Whisky Advocate Spring 2025

You may be aware of the recent downturn in whisky sales. That has affected the craft segment too, and some small distilleries have shuttered. But it’s important to remember how far we’ve come in the brief history of America’s craft distilling adventure. Today there are nearly 3,000 craft distillers in the U.S., according to the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA). Back in 2000, there were fewer than 25. And the current number of craft producers is actually still growing, as new players launch while the shuttered ones leave the scene. Meanwhile, overall whiskey sales (excluding flavored whiskeys) today are about 28% higher than in 2000. In any sustained boom, there are always bumps along the way—“corrections,” as they call them on Wall Street when share prices tumble. It’s similar here.…

If you’re traveling to Kentucky as a whiskey tourist, chances are the state’s northern reaches aren’t first on your list of places to visit. That’s by no means a snub as much as a statement of fact—the vast majority of the state’s distilleries are dotted across the center of the commonwealth, in the “Amber Triangle” formed by Lexington, Louisville, and Bardstown. These days, however, there’s a hub of whiskey activity humming to the north, with Covington at the center of it all. The city of Covington (population 40,984) lies just across the river from Cincinnati, a travel hub with an airport bigger and more accessible than what you’ll find in Louisville or Lexington. Covington touts a rich, albeit lesser-known distilling history (one of its politicians, John G. Carlisle, was a…

What ages together, goes together. Or at least that’s the case with whisky and rum. Though one starts with starch and the other with sugar, both are imparted with color and flavors from their time spent in barrels, and while they’re distinctly different, they share similar flavors. So when you shake or stir whisky and rum together, the uniform flavors fade to the background, allowing their unique attributes to take the spotlight. “It creates a beautifully layered and balanced drink,” says Keena Hanson, training and development bar manager for Ida Claire and Haywire in Dallas, Texas. To form a harmonious marriage for a tasty cocktail, note the spice levels, alcohol contents, and flavors of your spirits. Since rum tends to be sweet, it lends itself to partnering with peated scotch,…

America’s pastime brings to mind beer, hot dogs, and Cracker Jack. It’s time to add whisky to that list. Although very few baseball stadiums have bars where you can purchase pours, most cities have a standout establishment within walking distance or a short ride away. There, you might be able to enjoy anything from pizza to prime steak with craft cocktails, curated flights, rare selections, or your favorite whisky. From sports bars to speakeasies, here’s where to get your fix before the opening pitch. Citizen Public House & Oyster Bar Boston This cozy British gastropub is a block’s walk from Fenway Park, making it an ideal spot for Red Sox fans and haters alike to suck down local raw oysters, whisky-smoked mussels, and whisky before the game. Pull up a…

Mint is a multifaceted herb, with spearmint and peppermint being the best-known examples. Peppermint offers a stronger, more minty flavor, whereas spearmint is milder and more understated, seemingly closer to the plant where its flavor originates. It’s most commonly found in rye whiskey or high-rye bourbons, and once you tune into it, there’s no escaping the mintiness in a glass of either. But is it all down to just the grain? Fermentation produces spicy mint notes from rye grain, but fresh discoveries suggest mint flavors can arise from another part of the whisky-making process, most notably the barrel. Researchers in Bordeaux demonstrated the presence of barrel-sourced volatile odorant compounds similar to those in peppermint oil as likely candidates for the mint notes in red wine. Turning to whisky, they analyzed…

In this age when we can have almost anything delivered to our door, it’s easy to forget that not so long ago the only places delivering food were pizzerias and Chinese restaurants, the latter serving an assortment of Americanized Asian cuisine that always seemed to include some sort of spring or egg roll. While spring rolls are definitely Asian in origin, the egg roll is an American creation, likely dating from the 1920s and Lum Fong’s Restaurant in New York City. The owner, Lum Fong, is the probable inventor, as he and his egg rolls are mentioned in newspaper articles published in the early 1930s. The origin of spring rolls is harder to trace, to the point that what you think of as a spring roll is probably not a…