Welcome to my fifth annual whisky year in review! I have kept the format and categories the same this year— why change what works?
State of the Turnip
I have been at this blog for nearly seven years now. What started as just a few reddit posts, turned into something else as those multiplied and I realized I wanted a central place where I could find all of my notes. Those handful of early posts have grown to almost 1900 reviews!
Every year I try out new things on the website. This is a hobby, a labor of love, and I like to keep things interesting for myself.
Some changes have come and gone over the years: find an old review and you can see where I listed “better/similar/worse” categories for every bottle to provide points of comparison, or the monthly recaps I started in late 2022, but gradually quit writing in 2024. Some changes have stuck around; I started writing shorter reviews grouped together under the weekend brief guise in 2022 (now sometimes “Field Briefs” or “Quick Reviews” instead) and I have continued to use those for things I either don’t want to write much about, or I only try once.
For 2025 one of the biggest changes was a website relocation! I moved everything from Square Space to Word Press; price was one motivating factor, Word Press is significantly more affordable, but I also liked a lot of the tools that were available on Maltrunners which I lacked on WhiskeryTurnip.
I thought I understood how to relocate a website, and for the most part I managed to do a pretty good job of it, but I missed some things. I did not consider that relocating could break every single hyperlink on the website, or throw off all of the search results for my reviews. I think that second issue has been fixed, though I do still sometimes encounter search links going to pages that do not exist, especially when Google Answers or GenAI tools are basing their links to mine off reference links from other blogs or sites.
I fixed some of the big internal link issues… but I surely did not fix them all. I could have avoided this entirely by taking a few measures, like setting up link forwarding…. But it’s too late to turn back now and I am generally happy with the transition. As long as I can find my reviews, then it’s okay, though I certainly hope the collection here still helps the odd guest as well.
The other change I have tried to enact is personally creating the art on the website. Previously, the majority of the art came from my wife, who is a very talented artist. However, she draws and paints what she feels like and does not take commissions for the website (at least not as regularly as I want!) She generously allowed me to use what I thought would fit, but I always wanted more artwork on the site.
Over the summer in 2025, I participated in a number of AI in Education type trainings, workshops, and programs in order to continue staying ahead, or at least on the same level, of my students. While much of the information was useful, I found the constant reference back to imagine, video, audio: creative work generation, to be grating. That was no what I was interested in and I did not care for facilitators constantly pushing these are revolutionary tools, asking us to generate songs or create images. Those can be fun, but they are not terribly relevant to my work or teaching.
However, the emphasis on GenAI artistic creations did inspire me to start drawing again. It was not easy, and I am still constantly confronting the gap, or chasm really, between what I want to do, and what I currently have the skill to do. And yet… the struggle is fun, and it is immensely rewarding when you finally figure out how to do something. I am amazed at the progress I made from the initial sketches I did (see the bottom of the Japan review digest), to some of the more recent drawings I have done for the website (See the listing of digest reviews for example). I hope this is one change I can continue in 2026.
By the numbers
In total, I posted 300 reviews in 2025, which was about 10% fewer than last year and a bit less than 2023 or 2022. It turns out those years may well have been high water marks! Unlike previous years I did not have the opportunity to do any whisky related travel— certainly nothing like 2024 during which I bounced around whisky bars in Singapore during a work trip and sojourned to Campbeltown for the Springbank experience. I did make it to New Zealand, but not a part of the country with a big whisky scene.
My average score across the entire year was about the same as the previous year: 6.54/81.54 in 2024 vs 6.54/81.51 in 2025. This has continued to be influenced by my review structure, particularly the weekly focus on specific distilleries, which often end up being ones that I really like and therefore have plenty of bottles or samples to review. While this amplifies selection bias quite a bit, I no longer worry about that: life is short, drink good whisky.
