Granted, I didn’t taste every Scotch whisky, every Bourbon, every Canadian, and every rye whiskey in 2020. I didn’t go through all the Irish selections, or the new Japanese whiskies either.
That being said, I tasted A LOT of them; over a thousand to be sure.
For the last two months, I’ve done nothing but open box, after box, after box of samples. They pile up at my front door, and they flood my office at Mission. So while there may be a hidden gem that I’ve missed, or a rare allocation that I didn’t try, I feel pretty confident in this decision.
I’ve seen what the critics had to say about 2020. I think most of the “Best of” selections were well chosen. I didn’t have any gripes.
But, for me personally, one whisky was so, so, so good—just light years ahead of anything else I tasted—that I’m somewhat surprised it hasn’t ended up on someone else’s list.
What’s my criteria for “Best Whisky of 2020?”
Simple: which whisky offered the most bang for the buck?
Let’s say there was a Bourbon that rocked my world at $20, but in reality was priced accordingly. It was good, but it didn’t really exceed its value.
A $500 single malt whisky may taste incredible and showcase spectacular complexity, but if I think it should have cost $200 then it’s out of the running.
So let’s talk about the winner: the GlenAllachie 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky for $54.99—a $50 whisky that tastes like a $100 whisky.
More importantly, let’s talk about Sherry.
In the information age of whisky connoisseurship, everyone wants to know the specs about their Sherry-matured Scotch.
What type of Sherry? Oloroso or Pedro Ximenez? PX is generally sweeter and more concentrated.
What fill? First fill or second fill? First fill barrels are being used for the first time, so the Sherry flavor is generally more intense.
But do you know how many fucking terrible Sherry-matured whiskies I tasted in 2020? More than I care to talk about.
Yet, based solely on the specs alone, most of them were triple, quadruple, and quintuple the price of the GlenAllachie 12 year.
There are two things you can’t quantify for a label or calculate in a formula: taste and balance. You can use all the first-fill Sherry barrels you want, but if the casks are not chosen carefully those whiskies can be bitter and full of sulfur.
Do you know how disappointed some customers must be to open a $200 bottle of luxury, Sherry-aged whisky and find that it smells like a giant fart? That happened to someone I know last week.
GlenAllachie’s Billy Walker understands Sherry. He knows how to use it, when to use it, and what it’s meant for. He proved it at Benriach. He proved it at Glendronach. And he’s proved it again at GlenAllachie.
The GlenAllachie 12 year is like a hard single malt candy, dipped in caramel, then covered with dark chocolate, then dusted with cocoa. As you work the whisky around in your mouth, the layers start to peel back and you can identify every single one of them, each completely in balance and playing off one another.
With the GlenAllachie 12 year, you’re not just getting a fantastic whisky that’s been aged in the best possible Sherry casks, you’re getting a marriage of those casks that has been masterfully blended to sheer perfection. It’s not only the best bang for the buck I’ve tasted in 2020, it’s the best value I’ve tasted in the last three years. It’s better than any new whisky I tasted in 2018 and 2019 as well.
So let’s talk about what the GlenAllachie can do for you.
Is it going to wow your rich friends at a party? No.
Is it going to garner thousands of likes on social media? No.
Will showcasing your GlenAllachie bunker on Instagram impress the other basic bitches who all post the same shit over and over again thinking it makes them cool?
It will not.
But if you want to drink a whisky that tastes better than most whiskies at double or even triple the price, this is your bottle.
In the end, that’s what consumers want, isn’t it? To get value for their dollar? To feel like they’re being taken care of rather than screwed over? To know that they’re buying something at a reasonable price?
That’s what I want from my whisky. I want to feel special.
And no whisky in 2020 made me feel more special than the GlenAllachie 12. I haven’t had anything this good at this price in quite some time.
-David Driscoll