The World’s Best Scotch Whisky—According To The 2025 New York World Spirits Competition

Ardbeg Wee Beastie bests the field at 2025 NY World Spirits Competition

Photo illustration: Brad Japhe

All throughout the month, we’ve been busy revealing the “Best In Show” winners from this year’s New York World Spirits Competition. So by now you should have a good sense of what the judging entails and why its scores are so significant to the industry. If you need a refresher, here’s a look back at last week’s exclusive on the top bourbon. Today, it’s time to examine the bottle of scotch that earned the highest honor: Wee Beastie from Ardbeg distillery on Islay.

Produced under the watchful eye of Dr. Bill Lumsden, director of whisky creation for the brand–and a veritable scotch icon with 30 years of experience–this unapologetically bold single malt spent time maturing in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. The liquid was bottled at 47.4% ABV, chockablock with the curious assortment of hot tar, orchard fruit and pin sap aromatics which distinguish the house style.

Adding to that, the judges at this year’s NYWSC had this to say:

“A richly layered and expertly crafted Scotch with deep aromas of dark sugar and campfire smoke, unfolding on the palate with smoldering peat framed by caramelized richness and sweet baking spices, accented by earthy undertones and a subtle edge of caramel, and finishing with a long, primal elegance where the sweetness gradually emerges as the peat recedes.”

Single malt aficionados, and especially lovers of peat-fueled specimens from Islay, can’t be too surprised to see Ardbeg take home the top prize. After all, the 210-year-old facility holds stunning pedigree and as we mentioned above, it is crafted by one of the most exalted names in the business. Indeed, it’s been only two years since these New York judges crowned the very same brand scotch champions for its 25-year-old release.

But the eye-raising aspect of this year’s winner isn’t its provenance. It is it’s age, or lack thereof. Wee Beastie is only a 5-year-old expression of single malt. And proudly so, as it wears that age statement conspicuously on its sleek black label. This is super rare in the realm of Scotch, where releases often omit age statements altogether if the whisky holds under 10 years worth of cask maturation.

For generations, whisky experts and professional tasters have been reminding general audiences that age statements are all-too-often overemphasized. Just because a scotch is older doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily better. This truth tends to be underscored through heavily-peated releases, where the assertiveness of the underlying phenolic tonalities show vibrantly in younger offerings. Compelling examples exist from Octomore, a line of massively smoky Bruichladdich releases that often age for less than a decade, as well as Lagavulin 8 Year Old.

Now, age-statement truther can point to Wee Beastie and its performance at the 2025 NYWSC as another potent testimony. The release actually harkens back to earlier expressions from the early 2000s, shortly after LVMH acquired the distillery (along with Glenmorangie). Back then, older stock was in scant supply, as production had been slowed to a trickle since 1981. Lumsden resurrected the brand, in part, through releases such as Still Young and Almost There, highlighting a bold, smoky house style, as he amassed enough casks to finally introduce at 10-year-old flagship.

It now comes full circle with Wee Beastie–a younger whisky that Ardbeg bottles because it wants to, not because it needs to. And if you feel the need to see why it performs favorably against whiskies 5x its age (and price), you can easily snag the red foil-topped tipple off shelves for around $50 a bottle.

All in all it was a pretty historic haul for Dr. Lumsden, who also oversees whisky creation for Glenmorangie. Other big winners for scotch at the 2025 New York World Spirits Competition included:

• Best Blended Scotch: Black Ruby from Johnnie Walker
• Best Single Malt Scotch Aged Between 13-19 Years: The Infinita 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch from Glenmorangie
• Best Non Age Statement Single Malt: A Tale of Spices Single Malt Scotch