World Whiskies Awards 2009 - The Winners
Issue 101 Out Now
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World Whiskies Awards 2009
This year's competition saw more than 150 whiskies put through their paces during three rounds of tastings to win the coveted titles of “Best in the World”. Once again this year's competition has been incredibly hard fought with some of the winners being separated by very slim margins.
Impressively for the second year running in both the Grain and Whisky Liqueur categories, the winners retained their top spots showing great consistancy.
There have been intensive rounds of tastings by Whisky Magazine's independent editorial panel drawn from the best journalists and retailers across the world, and also by industry representatives made up of master blenders, distillers and brand ambassadors. To get to the final results three rounds of blind tastings were held.
Round one was conducted by the editorial panel at their homes. The judges were simply sent sample bottles marked with the ABV and category.
We split the whiskies up by regions and styles. The entries were then divided up among the judges, who then tasted and marked the spirits out of 10.
The highest scoring whiskies in this round gave us the subcategory winners, for instance the Best Speyside Single Malt Whisky 12 Years and Under, which then went forward to the second round of tastings, held in London with some of the best noses in the industry judging them.
The winners of this second round gave us our category winners, for instance Best Highland Single Malt whisky, which were then sent back to the editorial panel to do battle for the overall titles.
The competition featured some outstanding whiskies and the judges had a hard time separating the very good from the good.
In some categories, particularly if only one whisky entered, it was still put through the tasting wringer to make sure it deserved an the award.
A little different from last year is that we awarded a Best Scotch Single Malt for the whisky that scored the most points during the final round of tasting.
Our congratulations go to the winners and we hope that you will have fun exploring some of the whiskies that performed exceptionally this year.
SINGLE MALT WHISKY
Winner : Highland Park 21 Years Old
Category Winners
| World’s Best Highland Single Malt Whisky | Glenmorangie 25 Years Old |
| World’s Best Speyside Single Malt Whisky | Glenlivet Archive 21 Years Old |
| World’s Best Irish Single Malt Whiskey | Tyrconnell single cask |
| World’s Best Campbeltown Single Malt Whisky | Springbank 15 Years Old |
| World’s Best Lowlands Single Malt Whisky | Glenkinchie Distillers Edition |
| World’s Best Island Non Islay Single Malt Whisky | Highland Park 21 Years Old |
| World’s Best Islay Peated Single Malt Whisky | Lagavulin 16 Years Old |
| World’s Best Islay Unpeated Single Malt Whisky | Bunnahabhain 18 Years Old |
| World’s Best Scotch Single Malt Whisky | Highland Park 21 Years Old |
| World’s Best Other Single Malt Whisky | Mackmyra First Edition |
| World’s Best Japanese Single Malt Whisky | Hakushu 25 Years Old |
Sub Category Winners
| Highland 12 and Under | Glencadam 10 Years Old |
| Highland 13-20 Years Old | Glenmorangie 18 Years Old |
| Highland 21 and Over | Glenmorangie 25 Years Old |
| Highland No age | Balblair 1990 |
| Speyside 12 and Under | Glendronach 12 Years Old |
| Speyside 13-20 Years Old | Longmorn 16 Years Old |
| Speyside 21 and Over | Glenlivet Archive21 Years Old |
| Speyside No age | Cragganmore Distillers Edition |
| Irish 12 and Under | Tyrconnell Sherry Cask |
| Irish 13-20 Years Old | Tyrconnell Single Cask |
| Irish No age | Connemara peated |
| Campbeltown 12 and Under | Springbank 100 Proof |
| Campbeltown 13-20 Years Old | Springbank 15 Years Old |
| Campbeltown No age | Longrow CV |
| Lowlands 12 and Under | Auchentoshan 12 Years Old |
| Lowlands No age | Glenkinchie Distillers Edition |
| Island Non Islay12 and Under | Arran 12 Years Old |
| Island Non Islay13-20 Years Old | Scapa 16 Years Old |
