Irish , Scotland and the United States were once the only producers of whiskey. Now more than 30 countries and regions around the world are producing whiskey, and they together contribute to the world's production of 580 million bottles (700 ml).
Just as wine production areas are divided into old and new worlds, whiskey also has the saying of old and new worlds. It is generally believed that Ireland, Scotland, the United States, Canada and Japan are traditional producers, and they have a history of hundreds or even hundreds of years of production of whiskey. In addition to this, because its history of whiskey production is often only twenty or thirty years, or even shorter, it is considered a new world of whiskey production.
Of course, for traditional producers, there is also its new world. For example, the United States, which mainly produces bourbon and rye whiskeys, has set off a wave of producing single malt whiskeys in recent years, and its single malt whiskey can also be classified as a new world. Interestingly, the production of rye whiskey in Scotland also appeared.
New World Whiskey producers have very "bold" choices for in grains, yeast and oak barrel , such as baking malt with local plants, wood or peat, cultivating yeast by themselves or using wild strains, and using unique wooden barrel aged whiskeys such as acacia, misunara, gorse and galiana.
New World whiskey manufacturers are manipulating raw materials and processes in the way reflects their regional and cultural characteristics to to produce unique whiskeys. They are extremely exciting because they provide the diversity of whiskeys. Below
, I will select 10 great New World whiskeys for you, which will give you a new understanding of whiskey.
1, Mackmyra Grönt Te
Producer country: Sweden , alcohol content: 46.1% ABV, international price: US$63
from Whiskey Magazine 2021 Best distillery and best sustainable distillery in other regions of the world - Mackmyra. It is inspired by two passions in life in Angela D’Orazio, a bartender inducted into the whiskey magazine Hall of Fame: traveling to a new culture and bringing innovative combinations of flavors and senses into life.
Mackmyra Grönt Te, first matured in bourbon barrels, first filled Oloroso Shirley barrels and original Swedish oak barrels, then finished maturing for 19 months in Oloroso Shirley barrels seasoned with green tea selected by Yoko Ono, famous Japanese tea expert Yoko Ono, bottling for 19 months. The aroma of this whiskey is described as "spicy, floral and fruity, with flavors of forest berries, raisins, citrus and pears, as well as green tea, white pepper and roasted herbs."
Macmira is Sweden's first whiskey distillery, founded in 1998 and was created by 8 students from the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology. In 2002, McMilla imported copper pot distiller from Scotland and officially began large-scale production. In 2011, they built a second brewery, Gravitation, which is 7 stories high and uses gravity to power many of the internal processes within the winery, reducing energy consumption by about 45% compared to the first winery. This gives it the honor of the best sustainable winery of the year.
Although it is a younger distillery, McMilla is very good at using various wine barrels to cook whiskeys, including red wine barrels and spice barrels, and also using wild yellowberry wine barrels to cook whiskeys. The whiskeys they launched are also very popular. The winery also releases two limited editions each year to suit the tastes of the season. Seasonal whiskey also helped whiskey distillery gain an international reputation and gradually grew into a leader in whiskey in the New World.
In addition, McMilla is also the first distillery in the world to produce "artificial intelligence whiskey". They collaborated with Microsoft to develop a "whiskey algorithm" based on the original data accumulated over 20 years ago - Master Distillers. This algorithm can automatically select the barrel selection, barrel aging time and mixing ratio of whiskey.
2, Stauning Peated Single Malt 7th Edition
Producer country: Denmark, alcohol content: 48.4% ABV, international price: US$235
From the largest player in Danish whiskey - Stauning Distillery. In 2019, the distillery won the WWA World Whiskey Awards in 2019 with the "Curious" peat rye New Make.
In addition to rye whiskey, distillery also produces single malt whiskey. Its peat single malt has been released to version 7, 100% Danish barley and 100% Danish peat. It has been matured for 6 years in the initial bourbon barrel. It has a complex flavor and has the flavor of smoked chocolate, nougat, caramel, malt and vanilla.
