Until now I didn’t have the habit of wishing everyone a good health, but this year I want to emphasize that good health means everything. It really does. Happy New Year, and all the best for 2026. We’ll go over the past year and list some of our personal highlights.
The number of reviews on this website saw a serious increase since Covid, growing from around 350 reviews a year to 602 reviews in 2024. This year the number is lower again: 526 reviews. There were 420 whiskies, 39 rums, 33 armagnacs, 28 cognacs and a couple of other spirits.
On the other hand it’s a lot more than I would have predicted early this year, since I had to rely on stockpiled articles for two months. Fortunately the loss of taste lasted relatively short, but I have to keep in mind that I won’t get full confirmation of the surgical success until next February.
Best new whisky in 2025
In 2024 a total of 69 drams scored 90 points or more. This year it’s only 56 drams. A slight regression perhaps, but the distribution of different scores is more or less the same so it’s certainly not a general loss of quality.
The award for best new whisky goes to two very expensive whiskies, but both are certainly worth 94 points:
- Glen Grant 1954 ‘Mr George’ (the final release)
- Bowmore ARC-54
These are followed closely by a considerably less expensive Laphroaig 26 Year Old 1998 in the Whiskyland series which got 93 points.
Then 10 drams reached 92 points. There was a blended malt from Sansibar (!) and four independent Springbank bottlings (1, 2, 3, 4).
When taking into account the price, then Ben Nevis 1996 is still a great choice, check this or this for instance. We had several casks that reached 91 points and some of them could be found for less than € 300.
A special mention for Decadent Drinks. In the list of 90+ pointers this name appears ten times. They manage to combine a high bottling tempo with high quality.
Favourite other spirits in 2024
The highest scoring cognac reached 93 points. That would be the Cognac François Voyer Lot 79 from Malternative Belgium.
The same house also scored 92 points twice, with the Ancestral n°9 and Lot 46. On the same level we find the Delamain Lot 62 from Malternative Belgium. All these were simply excellent.
In the more affordable section: Cognac Marie Foucher Lot 75 from Malternative Belgium which was € 215 if I’m not mistaken. Probably the most fruits you can get for your money, just like last year for that matter. Pieter and Ysatis are still the benchmark in my opinion.
The same level could also be found in rum. If you look at these five highlights it’s easy to notice certain names stand out:
- New Yarmouth 2005 (The Whisky Jury)
- TDL 2002 (The Whisky Jury)
- TDL 2003 (35Whisky for Chinlam)
- HD <>H 2013 (The Roots + The Antelope)
- HD <>H 2013 (The Colours of Rum)
Best value spirits in 2025
I always try to find spirits that score 90 points or more for less than € 250. Armagnac delivered the most interesting price / value ratio this year, I would say. I must admit I sometimes don’t know the price of every bottling, but I think this is the selection this year:
- Speyside 18 Years (Saltire Cigar Malt)
- Highland Park 2003 (Fruitful Spirits)
- Armagnac Hontambère / Pouchégu 1997 (Grape of the Art)
- Armagnac Hontambère / Pouchégu 1995 (RAC Spirits)
- Cooley 2001 (The Roots)
- New Yarmouth 2005 (The Whisky Jury)
Kudos to the Dailuaine 21 Year Old Special Release as well. Probably overpriced, but a good whisky nonetheless and one of the more impressive official releases that are within reach, let’s say.
Whisky blog statistics
Google Analytics tells us we have a status quo: around 700.000 visitors in 2025, just a marginal difference compared to last year. There has been an 8% increase in the number of new visitors though.
Last year we saw a decrease in visitors, which I then attributed to significantly lower whisky sales across the globe. While the market situation is roughly the same as last year, some signs of improvement are visible, not so much in the sales figures but in the way independent bottlers are given access to more casks at more reasonable prices. To me that’s a first sign of the market cooling down and coming to its senses again.
The UK and USA have always been the most represented countries in terms of visitors, but they are losing their edge (now their share is around 15%, which used to be 20%). India is the biggest newcomer in third position (suddenly around 8%). Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia and Belgium are each responsible for around 4%. Further down there is a strong visitor base in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. A lot of Asian countries are now above 2%, that’s a firm trend as well.
Thanks everyone for the loyal following!
We had no Special Releases overview this year, so other pages were popular. As a final note, these are the most visited reviews: