After working through just about every corner of the whiskey world—bourbons, ryes, American whiskey, bouryes, Japanese and American single malts, and nearly every finish worth exploring—I’ve learned that the bottles I keep reaching for all share one thing: bold, layered flavor. Proof alone doesn’t define greatness to me. I want a whiskey with a clear beginning, middle, and end—something that evolves in the glass and keeps your attention from first sip to finish.

• Lately, I’ve gravitated away from wheated profiles and toward recipes built with malted secondary or tertiary grains, which often bring the depth, richness, and complexity I’m after.
• I’m also a sucker for anything aged or finished in Hungarian oak, where those dark raisin and prune notes hit exactly right.
• When it comes to rye, I lean toward sweeter, high-corn mashbills with balance over bite.
• Single malts...unless it comes from Kentucky, I don't want anything to do with it.
• Finishes, when done right, can be some of the most exciting pours out there—the magic is in the synergy between a quality base spirit and the cask influence working together.

That’s the kind of whiskey I’m always hunting for.