Whisky.com Award

The Irish Waterford distillery has an approach to whisky production that is very much based on winemaking. They only use barley that has been harvested in a particular place, in order to capture the 'terroir' of the region. The barley for this bottling comes from a single farm on Bannow Island on the south-east coast of Ireland, where the harsh climate with salty Atlantic winds and sandy soils make for a challenging terroir. In order to lose as little of the 'terroir' as possible, Waterford whisky is only double distilled, unlike other Irish whiskeys. In contrast to the previous bottling, the maturation takes place in first-fill bourbon casks as well as French fresh oak casks and sweet wine casks. The maturation period was also extended somewhat.

Hyde No. 7, the 'Presidents Cask', is triple distilled. It then matured in fresh oloroso sherry casks from Spain, so the sherry influence is correspondingly lush.

Wild Turkey Longbranch was created in collaboration with brand ambassador and film star Matthew McConaughey. For the charcoal filtration, not only American white oak but also wood from the Texas sweet pod tree was used. Longbranch thus connects the two states of Kentucky and Texas with Hollywood through the traditional brand Wild Turkey. This is the first bottling that no longer bears the two signatures of Jimmy and Eddie Russell.

Tamnavulin was built in 1966 in the rural village of Tomnavoulin in Scotland's Speyside. Almost three decades later, it was closed again. After an extensive renovation, the reopening was celebrated in 2007. The new Sherry Cask Edition was first matured in former bourbon casks before being matured in three different Types of sherry casks.