My favorite whiskies of 2021: the Single Malts & Rye

Yesterday I covered why Stagg Jr. XIII, ECBP A121, and heavy French Mendiant stave Makers Mark Private Selection were my favorite three bourbons of 2021. Today we round out the other categories of whiskey.

Aberlour A’bunadh Batch 069 is simply the best Speyside whisky I’ve ever had. It has the temperament of particularly furious Klingon, enough dark chocolate and jam flavors to qualify as both a dessert dish and brunch entree, and more violent complexity then a Hieronymus Bosch painting. It is for my tastes the best unpeated scotch I’ve ever tried…

…and Bruichladdich’s Port Charlotte Heavily Peated 10 is the best Islay scotch I’ve ever tried. It’s in the running for best peated whisky I’ve ever tried. In a land cosmically famous as the throne of peated whisky, this bottle is their king. It is a fusion of classic Islay-style whisky and a one-of-a-kind prototype never meant for mass production — there’s an overwhelming density of flavor lurking beyond the smoke veil. It’s whisky as art.

The Small Batch Rye from Kentucky Peerless is somehow both a bourbon drinker’s rye while also unashamedly a demonstration of classic rye flavors. It stands in a perfect middle space between the Lawrenceburg-style 95/5 herbal bombs and the caramel/honey-heavy Kentucky-style ryes. It’s also easily become my benchmark in the rye category, and I’m extremely excited to see what Peerless does as their juice rounds past the 5 year mark of aging.

Image courtesy of Jon who also writes on Low Class & High Proof.

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