| Island Non Islay 21 and Over | Highland Park 21 Years Old |
| IslayUnpeated 12 and Under | Bunnahabhain 12 Years Old |
| Islay Unpeated 13-20 Years Old | Bunnahabhain 18 Years Old |
| Islay Peated 12 and Under | Ardbeg 10 Years Old |
| Islay Peated 13-20 Years Old | Lagavulin 16 Years Old |
| Islay Peated No age | Ardbeg Airigh nam beist |
| Japanese No age | Miyagiko |
| Japanese 12 and Under | Cask of Hakushu |
| Japanese 13-20 Years Old | Yamazaki heavily peated |
| Japanese 21 and Over | Hakushu 25 Years Old |
| Other 12 Years and Under | Three Ships 5 Years Old |
| Other No age | Lark Distillery Cask LD100 |
| Other No age | Mackmyra First Edition |
BLENDED WHISKY
Winner : Hankey Bannister 40 Years Old
Category Winners
| World’s Best Scotch Blended Whisky | Hanky Bannister 40 Years Old |
| World’sBest Japanese Blended Whisky | Nikkaf rom the barrel |
| World’sBest Irish Blended Whiskey | Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve |
Sub Category Winners
| Scotch Blended 12 and Under | Lawson's Gold 12 Years Old |
| Scotch Blended 13-20 Years Old | Dewar's 18 Years Old |
| Scotch Blended 21 and Over | Hanky Bannister 40 Years Old |
| Scotch Blended No age | Dewar's Signature |
| Japanese Blended No age | Nikka from the barrel |
| Japanese Blended 13-20 Years Old | Hibiki 17 Years Old |
| Japanese Blended 21 and Over | Hibiki 21 Years Old |
| Irish Blended 12 and Under | Powers 12 Years Old |
| Irish Blended 13-20 Years Old | Kilbeggan 15 Years Old |
| Irish Blended No age | Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve |
BLENDED MALT WHISKY
Winner : Taketsuru 21 Years old
Category Winners
| World’s Best Scotch Blended Malt | Compass Box Peat Monster |
| World’s Best Scotch Blended Malt | Monkey Shoulder |
| World’s Best Non-Scotch Blended Malt No age | Ichiro's Malt Double Distilleries |
| World’s Best Non-Scotch Blended Malt 21 Years and Over | Taketsuru 21 Years Old |
AMERICAN WHISKY
Winner : Thomas H. Handy Straight Rye Whiskey
Category Winners
| World’s Best Bourbon | Pappy Van Winkle 20 Years Old |
| World’s Best Wheat Whiskey | Bernheim Wheat |
| World’s Best Rye Whiskey | Thomas H.Handy |
Sub Category Winners
| Bourbon No age | Four Roses Small Batch |
| Bourbon 8 Years and Over | Pappy Van Winkle 20 Years Old |
| Bourbon 8 Years and Over | George T Stagg |
| Wheat No age | Bernheim Wheat |
| Rye No age | Thomas H.Handy |
GRAIN WHISKY
Winner : Compass Box Hedonism
Category Winners
| World’s Best Blended Grain Whisky | Compass Box Hedonism |
| World’sBest Single Grain Whisky | Greenore15 Years Old |
| World’s Best Japanese Grain Whisky | Suntory Chita |
NEW RELEASE
Winner : Highland Park 40 Years Old
Candidates
The best new release is selected from those proprietory bottlings which have won agold medal in Whisky Magazine's tasting section during the year. They were:
| Highland Park 40 Years Old |
| Glenmorangie Astar |
| Glenmorangie Signet |
| Sazerac Rye 14 Years Old |
| Tomatin 30 Years Old |
Whisky Liquer
Winner : Wild Turkey American Honey
Thick texture, a sweet nose with sherbert lemons, sticky sweet but pleasantly clean Charles Maclean
Bananas, chocolate covered cherries with gooey filling, orange zest. Sweet full bodied front leads to a powdered hard candy finish with a hint of lavender LeNell
Orangey, very sweet. Sugar dominates on the palate, with the same orange note as the nose. Orange peel, hint of spices and syrupy feel Martine Nouet
In-your-face herbal and sweet, almost like children's cough medicine. Bitter citric notes balance the sweetness so it doesn't cloy. Not a dram but a digestif Davin de Kergommeaux
Honey candy laced with blue flowers. Corn syrup spiked with chardonnay Liza Weisstuch
Orange-honey nose. Pepsin-spice and honey notes make it a pleasing combination for a liqueur William Dowd
Category Winners
| World’s Best Cream Liqueur | Dunkeld Atholl Brose |
| World’s Best non-Cream Liqueur | Wild Turkey American Honey |
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