‘Tis the season, indeed. Last week, VinePair’s annual list of the Top 50 Spirits went live — and it’s chock-full of truly stellar bottlings. Every year, VinePair tastes through thousands of spirits for our Buy This Booze column, with our favorites — along with a few that don’t fit into traditional categories — selected for the final tasting. But the list doesn’t just reflect what we happened to like most this year. It also highlights the spirits categories most attractive to the American drinking public and calls out producers innovating in ways that push the industry forward.
This year’s tasting yielded some interesting results. There were bottles of high-ABV tequila that blew us away and mezcals that convinced smoke haters to reevaluate their opinion. Global gins didn’t come to play, either, offering surprising botanical profiles that redefine the juniper-soaked spirit. But perhaps the biggest surprise was that for the very first time in VinePair’s history, a whiskey was not awarded the top spot. Instead, a surprising— yet undeniably impressive — bottle sits in its place.
Today on the “VinePair Podcast,” Adam, Joanna, and Zach break down the recently released list of VinePair’s Top 50 Spirits of 2024, including excitement about Cognac, rum, and barrel-finished spirits in general. Tune in for more.
Zach is drinking: Arnaud Lambert “Clos David” Saumur Blanc
Joanna is drinking: Turf Club
Adam is drinking: Domaine Bernard Defaix Premier Cru “Les Vaillons” Chablis
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The article The VinePair
