#michters-whiskies

#michters-whiskies

"With projects like this, it's very rare to have complete creative freedom over what we're doing. What myself and my team have been allowed to do is just create a collection that works well as a whole and sits well, and talks about different diverse flavours and different approaches to whisky making."

"You can pull flavors out of your life in the glass, and that is the whole purpose of taste mindfulness," he told them.

Johnnie Walker came out on top yet again, coursing ahead of its nearest competitor by nearly double the volume, with 21.6 million cases sold, and runner-up Ballantine's coming in second with 9.3 million.

Visitors have noted a bar stocked with notable spirits including Macallan M, Louis X, Last Drop Whisky, and Pappy van Winkle 23. One specialty are bourbon flights with several noteworthy bottles presented at once for sampling.

"John and I worked together for 20 years, and he played a major role in shaping my understanding of the chemistry behind distillation," said Henley.

Along with the challenges of operating any new business, making good bourbon takes time and expert craftsmanship. It's for this reason that many new "distilleries" aren't distilleries at all (non-distilling producers, blenders, rectifiers). Instead, they source bourbon and then sell it as their own. That's not inherently a bad thing, as some expertly blend whiskey or add extra maturation to create a genuinely impressive bourbon, but there is a clear difference.

Following what was a period of high sales and rapid expansion, the market is contracting for a number of reasons. Alcohol consumption has declined in recent years, for one thing, but international response to U.S. tariffs has also hit bourbon sales hard, with exports of the liquor dropping significantly in 2025. Many icons of American whiskey have been affected, with Brown-Forman - parent company to Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, and Old Forester, among others - laying off a significant portion of its workforce.

The U.S. spirits landscape has evolved far beyond the recognition of simply being the birthplace of bourbon. In recent years, we've seen a transformation in both the quality and individuality that the country's craft distilleries have been able to produce. While previous decades were dominated by the big-name distilleries, far more awards are going to craft distillers who have mastered the art of producing high-quality whiskeys, rums, gins, and more.

If you are new to whiskey, the barrel a whiskey ages in matters almost as much as the liquid itself. Black Cask whisky is aged only in American oak barrels that previously held bourbon, a choice that tends to create flavors many U.S. drinkers already recognize, such as vanilla and caramel, characterized by a gentle sweetness.