Stauning winery was established in 2005 and was transformed from an old slaughterhouse. It uses the floor of the old cold storage of the slaughterhouse to replicate the traditional Scottish floor to ferment. The old meat mill has become a grain mill, and the pickling tank is used for fermentation tanks and a smoker is used for smoked grains. The core of the winery, two small tank stills, are specially made by Spanish coppersmiths. Stauning whiskey is currently in full swing to produce peat and non-peat single malt whiskeys, and also produces spicy Nordic cereals and rye whiskeys. Some people say that Stauning whiskey is the real Nordic flavor.
There are rumors that Stauning is doing more experiments to explore unusual whiskey flavors, such as burning heather to smoke malt.
3, Milk & Honey Classic Single Malt
Producer country: Israel, alcohol content: 46% ABV, international price: $55
From Milk & Honey Distillery, 75% ripened by bourbon barrels, 20% rebaked red wine seasoning barrels, 5% virgin barrels, 3 years of wine age, 46% ABV, non-condensing filtered, natural color, with vanilla sweetness, caramel and honey and STR barrels bring spicy, fruity and rich colors. There is also a bit of original oak flavor.
Milk and Honey Distillery was established in Tel Aviv in 2012 and is the first whiskey distillery in Israel. The distillery was initially founded, and the manufacturing process and barrel management were based on Scottish standards, but due to the hot and humid climate, Israel's whiskey matured much faster than the British Isles. International awards for its young malt and many acclaim from the whiskey world.
4, Bain’s Cape Mountain
Producer country: South Africa, alcohol content: 40% ABV, international price: US$30
James Sedgwick Distillery from South Africa, officially launched in 2009 and is South Africa’s first single grain whiskey. Brewed from 100% yellow corn, first mature in the first bourbon barrel for 3 years, and then transferred to the virgin bourbon barrel for 2 years. Its debut international debut made a strong impression, winning the gold medal in the 2010 International Wine and Spirits Competition, and then won the World Whiskey Awards WWA World Best Cereal Whiskey in 2013 and 2018.
Halfen also produces the famous Three Ships brand. Three Ships's 10-year single malt whiskey has been named WWA's Best Single Malt Whiskey in South Africa by Whiskey Magazine.
5, Amrut Madeira Cask Finish
Producer country: India, alcohol content: 50% ABV, international price: $136
From the well-known Indian winery Amrut Amrut, finished in Madeira buckets, with a surprising fruity flavor and vibrant flavor of peach, apricot, almond oil, toffee, vanilla and toasted coconut. The texture is balanced and has the flavors of cloves, orange jam, peaches, apricots, almond oil and toffee. The aftertaste is long and fruity, with a slight toffee and orange jam. Wow!
Amut, meaning "the nectar of God", was founded in 1948, but it did not start entering the whiskey field until 1982, and launched India's first single malt whiskey in 2004. Amut is located in Bangalore, where the climate is hot and the evaporation is as high as 16% per year (the Scottish average is 2%), so most of Amut’s wines are bottling for 4 years.
In the past decade, Amut has ushered in many highlight moments.For example, Jim Murray scored 97 points to India's Amrut Fusion in the 2010 Whiskey Bible, winning the third place in the world's best whiskey. This award-winning wine model was also selected as the "101 Whiskeys to Drink in Your Life" by the internationally renowned whiskey master Ian Buxton.
6, Kornog Roc'h Hir
Producer country: France, alcohol content: 46% ABV, international price: US$95
From the French Glann Ar Mor winery, it has the flavor of seawater, seawall, oil pear, iodine, sweet malt, etc., and due to the use of peat, it has the flavor of smoke and some coastal fruits. Located on the northern coast of Brittany, France, the
Distillery was established in 1999 and produces malt whiskeys such as Kornog (pet malt) and Glan Ar Mor (non pet malt). The unique and strong characteristics of its whiskey should be attributed to the climate and salty air of Brittany. These whiskeys have been widely recognized in professional competitions and magazines, especially in Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible 2016, where Kornog was named "European Whiskey of the Year".