Of my 300 reviews, 255 were Scotch. Broken down by region the greatest number of reviews came from Speyside (76) and Islay (52), which was no surprise considering the amount of whisky coming from Speyside and my predilection for peated malts from Islay. The Highlands (42) followed behind, having lost some ground to Islay this year, along with Islands (25), Campbeltown (17), and the Lowlands (15). No surprise that I reviewed less than half as many Campbeltown whiskies this past year after drinking my way through Campbeltown in person during 2024. The biggest growth this year was in blended whisky (29); last year I only reviewed three and resolved to do more for 2025. Success!
I reviewed 45 whiskies from six different countries in the World Whisky category, slightly more reviews and countries than last year. The majority came from Japan (16), which has typically been the case considering the well-regarded and booming whisky industry there, and the United States (13) as I continued exploring the American Single Malt scene. I also dedicated a week to Indian malts (8) and New Zealand (6) after I visited the latter during the past year, while England (1) and Ireland (1) rounded out the list.
The thirteen American Single Malts I reviewed in 2025 was slightly less than 2024 (15), and well off the high mark (22) set back in 2022. I dedicated several weeks to the category this year, which was not something I was sure I would be able to do when I wrote this last year. As of now, I do not have a whole lot of unreviewed samples or bottles for 2026, but hopefully my forecast improves again. In 2025, I reviewed single malts from six different states: California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. The vast majority came via Westland in Seattle which remains one of the most well-developed single malt producers in the United States.
Of the 256 whiskies I reviewed with an age statement or calculated age, the oldest this year was a 45 Year unnamed “Old School Single Malt” from Signatory Vintage. Though I did not review a whole lot of exceptionally old whiskies this year, nothing like the pair of fifty year whiskies I did in 2023, the average age of the whiskies I reviewed increased handsomely from 16.4 years to 17.7, setting a new high mark in the process. The big change was the number of twenty and thirty year whiskies I reviewed, especially as I have tried to actually pour and enjoy more of these older drams rather than squirreling them away for some future day. I will always have a few nuts buried somewhere, but whisky is there to be shared and enjoyed.
Be date of distillation, the oldest whiskies I tried was a 1960 Strathisla bottled by Gordon & MacPhail which spent 24 years in the cask. This was a change from the last two years which both featured very old Glen Grants in this position and perhaps the only reason that was not the case again this year is that I just did not review much of any Glen Grant.
Best Scotch of 2025
1. Ardbeg 29 Year (1993), Cadenhead’s
2. Aberfledy 40 Year (1978) Cask 5030
3. Bladnoch 34 Year (1990), SMWS 50.120 “Dawn’s Embrace”
4. Bruichladdich 23 Year (1992) The Final Act of Creation
5. Ledaig 29 Year (1995), Westie Sponge #4
All of these whiskies were incredible so the ranking is a bit more mutable than that of some Olympic competition. A cat’s whisker was all that separated these drams.
All incredibly old whiskies showcasing the vast potential of a long gentle maturation; though surely not every whisky needs to be like this, and on a day to day basis this is not the kind of dram I pour.
The top two whiskies this year were drams I picked up during our trip to Scotland last year, so that trip has continued to dominate the top end of my whisky experience for the second year in a row… though that is surely at an end as I have few unopened bottles or samples remaining from the trip.
The best scotch I had all year was a 29 Year Ardbeg bottled by Cadenhead’s and distilled in 1993. It had remarkable depth and complexity, I could sit with it for hours if given the chance. While I had to settle for just a takeaway pour from Campbeltown, I wish I could have justified a whole bottle… yet even for my whisky of the year anything over $1K is more than I care to spend.
That bottle was followed close behind by a 40 Year Aberfeldy pour I picked up at the distillery. It was even more expensive, but supremely delicious. It was a YOLO dram from the trip, something the wife and I would likely only ever have a single chance to try. It was worth it and showcased a familiar flavor profile with the mustier and more industrial qualities one might expect from the era.
The Bladnoch was perhaps the most surprising of the year; it came as part of an absolutely fabulous “creator’s collection” of bottles from SMWS. That was by far the best collection they have done and none of the bottles missed, though this was clearly my favorite. Bladnoch has not really been on my radar, I have some less than stellar encounters years ago, but after pouring several excellent whiskies this year, I may need to keep an eye out for the Lowlander going forward.
