What 2025 Revealed Concerning the Way forward for Whiskey

Economically, 2025 was a troublesome yr for whiskey producers. After many years of growth, class development slowed, partly as a result of tariffs and shifting shopper tendencies. Challenges had been particularly acute for smaller distilleries within the U.S. and overseas, and the American Craft Spirits Affiliation reported a second consecutive yr of declining gross sales. 

On the flip aspect, tendencies had been friendlier to customers. Cabinets provided a spread of expressions and flavors, and once-novel methods — like toasted barrel finishes — grew to become virtually mainstream. A purchaser’s market additionally meant better buying energy for drinkers, particularly for premium bottles. It’s a shift clients seen throughout American, Irish, Scotch, Japanese, Canadian, and different world whiskies, regardless that tariffs created notable exceptions.

To get a greater sense of the whiskey world at the moment — and the place it’s headed in 2026 — we caught up with 4 consultants whose roles span the {industry}, from authors to producers to beverage administrators. Listed here are their prime tendencies of 2025, together with a wishlist for the close to future.

The push towards older bourbon

In whiskey, older doesn’t at all times imply higher. That’s very true in bourbon, the place virgin oak and scorching climates may cause whiskey to mature (and evaporate) rapidly. Outdated bourbon dangers changing into overly oaky, and with low yields and taxes, it may be prohibitively costly to provide.

“Not that way back, should you requested a grasp distiller what was the best age for bourbon, they’d usually say six to eight years. There have been only a few American whiskies older than 12 years previous,” says Noah Rothbaum, writer of The Whisky Bible.

However older bourbon has develop into extra frequent. Twenty years into America’s bourbon growth, manufacturers have loads of mature whiskey they should promote. Greater than in earlier eras, a lot of these barrels had been meant for longer maturation. Variables like warmth and humidity had been monitored to make sure the whiskey remained top quality, even after a number of many years in a barrel.

“In 2025, we noticed the variety of extra-matured bourbons enhance considerably, together with the not too long ago launched Knob Creek 21 Yr Outdated and the Blade & Bow 30 Yr Outdated,” Rothbaum tells Meals & Wine. “I think about that each model will quickly have a 20-year-old bourbon.”

Experimental wooden is reshaping whiskey

Whereas distillers have been tinkering with wooden for years, 2025 witnessed an explosion within the breadth of cask sorts. For some, these experiments paid off with industry-leading awards.

“In 2025, exploration appears to be at an all-time excessive. Particularly with some accolades or social proof,” says Blake Riber, founding father of on-line spirits retailer and mixing home Seelbach’s. “Starlight Mizunara received Greatest Bourbon at an awards present. We’re racing to reorder and meet the excessive demand.”

Rothbaum agrees that in terms of taste, wooden is likely one of the most blatant levers to drag. “Whereas Scottish distillers have been very revolutionary, American distillers at the moment are more and more searching for inventive and authorized methods to vary the flavour of their whiskey,” he says. “So it’s no shock that manufacturers have been experimenting with uncommon forms of oak, like chinquapin.”

For non-distilling producers that contract distill or supply whiskey, cask ending is very efficient at crafting distinct taste profiles. “Producers are leaning into wine casks, different woods, double maturations — all of the issues whiskey nerds used to whisper about,” says Julie Macklowe, founding father of The Macklowe Whiskey, which bottles bourbon, rye, and American single malt. A few of her releases function secondary cask maturation, together with rye completed in single malt barrels and bourbon completed in port.

However not all experimental woods are universally beloved. Originating from the forests of Brazil, Amburana is a hardwood historically used to age cachaça. It’s develop into standard amongst American and Irish whiskey producers, but the wooden’s shortage has raised considerations.

“Amburana is endangered due to deforestation and has been on a gentle decline for just a few years now,” says Ben Wald, head of beverage programming at The Flatiron Room. “Whereas the flavors it imparts may be unbelievable, I don’t assume it’s well worth the injury it’s inflicting to the surroundings. I do get pitched amburana spirits loads, however I don’t style them except they will show the provenance of the barrel was sustainable and converse to the efforts being made to replant the tree.”

Much less pour, extra intention: the rise of smaller bottles

Lately, America’s federal authorities loosened restrictions on container sizes. That allowed producers to promote bottles within the internationally standardized 700-milliliter dimension, together with various smaller codecs. 

“Now that we’re years into with the ability to have 500- and 700-milliliter bottles, one of many most important boundaries to previously EU and UK unique whiskies has come down,” says Wald. 

That’s one much less impediment for manufacturers promoting within the American market. It’s additionally opened the door to smaller-format bottles, a welcome development for drinkers who need to purchase with out making a big dedication. Quite a few Scotch producers have embraced the 500-milliliter format. In America, main bourbons like Elijah Craig, Maker’s Mark, and Eagle Uncommon have leaned into 375-milliliter bottles.

And simply as eating places shift menus to accommodate clients taking GLP-1 drugs, so too are spirits firms seeking to adapt. 

“As wellness tradition — and sure, the Ozempic impact — reshapes appetites, individuals need indulgence with out extra,” Macklowe says. Her firm has invested closely in 200-milliliter bottles for what she calls an “eat much less, drink higher” period. “I really like that one good two-ounce pour is changing the old-school ‘heavy-handed’ mentality. It’s stylish, it’s elegant, and it aligns with the place tradition is heading.”