Hello everyone, there you have it, after a lot of work & time, my "Favorite Whiskies of the Year 2024" video, for which i did change a few things compared to the 2023 video (which was also splitted in 2), such as 10 real categories instead of 23, which obviously also means no other spirits than whisky & no aged new make as well...Other videos will hopefully follow later on this year about Armagnac, Cognac & a few other spirits. I did also add a new kinda "non category-category » which gathers whiskies that did not fit into my 10 other categories because not complying to my 2024 rules for this video (I’ve explained recently in my 18/01/2025 Youtube Community post, check it out), but I will tell you again about them at the start of the video.
Basically, to put a long story short, and with some nuances, this year’s video will award only whiskies that are priced in my area under 200 €, rated at a minimum of 87/100, be bottled in 2024 or sometimes 2023, etc. Also, this year, when the categories brought a lot of repetition of the whiskies mentioned, I chose, when possible, not to show bottles or pictures multiple times, but rather mention which awards they did get before the 2 last main categories...I hope it will still make sense for you & once again, don’t forget these are only my personal opinion & choices and do not necessarily represent the « best of the best » of what is on the market currently, but also each one’s own taste. As usual, time stamps below in this description will help you navigate through it…but if you’re in a hurry, which I could understand, what you’re looking for is within the last 36 mn...
DETAILED TIMING :
0:00 Intro/Disclaimers
5:32 This Year’s different rules explained
10:48 About “Unobtainium, overpriced & High end” bottlings
25:14 Favorite Whisky tasting Experience in 2024 (not from 2024)
30:40 Favorite Whisky Design of the Year (Glass/Label/Box)
39:37 Favorite Whisky Core Range of the Year (+ end of Favorite Design)
45:18 Best Value for Money Whisky of the Year
52:36 Favorite World Whisky of the Year (All Countries except Scotland*)
1:03:15 Recommended ALL Countries Blended Whiskies of the Year
1:06:12 Recommended ALL Countries Blended Malts of the Year (Apologies for skipping this category, but basically it’s almost the same winners as in the “Best Value for Money category”, except you have to add “Laferté” in it)
1:07:08 Favorite Scottish Distillery Single Malt of the Year (Honorable Mentions only, the awarded ones are included in the last category)
1:13:45 Favorite Whiskies of the Year/Honorable Mentions
1:16:12 Favorite Whiskies of the Year/All Awarded ones (including my first public tasting of the winner)
*Post-recording note : For the “digestibility” of this video, I did suppress the “Favorite World Whisky of the Year (for France)” sub-category to include it in the main “World” one, but you might still see some repetition here or there, but, again, apologies, as it happened I still forgot some names & a category (see above) & even did some mistakes on prices or omissions of producers/owners names, sorry about that.
Disclaimer: Some of the bottles (2 only) & samples mentioned in this video were gifted by producers (thanks a lot to them), but most of the time not, and when it was, it happened after my approval of the whisky during the tasting & talk... As usual, producers were warned of how I usually assess bottles or samples with my own freedom...Also a big Thank You to friends from the whisky community who did provide me (through swapping or gifts) samples that for those I thought could fit there & used for this video (Luna, Menno, Martin...).
Link to my video : “My Highlights of the Year 2023, Part 2 (...)” :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9vsVz4_s00
Link to my video about “Whisky Live Paris 2024” show report :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0kB6d4M6DE&t=3964s
Link to my video about 2 shows report of 2024, France Quintessence” & “Salon Club-Expert Dugas” :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3QAMd8Oj9s&t=4369s
PATREON :
https://buymeacoffee.com/gregswhiskyguide
REMINDER (Selected links):
My Whisky website: www.gregswhiskyguide.com (currently under refurbishment)
My Instagram: « gregswhiskyguide »
My Artist website (including Whisky related work): https://www.gregoiresarafian.com/
My Blender’s cap : More about it here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS7Rg6loKdM&t=2820s