The Bruichladdich was a dream bottle for one friend, and a celebratory triumph for another. The greatest part of the whisky was just the reminder of how it bridges oceans and seas, bringing us together so that we can celebrate the most precious moments in life. The whisky was fabulous too, which surely does not hurt.
The Ledaig was less infused with celebratory gusto, though I did buy an extra bottle of it in November 2024 after the US election anticipating that tarrifs might be on the way… in moments like that, I always prefer to be wrong. Yet, the whisky was wonderful and I do not regret killing a bottle by sharing it with friends or getting an extra to save for a rainy day.
Most Disappointing of 2025
1. Port Dundas 14 Year (2004), Clan Denny Cask DMG 12936
2. Dalmunach 6 Year (2018), Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection
3. Arran Arranach Distillery Handfill D’issan Margaux
I rarely go out of my way to try things I know I will not like; though who doesn’t love a good meme bottle or something so strikingly bad or odd that it gets the conversation going. Beyond the odd fan bottle, no one wants to waste their time, energy, or funds on a pour, much less a bottle, that they never want to drink.
Here were the three most disappointing whiskies I reviewed all year; while they did not work for me, hopefully they have their fans. At this point, I have a pretty good idea of what I will like and tend to focus on those whiskies. Even though I keep the door open for surprises, especially those recommended by friends, I rarely pour something that is outright foul.
They were all disappointing for different reasons. The Port Dundas was thin and chemical at times, nothing like the pastry cream and donut profile of my favorites. I do enjoy a good grain whisky from time to time, but this was a drain pour. The Dalmunach was overly sweet to my taste, as nearly every Dalmunach I have tried has been— I really hope more time in the cask brings more balance to the malt. Finally, the Arran was just over-oaked and very tannic. I really expected that to be an absolute fruit bomb with the wine elevating the natural fruitiness of the malt… but it was not to be so.
Best & Disappointing Non-Scotch of 2024
1. Mars Komagatake 28 Year (1991)
2. Mars Malt Duo “Tsunuki x Akkeshi”
Beyond the shores and borders of Scotland, there is an entirely different whisky universe— some of the same rules apply, though frequently interpreted in novel and exciting ways just as often as they are strictly adhered to. Scotch whisky, especially single malts, is a source of inspiration for countless whisky traditions that frequently localize production in endlessly fascinating ways.
The two best world whiskies I reviewed this year came from Japan, but from totally different eras. The 28 Year Mars Komagatake was distilled at the lost Mars distillery… that operation shuttered in the 90s as the whisky industry in Japan suffered from the poor reputation of its malts (hard to believe now) and the general decline in whisky demand (hence the Whisky Loch in Scotland). The second Japanese whisky was a product of the new wave of distilleries, combing malts from Mars’ new Tsunuki distillery with Akkeshi. Those operations utilize peated malts, with Akkeshi aiming for a more “Islay style” product from its vantage point along coastal Hokkaido. The combination of the two was lovely, surely greater than the sum of its parts, reminding me strongly of my favorite Bowmore.
1. Dingle Single Malt 5th Small Batch Release
2. Westward Vintner’s Cuvée 2024
On the other side of the equation were two bottles that did not hit the mark… or missed it entirely. While never inherently flawed in a way that might make them universally unpalatable, there were distinctive core elements that I disliked. The Dingle Single Malt had some intriguing elements, but constantly reminded me of roach spray with a chemical quality that I found incredibly distracting. The Westward was less flawed, but absolutely not to my taste, with an overpowering sweetness, incoherent flavor profile, and odd fermented quality to the finish. Westward’s wine maturations have never really been to my taste, but fans of the style would almost surely not rank this quite so low— so your mileage, as always, may vary!
Cheers to the end of 2025 and the coming of 2026! Happy New Year!
Whiskery Turnip 
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