My Whisky Bracket 2020

I love March for March Madness.  In addition to the dozens of basketball brackets I filled out last year I also did my own whisky March Madness and then carried on into April.  There is a massive void left by the cancellation of the main tournament so it is even more important less useless to do a bracket this year!

This year my New Year's Resolution is to branch out from the main whisky producing regions - Scotland, Ireland, Kentucky - and try more world whiskies.  (Click here for more info and my 2020 Whisky Map.)  Fitting along with this theme my personal 2020 whisky bracket features whiskies from 16 different regions:

1. Japan - Nikka from the Barrel
2. Speyside - Cragganmore Distiller's Edition
3. Kentucky/Indiana - Willett's 4 Yr Rye
4. Islay - Caol Ila Distiller's Edition
5. Colorado - Breckenridge PX
6. Wales - Penderyn Tan y Ddraig (bottled by Vom Fass)
7. Highlands - Tomintoul 15
8. Texas - Devil's River
9. France - Bastille 1789
10. India - After Dark
11. Sweden - Mackmyra Valbo (bottled by Vom Fass)
12. Washington, DC - One Eight Bottled in Bond Rye
13. Ireland - Teeling Small Batch Rum Cask Finish
14. Austria - Wieser WIESky 8 Yrs Gabarinza Cask Finish
15. Tennessee - Jack Daniel's Rye
16. Slovenia - LokoViski

My seeding is based on my current rating, or in the case where I haven't tried them before a guess based on the ratings of other whiskies from similar regions.  Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @WhiskyRankings for the head-to-head competitions and also vote in my Whisky Region Tournament on Twitter!

First Round
Nikka and Cragganmore easily won and the always solid Willett's and Breckenridge cruised to victory. The fruity, grassy Penderyn overcame the floral and biscuity Mackmyra.  The Bastille was very reminiscent of the Mackmyra and took the edge over the straight forward bourbon called Devil's River.  After Dark surprised as it was smoother than expected, but its pineapple sweetness lost out to the highland sweetness of the 15 Yr old Tomintoul.

 But the big upset was 13th seeded Teeling Rum Cask Finish over 4th seeded Caol Ila. It was a close one that went into overtime but in the end the sweetness of the Teeling gave it the edge.  The biggest loser was Loko Viski, perhaps there was something wrong with my bottle but it tasted like rancid cornflake schnapps.  I had to dump it.

Second Round
All good whiskies here in the 2nd round!  My personal preference to favor buttery caramel over more floral whiskies lead Nikka and Cragganmore to wins over Bastille 1789 and Tomintoul 15 respectively.  The Willett's-Penderyn match up might have been a Final or Semifinal match up in a different seeding but the boldness of the Willett's gave it the edge.  And again the 13th seeded Teeling held went into overtime but this time could not pull off another upset and Breckenridge prevailed.

Final Four
The Breckenridge and Nikka had the same intensity of nose and palate.  The Breckenridge has a the nose of a bourbon with caramel sweetness; the Nikka has tropical fruits and a little biscuit.  The sweets in both yielded to a bit of pepper on the palate.  But the Nikka's pepper continued into an uncomfortable burn giving the win to Breckenridge.

Willett's 4 Yr Rye is really good.  For me it is the combination of sweet mint and rye spice.  Not everyone shares my enthusiasm but that just means there's more for me!  It's one of those bottles I always want to have around and I bought this particular bottle of rye to celebrate my daughter's 4th birthday.  All that said, he Cragganmore was a clear step up with a softer, yet still assertive, butterscotch and toffee notes.

Championship
Much time was spent nosing these two.  The Breckenridge added red berries to its caramel sweetness.  The nose of the Cragganmore continued to delight and impress.  Win goes to Cragganmore!