What's Popular Right Now?
Check out the spirits grabbing the most ratings from Distiller community members this week!
Apr 15, 2025
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25HerbalLinie Aquavit Original is made using a recipe which is unchanged for over 200 years. It is a potato-based spirit flavored with caraway and aniseed. The aquavit is placed into Spanish oloroso sherry casks and sent on a round-trip sea voyage from Norway to Australia which takes about 4 months crossing the equator twice. The aquavit ages a total of 16 months and is bottled at 41.5%.
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24Nutty & SweetDisaronno is an amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur) with a recipe, the brand claims, that dates back to 1525. It was first commercially produced and marketed by the Reina family in the early 20th century in Saronna, just outside of Milano. Originally called Amaretto di Saronno, the iconic square bottle first arrived in 1942. In 2001, the brand dropped Amaretto from its name and is now simply called Disaronno.
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23Floral & FruitySt. Germain took the cocktail world by storm when it debuted as the first available elderflower liqueur in 2007. To make the liqueur, elderflower petals are macerated in grape eau-de-vie, with the resulting combination then sweetened. St. Germain was created by the late Robert Cooper, and is now a part of the Bacardi portfolio.
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22Rich & HerbalAverna Amaro was first made in Sicily by the Averna family in 1868, after the recipe was gifted to them by Benedictine monk Frà Girolamo. Since then, descendants of the brand’s founder Salvatore Averna have passed the recipe down through the generations and grown the brand to international fame. The amaro is made with herbs and spices common throughout the Mediterranean and bottled at 29% ABV.
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21Neutral & FloralHaku Vodka is made from 100% Japanese white rice which is milled and polished. The white rice is fermented with koji rice to create a mash that is then distilled in a pot still. For the second distillation, it goes through two different processes in a pot and column still. The vodka is blended then filtered through bamboo charcoal and is proofed to 40% ABV. The curved lines on the bottle are meant to represent the streams glistening through nature in Japan as they run through the four seasons. Haku Vodka was exclusive released to the US in October 2018.
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20SweetCasa Dragones Tequila Blanco is 100% Blue Agave manufactured in a thoroughly modern method. Instead of the traditional method of roasting and crushing the agave to extract the juices and sugars they send the raw agave to a diffusor which extracts the starches from the shredded raw agave by hot water. It is distilled multiple times in a column-still. It is then filtered through an "ultra-modern" filtration system.
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19Fruity & RichLouis XIII is a prestigious cuvée indeed. First introduced in 1874, it is comprised of over 1200 eaux de vie from the Grande Champagne region aging from 40 up to 100 years. As would be expected, the packaging for this bottling is quite ornate. Each crystal decanter is hand-blown and hand numbered with no two exactly alike.
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18Fruity & SweetPlantation Barbados 5 Year Rum is a blend of pot still and column still Bajan rums that are aged in bourbon casks for 3-4 years in the Caribbean. The blend is then finished in French oak casks at Maison Ferrand’s Château de Bonbonnet in the heart of the Grande Champagne district for 1-2 years more. Note: Formerly called Plantation Grande Reserve 5 Year.
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17Fruity & SweetThe first-ever white rum from Plantation is named for three rum-producing “stars” of the Caribbean: Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad. The blend features unaged rums from Barbados and Jamaica, a 3-year-old rum from Trinidad and a 12-year Jamaican rum. Each rum brings their respective island’s distinctive flavors and characteristics to the blend, from the lighter, refined Trinidadian rum to the funkier, full-bodied Jamaican rums. Any color from the aging process has been removed via carbon filtration before bottling.
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16Fruity & SweetThe Extra Old was released to mark Alexandre Gabriel’s 20th anniversary at the helm of Cognac Ferrand. The Extra Old showcases Plantation’s oldest Bajan rum reserves, aged for 12-20 years in bourbon casks. The selected rums are blended at Château de Bonbonnet in France and finished in small French oak casks for 12-18 months.
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15Spicy & FruityMount Gay Eclipse was named to honor the unique occurrence of both the passing of Halley's Comet and a solar eclipse occurring in the year of 1910. Eclipse is double-distilled from rich sugarcane molasses, fermented for 72 hours with proprietary house yeast, and is aged in ex-bourbon and used whiskey barrels for up to two years. Mount Gay Rum, produced in Barbados, is the oldest existing rum brand in the world dating back to 1703.
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14Sweet & FruityMaster distiller Jesús Hernandez produces Olmeca Altos tequila using traditional methods, from slow-cooking the piñas in a brick oven to crushing the cooked piñas with a tahona (stone wheel) and distilling with small copper pot stills. Olmeca Altos also touts their use of cultivated yeast, rather than “wild or commercial yeast that is often used by competitors.” The reposado is aged 8-10 months in used bourbon barrels.