7, Omar Sherry Single Malt
Producer country: Taiwan, China, alcohol content: 46% ABV, international price: US$86
from Nantou Distillery, Nantou Distillery, Taiwan, distilled in 2008 and launched in 2015. It is ripened by Sherry barrels. The wine is plump and rich, with caramel, toast, dried fruits and a hint of smoke.
Nantou Distillery was established in 1978 and mainly produces fruit wine and fruit brandy. It only began to produce whiskey in 2008. The fruit-flavored wine barrels accumulated by the Nantou Distillery in the past half a century have played a great role in brewing whiskey. A series of whiskey works with the local fruit flavor of Taiwan as the core have been released in Nantou Distillery for many years.
Since the release of OMAR whiskey in 2013, Nantou has won more than 50 honors including the Malt Mania Contest (MMA), the World Whiskey Contest (WWA, International Wine and Spirits Contest (IWSC), the International Spirits Challenge (ISC), the Brussels World Spirits Contest (CMB) and the San Francisco Spirits Contest (SFWSC), and jointly supported Taiwan with Karmalan. The international status of regional whiskey.
2020, the "2020 Whiskey Bible" awarded the best Asian whiskey of the year to the Nantou distillery in Taiwan (barrel number 11140804), and the wine also won the world's best single-barrel whiskey crown in the 2020 Whiskey Bible.
8, Millstone 100 Rye
Produced country: Netherlands , alcohol content: 50% ABV, international price: $77
from Zuidam distillery, the distillery is obsessed with the number 100, 100% mini pot still, 100% rye, 100% ripening in a new American oak barrel for 100 months, bottled at 100 degrees (50% ABV). This wine has won many awards, including the best rye whiskey in Europe.
Zuidam was 1975 by Fred van Zuidam was founded, and the idea was to start a small distillery that produced only very unique products. The factory area was only 300 square meters, with only 1 small copper still and a small production line.
It took only 10 years to make the distillery the best distillery in the Netherlands. In 1989, Zuidam expanded the warehouse of 600 square meters and a production Line. Now, the distillery is run by their sons Patrick and Gilbert, with Patrick responsible for production and Gilbert responsible for marketing. Zuidam has developed into an advanced distillery of 3600 square meters, with 4 brand new copper stills, more than 1000 oak barrels, 4 production lines and a modern storage tank, but still create their products in traditional hand-made ways.
9, Starward Solera
Produced country: Australia, alcohol content: 43% ABV, international price: $79
From Starward winery, made of 100% Australian barley, and is cooked in barrels of Apera (Australian fortified wine, similar to Spanish Sherry). The name Solera refers to the Solera aging system. The wine is rich and sweet, with a spicy aftertaste.
Distillery was founded in 2007. Although it has not been established for a long time, Starward whiskey has won the pursuit of many whiskey enthusiasts and the favor of many global whiskey awards in just over a decade. Take its famous Starward Nova wine model as an example. It has been named "Best Australian Single Malt Whiskey" for two consecutive years and won the title of "The World's Best Craft Distilled Whiskey" in 2016.
The changing climate of Melbourne where the distillery is located helps whiskey mature in barrels at a faster speed than Scotch. Therefore, most Starward's wine styles are under 5 years old, but they also have a mature and smooth texture and are easy to enter.
10, Balcones '1' Texas Single Malt
Producer country: United States, alcohol content: 53% ABV, international price: $70
From the Balcones winery in Texas, USA, with a light fruity aroma and ripe fruit flavor. At the entrance is the mellow aroma of baked malt, honey and roasted pears and apples. The aftertaste is long, accompanied by cinnamon and cloves.
winery is located in Waco, Texas. Due to the hot weather here, the distillery whiskeys don't age for a long time. Most of their wines are strong and rich, rich in malt, toffee, dried fruit and oak spices. Its representative wine style is Balcones '1' Texas, which was launched in July 2011 and has won numerous honors such as the World Whisky Awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
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