of the best peated whiskies you will ever taste. All that time in oak barrels has slightly toned down the assertive smokiness that defines Ardbeg’s whiskies, but there is still enough to place it front and center. There is ample spice on the palate, along with vanilla, citrus, fruit, and of course the peat you’d expect.

Triple Eight Distillery, located on the small New England island of Nantucket, has quietly been making some of the best American single malt you can find. The Notch is the name of the the line, which includes expressions aged for eight, 12, and 15 years. The oldest is the best of the bunch, a rich and complex American single malt that is really unlike any you’ve tried before. It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in sherry, Cognac, and wine casks, resulting in a decadent pour with notes of dried cherry, tobacco, and vanilla—a whiskey that more people should know about.

This was the second release in Heaven Hill’s Heritage Collection, a series of whiskeys that is meant to highlight each of the distillery’s six mashbills at older ages. This one happened to be a corn whiskey instead of a bourbon or rye, meaning it was made a mashbill of 80 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley and 8 percent rye, and aged in used bourbon barrels. At 20 years old it’s fantastic, with notes of corn and oak spice on the nose, chocolate and walnut on the palate, and a finish of wood spice and corn sweetness.

Russell’s Reserve is the smaller batch brand made at Wild Turkey, and many of the whiskeys in the lineup are true bargains considering their age and quality. The brand launched this 13-year-old bourbon in 2021 and it became an instant success, so it decided to bring it back a few times over the past few years and even launched an older 15-year-old version. But the 13-year-old is the better of the two, a bourbon that hits the sweet spot in terms of maturation and flavor, with notes of vanilla, caramel, brown sugar, baking spice, and some earthy warehouse oak on the palate.

High in the Japanese Alps, the Hakushu Distillery is producing some of the world’s best single malts. The House of Suntory, its parent company, marked a century of whisky-making in 2023. To commemorate the occasion, it launched this new 18-year-old peated whisky, an elegant single malt that combines a gentle smokiness with notes of citrus and spice. If you’re a fan of the rest of the Hakushu lineup—and even if you’re not—this bottle is worth trying.

When it comes to scotch whisky, you’ve got your sherry bombs, your smoky beasts, your lighter and fruitier styles, and your richer and fuller drams. The best thing about Highland Park is that it strikes a balance between all of these styles, with strong but not overpowering sherry cask and peat influence on the palate. The 18-year-old expression is superb, with natural color that comes only from maturation in first-fill sherry-seasoned American and European oak casks. Look for notes of spice, dried fruit, blackberry, vanilla, and smoke on the palate.

MGP makes whiskey for many different brands, including Dickel, Smooth Ambler, and Bulleit. But it also has its own lineup named after the notorious bootlegger George Remus (not a great guy, as it turns out). The distillery’s pinnacle expression is the annual release of Remus Gatsby Reserve, a 15-year-old bourbon that is decadent and delicious, with equal parts sweetness, spice, and tannic oak that doesn’t overwhelm notes of fruit and black pepper.

Heaven Hill’s barrel-proof version of its core Elijah Craig bourbon, which was first released in 2013, comes out in three batches per year, each one differing in proof and age (in 2023 it shifted from a 12-year age statement to a variable one). This is consistently one of the best barrel-proof bourbons that you can find, with the ABV usually ranging between 60 and 65 percent. Sip this whiskey neat, over some ice, or even use it in a cocktail—Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is surprisingly versatile despite its strength.

The history of the legendary Pappy Van Winkle bourbon brand dates back to the early 1900s, when the man himself worked for W.L. Weller & Sons. For a time in the late 20th century the whiskey was made at Stitzel-Weller, but the brand finally ended up at Buffalo Trace when Julian Van Winkle III and his family entered into a partnership with that distillery in 2002. Out of all the age statements, the 15-year-old is arguably the best, sitting in the Goldilocks zone of age. Prior to 2004, this whiskey was known as Old Rip Van Winkle 15, and nowadays the whiskey is made entirely from Buffalo Trace distillate as the Stitzel-Weller juice for this ran out years ago. This is still an overhyped and exorbitantly priced (on the secondary market) bourbon, but it’s also truly great, with rich notes of caramel, ripe berries, maple candy, caramelized brown sugar, and oaky smoke on the palate.

Redbreast is one of the great Irish whiskeys, a single pot still brand made at the legendary Midleton Distillery just outside of Cork. Single pot still means it’s made at one distillery from a mashbill of malted and unmalted barley (and sometimes some other grain)—Redbreast 12 is made from recipe, triple distilled on pot stills, and then aged in bourbon and sherry casks. And the cask strength version is even better than the original. It’s bottled without dilution at close to 60 percent ABV, meaning this whiskey delivers huge flavor that is still balanced enough to sip even at that strength. Look for notes of sherried spice, fresh and dried fruit, citrus, vanilla, and oak on the palate.

The Glendronach is a Highland distillery that makes sherry cask-matured whisky that rivals the likes of the Macallan—and in some cases, it’s even better. The 18-year-old expression is the peak age statement of the lineup, a rich and complex single malt aged entirely in Oloroso sherry casks sourced from Andalucía, Spain. That has imbued it with notes of molasses, dried fruit, spice, and vanilla, with a nice balance of sweet and dry.

George T. Stagg is an assertive, impressive, and altogether fantastic bourbon that has been part of the annual Buffalo Trace Antique Collection since it launched in 2002 (with the exception of 2021 when it was not included). This uncut and unfiltered bourbon is powerful in flavor and strength, usually aged for about 15 years and bottled at barrel strength—which has entered hazmat territory at times. But even though this bourbon is bottled at such high proof, it’s been uniformly delicious over the past two decades (bourbon fans will argue about which years are better than others, of course), with rich notes of oak, leather, dark berries, coffee beans, and caramel, along with a healthy dose of heat which lingers long after your final sip.

Michter’s 20 Year Bourbon might be a lot more expensive and hard to find than the 10 Year (a great whiskey in its own right), but it is pretty fantastic despite the fact that each expression is a little different from the last. Master distiller Dan McKee looks at the 17-to-20-year age range as the “fork in the road,” the time when barrels can either achieve exceptional levels of quality or perhaps start on a downward trajectory—the former are obviously what go into Michter’s 20 Year. The 2025 release was a standout, with notes of vanilla, honey, barrel-aged maple syrup, maraschino cherry, and salted caramel on the palate, with some baking spice, black pepper, and a bit of menthol on the finish.