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13Smoky & SpicyIntroduced in 2010, Del Maguey VIDA Mezcal is an artisanal single-village organic mezcal made from espadín agaves. These agaves are harvested from the village of San Luis del Rio in Oaxaca. Roasting of the agaves lasts for 3-8 days followed by an 8-10 day wild fermentation. The mezcal is twice distilled in wood-fired copper stills. Bottled at 84 proof.
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12Fruity & UmamiDistiller Cirilo Oropeza claims that playing rock music to his vats of fermenting agave helps to "inspire" the yeast. Back on the US market after a multi-year hiatus, this tequila's eye-catching new packaging is based on 19th century engravings and depicts Ramón the rooster, as well as the skeletal figures of Guadalupe and Rosarita, legendary heroes of Mexico's struggle for independence. After all, who doesn't love skeletons?
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11Rich & FruityHennessy's XO first debuted in 1870, crafted by Maurice Hennessy for friends and family. The blend incorporates over 100 eaux-de-vie with ages up to 30 years. It's said to be the first XO ever released, with Hennessy dubbing that name himself. According to the brand, that's why the full name is technically Hennessy The Original X.O.
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10SpicyProduced at the Productos Finos de Agave (NOM 1416), this tequila is produced from agaves from the Highlands of Jalisco. This añejo tequila has been aged for 14 months in reconditioned whiskey barrels. And yes, this is George Clooney's tequila.
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9Fruity & SweetThe E & J in question are Ernest & Julio Gallo, the brothers who in 1933 founded their namesake winery, a giant still to this day in the world of wine-making. Their VSOP has no age statement (but is slightly older than their VS bottling). It is produced, bottled, and blended in California from a variety of grapes. NOTE: This product has been repackaged and renamed as E&J VSOP Grand Blue, but the product is the same.
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8Fruity & SpicyPlymouth Gin is unique in that it is both a gin brand and gin style. A Plymouth-style gin can only be produced in Plymouth, England. The Plymouth Gin brand was first distilled in 1793 at the historic Black Friars Distillery and is (currently) the only gin brand produced in the city. It is made with grain spirit and seven botanicals: juniper berries, coriander seed, orange and lemon peel, green cardamom, angelica root and orris root. After distillation, the gin is then bottled at 41.2% ABV.
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7Floral & HerbalThe Botanist Gin is produced by Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, an island off the west coast of Scotland. In addition to 9 standard botanicals, it's made with 22 wild Islay botanicals that were hand-foraged locally and sustainably. Those botanicals include apple mint, heather, red clover, and meadowsweet among many others. The gin is distilled over 17 hours in a Lomond Still named Ugly Betty. It is bottled at 46% ABV.
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6Sweet & RichThis is the Venezuelan distillery’s flagship rum, called “exclusiva” as a tribute to their 18th century founder Don Juancho Nieto Meléndez, who was always in search of exclusive flavors for his rums. It’s a blend of 12 year old copper pot-still rums made from both molasses and sugarcane honey, aged in ex-bourbon barrels.
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5Fruity & SweetNamed after the Sazerac Coffee House on Royal Street in New Orleans (and subsequently the cocktail), Sazerac Rye is produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. It is aged from four to six years and formerly had an age statement of six years. It's bottled at 90 proof.
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4Peaty & Full BodiedCauldron of the speckled sea (aka Corryvreckan) is a whirlpool, the 2nd largest in the world, located between the Isles of Islay and Jura. It is also the name of this whisky. Here are some more facts for you, kid. It is, at its base, Ardbeg 10 with whisky added that spent its life exclusively in French Limousin Virgin Casks. At least it did until it was married with the 10 year old and into your bottle.
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3Peaty & VanillaLaphroaig 10 Year is the flagship bottling from the Islay distillery. The peated single malt is aged for a minimum of 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels, many sourced from Maker's Mark in Kentucky. Laphroaig is one of only a handful of distilleries in Scotland with its own malting floor used in part of its production. Using a peat kiln built in 1840, the malted barley is cold-smoked for 10-12 hours. Then it's fully dried using hot air. NOTE: Sold at 40% ABV or 43% ABV depending on your market.
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2Sweet & RichWoodford Reserve is known for aging their bourbon in heavily charred oak barrels, which give the whiskey a distinctive, deep, rich flavor and feel. Double Oaked is the same bourbon, given a second maturation, or finish, in barrels that have been toasted twice as long, but charred much more lightly than the other casks, for an additional 9 months. A package redesign was introduced in late 2016, featuring a shorter and wider bottle. It is still bottled at 45.2% ABV.
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1SweetThe former George T. Stagg Distillery was renamed Buffalo Trace when Sazerac took over ownership in 1999. Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee came out of retirement for the creation of Buffalo Trace Bourbon which was released later that same year. This is the flagship bourbon from the distillery and is comprised of a low-rye traditional mash bill. It is bottled without an age statement at 90 proof.