Is bourbon’s reign at the top of the American whiskey landscape coming to an end? If the latest high-profile whiskey rankings are to be believed… maybe?
Whisky Advocate, the self-proclaimed “world’s leading authority on whisky and spirits,” has just published its annual list of the top 20 whiskeys/whiskies of the year. As usual, single-malt Scotch whiskies dominated the upper echelons of the rankings, with the top three spots going to Laphroaig Elements 2.0 Cask Strength, Bruichladdich 18-year old, and Lagavulin 12-year-old The Ink of Legends, in that order.
An American whiskey then took the number four spot, and although it’s produced by a brand with the word “bourbon” in its name, it isn’t a bourbon. Instead, it’s an exceptionally weird blended whiskey that’s hard to categorize — but apparently very easy to drink: Bardstown Bourbon Company Collaborative Series Amrut.
A Most Unusual Blend
This is actually the third bottle from Bardstown’s Collaborative Series to land in Whiskey Advocate’s top 20 in recent years, and it’s the highest ranking yet for the brand.
To make Amrut, Bardstown begins with a pair of straight rye whiskeys from Indiana. One is an 8-year-old with 95% rye in the mash, the other a softer 51% rye that was aged for 9 years. Bardstown took both ryes and finished them for 18 months in second-fill Indian single-malt whisky casks from India’s Amrut Distillery.
