Among this year’s 27 winners were Irish Distillers, which took home the title of Distiller of the Year, Balcones Distilling, which was named Craft Producer of the Year, and Glen Moray’s Stephen Woodcock, who claimed the Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year award
The Whisky Magazine Awards 2024 took place at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London, where the best people, places, and products in the whisky industry were recognized and celebrated by the industry’s finest. At the awards ceremony, the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky global winners were announced, as well as the induction of three new industry luminaries to the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame.
Whisky Magazine has been presenting the results of its World Whiskies Awards for 24 years now, beginning with the Best of the Best competition in 2001. This year’s announcement was the culmination of a blind-judging process that saw over 200 expert judges from around the world assess more than 1,500 different whiskies from over 40 countries.
The competition named its World’s Best winners across 23 categories, including single malt, bourbon, blended, rye, pot still, and design. This year’s winners include The English Sherry Cask, which was named the World’s Best Single Malt, 1792 12 Years Old, which was awarded the title of World’s Best Bourbon, and Ballantine’s 30 Years Old, which was named Best Blended.
The Icons of Whisky has been recognizing the industry’s best people, places, and agencies since 2007. The global winners are chosen by an expert panel from a shortlist of regional winners of Icons competitions that identified the shining stars of America, Ireland, Scotland, and the Rest of the World.
Among this year’s 27 winners were Irish Distillers, which took home the title of Distiller of the Year, Balcones Distilling, which was named Craft Producer of the Year, and Glen Moray’s Stephen Woodcock, who claimed the Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year award.
The London event also saw the induction of three new members of the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame: Russell Anderson of the Macallan Distillery, Ichiro Akuto, founder of Venture Whisky and Chichibu Distillery, and Canadian whisky writer and consultant Davin de Kergommeaux.
Here are the top whiskies that were declared winners in the year 2024:
World’s Best Single Malt
The English, Sherry Cask
World’s Best Small Batch Single Malt
Mosgaard, Moscatel Cask
World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt
Glen Scotia, Cask 637 Refill Bourbon Barrel
World’s Best Blended
Ballantine’s, 30 Years Old
World’s Best Canadian Blended
Gibson’s Finest, Venerable
World’s Best Blended Limited Release
Three Ships, Master’s Collection 12 Years Old Double Wood Blend
World’s Best Blended Malt
Dewar’s, Double Double 37 Years Old
World’s Best Pot Still
Redbreast, 21 Years Old
World’s Best Bourbon
1792, 12 Years Old
World’s Best Finished Bourbon
Breckenridge, Port Cask Finish
World’s Best Small Batch Bourbon
Laws Whiskey House, Four Grain Bourbon Cask Strength
World’s Best Single Barrel Bourbon
Four Roses, Single Barrel
World’s Best Tennessee Whiskey
Uncle Nearest, 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey
World’s Best American Style Whiskey
FEW, American Straight Whiskey
World’s Best Grain
Bain’s, Founders Collection 15 Years Old
World’s Best Single Cask Single Grain
The Octave Premium, Strathclyde
World’s Best Rye
Millstone, Founders Reserve 10 Years Old Rye
World’s Best Single Cask Single Rye
Proof and Wood, Tumblin’ Dice Single Barrel Rye
World’s Best Corn
Ironroot Republic, Hubris
World’s Best Wheat
Lone Elm, Single Barrel
World’s Best New Make & Young Spirit
Anohka, This is Not Whisky Heavily Peated Single Malt Spirit
World’s Best Flavoured
Stillhouse, Peanut Butter S’mores Whiskey
World’s Best Design
Shirakawa, 1958
