Gift-giving season has finally arrived! While some folks are busy trimming trees and baking cookies, we’re making our whiskey shopping lists and checking them twice. Over the years, we’ve had the great pleasure of tasting thousands of whiskeys and discovered such a wide range of flavors. With that in mind, our recommendations this year are listed by flavor rather than by style.
We follow our spicy whiskey gift guide with another favorite flavor of ours: sweet whiskey. Recommendations include limited-editions released this year, as well as some of our all-time favorites. Along with our flavor graph, you can find more details like bottle descriptions, expert tasting notes and community ratings by clicking on each spirit link.
Sweet Whiskey
While flavored whiskeys get their sweetness from flavors added prior to bottling, these selections get their sweet flavors naturally from time spent in barrels. Whiskeys aged in ex-bourbon barrels can obtain sweet flavors like vanilla, maple and caramel. Of course, barrels which held sweet dessert wines like Sauternes, port, and Pedro Ximenez sherry are other popular choices for whiskey makers. You can find these whiskeys and more by filtering by flavor within the Distiller app.
Fruity & Sweet
Red Spot 15 Year Single Pot Still (SRP $280)
mix of dried and fresh berries, vanilla, oak and nutty malt
Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Ice Wine (SRP $89.99)
spiced cider, grape juice, stewed fruits and sweet spices
Glendronach 15 Year (SRP $105.99)
rich red fruits, brown sugar and roasted coffee
Blood Oath Bourbon Pact No. 10 (SRP $129.99)
Caramel, peanut brittle and vanilla coupled with berry jam
Smoky & Sweet
Basil Hayden Subtle Smoke (2024 Release) (SRP $50)
honey roasted peanuts, fireplace ash and vanilla Tootsie Rolls
Bowmore 15 Year (SRP $99.99)
rich raisins, dark chocolate, sea spray and gentle smoke
Nikka Whisky From the Barrel (SRP $65)
cedar cigar box, rich malt, cloves and orange zest
Talisker 8 Year Tidal Churn (2024 Special Release) (SRP $105)
sweet smoky bacon, seaweed and Red Hots cinnamon candies
Rich & Sweet
Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon (SRP $64.99)
white chocolate, roasted peanuts, baking spices and apricot jam
Glenmorangie The Original 12 Year (SRP $49.99)
fresh summer fruits, vanilla cream and nutty malt
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked (SRP $55)
caramel, leather, vanilla cake and sweet spices
George Dickel 12 Year Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whisky (Spring 2011) (SRP $44.99)
sugar cones dipped in caramel, spiced candied cherries and roasted nuts
Of course, there are dozens of additional sweet whiskey suggestions that we could make — hundreds, in fact! If you’re ready to dive deeper, you can discover them all with our Flavor Search feature available to all Distiller Pro users.
With Distiller, you’ll always know what’s in the bottle before you spend a cent. Rate, Review and Discover spirits! Head on over to Distiller, or download the app for iOS and Android today!
