The Worldwide Whisky Competitors brings collectively among the world’s most interesting whiskeys for blind tasting by a panel of skilled judges yearly. In 2025, the outcomes included a variety of whiskies hailing from all around the world, notable for his or her distinctive elements.
Annually, the IWC releases a ranked listing of the highest 15 whiskeys based mostly on its blind tasting scores. To maintain issues centered and allow you to zero in on the easiest, we’re taking a better have a look at the highest 5. Right here’s how each is made, what units it aside, and why it stood out to the judges in 2025.
Kavalan Solist Fino Sherry Single Cask Energy Single Malt Whisky – 97.04 Pts – Whisky of the Yr
Tasting Notes: Creamy toffee, wealthy fudge, chocolate, mango, overripe citrus, fruit flowers, inexperienced apples, smoked wooden
BUY NOW: From $300
Kavalan’s win in 2025 marks a serious milestone. Based on the distillery, the Solist Fino Sherry is “the primary non-Scottish whisky to win the Golden Barrel Trophy”.
Made in Yilan County, Taiwan, this single malt is distilled from 100% malted barley and matured in a single fino sherry cask. Fino is the driest fashion of sherry, and it provides the whiskey a nutty, elegant edge. The cask is bottled at pure power with no dilution or filtration.
Kavalan’s subtropical local weather quickens maturation, serving to the whiskey develop daring character in a short while. The result’s a wealthy, fruit-driven spirit balanced by dry oak and spice.
This bottling scored 97.04 factors (the best of the yr) and likewise helped Kavalan earn the title of Distillery of the Yr. Every Solist launch is drawn from a single cask, so no two are fairly the identical.
A. Smith Bowman Cask Energy (Batch #4) – 97.01 Pts
Tasting Notes: Leather-based, plums, apple, raspberry, chocolate, stone fruit, cinnamon, crisp apple
BUY NOW: N/A – very restricted allocation
Simply 0.03 factors shy of first place, this Virginia-made bourbon took residence each Greatest Bourbon and Greatest American Whiskey on the 2025 IWC.
A. Smith Bowman is Virginia’s oldest energetic distillery, based mostly in Fredericksburg and owned by Sazerac. What makes its whiskey distinctive is its triple distillation course of. The primary two distillations occur at Buffalo Hint in Kentucky. The spirit is then redistilled in Virginia utilizing a copper pot nonetheless named Mary.
Batch #4 was aged not less than 10 years in new charred American oak barrels. It was bottled at cask power, 69.85% ABV, with no chill filtration. The mash invoice contains corn, rye, and malted barley.
It’s a restricted launch, with bottles offered by way of lottery and rapidly snapped up by collectors.
Jack Daniel’s 12 Yr Previous Tennessee Whiskey Batch 3 – 96.50 Pts
Tasting Notes: Candy and creamy pipe tobacco, seasoned oak, butterscotch
BUY NOW: N/A – very restricted allocationsÂ
Jack Daniel’s has lengthy been a family identify, however this launch reveals its power in premium, age-stated whiskey. Batch 3 of the 12-Yr-Previous got here in third general on the 2025 IWC, with a rating of 96.50 factors.
Made in Lynchburg, Tennessee, it makes use of Jack’s signature mash invoice: 80% corn, 12% malted barley, 8% rye. Like all Tennessee whiskey, it undergoes charcoal mellowing earlier than maturation.
This batch was aged for 12 years in new charred oak barrels, then bottled at 107 proof (53.5% ABV). That further time within the barrel brings depth, spice, and dry oak, with a contact of Jack’s acquainted caramel and banana notes.
The 12-Yr is a part of Jack Daniel’s Aged Sequence, which revives age-stated releases from the model’s early historical past. It’s restricted, and bottles are inclined to promote out rapidly.
Hogback Peated Smoke Single Malt Whiskey – 96.39 Pts
Tasting Notes: Smoke, oak, peat, glazed BBQ meat, soaked beef jerky, vanilla, pepper, blackberry and apple pie
BUY NOW: $74.99
Hogback’s Peated Smoke took high honors within the American single malt class on the 2025 IWC, scoring 96.39 factors. It additionally positioned fourth general, a formidable outcome for a younger craft distillery from Colorado.
Based by Scottish-born Graeme Wallace, Hogback blends Scottish custom with American elements and local weather. This single malt is produced from 100% Scottish peated barley, distilled in copper pot stills, and matured for not less than three years in virgin American oak barrels.
It’s bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV) with no chill filtration. The whiskey combines smoke, charred oak, and delicate fruit notes, providing a profile that nods to Islay whereas remaining distinctly American.
This launch helped shine a light-weight on Colorado’s rising position within the American whiskey scene.
Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Whiskey – Batch 3633 – 96.34 Pts
Tasting Notes: Vanilla, leather-based, oak, white paper, marzipan
BUY NOW: From $85
Closing out the highest 5 is Batch 3633 of the Uncle Nearest Single Barrel sequence, scoring 96.34 factors on the 2025 IWC. This launch continues the model’s popularity for excellence and earned excessive marks for its daring but balanced profile.
Produced in Shelbyville, Tennessee, Uncle Nearest honors the legacy of Nathan “Nearest” Inexperienced, the previously enslaved distiller who taught Jack Daniel. The model is Black-owned, women-led, and one of many fastest-growing names in American whiskey.
Batch 3633 was bottled at cask power (60.9% ABV) and is believed to make use of a high-corn mash invoice, filtered via sugar maple charcoal within the conventional Tennessee fashion. It was aged in new charred oak and chosen for its wealthy flavors of butterscotch, pecan, and heat spice.
Each barrel within the sequence is hand-picked by Grasp Blender Victoria Eady Butler, Inexperienced’s great-great-granddaughter.
