I know you’re all just dying to know the answer to this question: What have been the major spirits trends for 2025?
Yes, we’ve almost reached the end of 2025, a sentence that made me burst out loud at its absurdity. We say it every year, but Christ, where did that year go?
Trends usually focus on massive statements, like proclaiming the mythical YEAR OF RUM or terribly obvious marketing-led shit like people care about sustainability or premiumisation. Ooh, and they like drinking Espresso Martinis. Are you writing this down?
Well, here’s a proper Master of Malt trends piece, basically us looking back to this year and saying “here’s what we done noticed”. Have at it. Our 7 major spirits trends for 2025.
Do tell us anything you’ve observed in the ol’ comments. Always nice to have a dialogue.
7 Major Spirits Trends For 2025
Peat isn’t the only way to impart smoke into a whisky
Smoke beyond Peat
Peat is a fine thing, but there’s more than one way to smoke a whisky. One way of doing that is to use peated whisky casks. As in, casks that previously held peated whisky. This gives you the smoky flavour without making your stills smell like an Irish bog. (I say this with love. Half of my family is from an Irish bog. Don’t tell mum I said that). There’s also an increasing number of whiskies using alternative materials to smoke the barley. Thomson Manuka uses native manuka wood, as you probably guessed. Thy in Denmark has done the same with beechwood, and Flóki in Iceland has used, err… sheep shit. Whatever floats your floater, I guess.
Anyway, the point is, there is a world beyond peat that has been bubbling away under the surface on the fringes for a while now. Increasingly, these whiskies are actually finding their way to where it really matters: places we can buy them. Mighty intriguing stuff for us whisky nerds. Speaking of which…
Who else has a taste for new make?
A Taste for New Make
Recently, I got an email offering me the chance to try something from Witchmark. A white spirit, but not gin, dear reader. No, I was asked if I would sample its Single Origin New Make Spirit. It made me very excited. Confession time: I, Adam O’Connell, am a new make nerd. I love the wild, rugged bite to it, the ability it gives you to peer into a distillery’s soul, the craft behind the character, the spirit behind the… spirit? I’m getting carried away, but let’s pause for a moment. Can you imagine getting that email 20 years ago? A whisky distillery in the 90s saying, “Come try this!” They were more likely to send the dogs after anyone who nabbed a sample. Now? You can buy official bottlings. Bimber, Lagg, Kyrö, Strathearn…
There’s new make on stands at whisky shows now, too. Just last week, I tasted a sample from Takara Shuzo. It was the only thing the brand had to offer on its stand. The new make alone was enough to draw people in. It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new make market, my friends. Drink, appreciate, then remember why we actually age the stuff. But keep that part to yourself, Reverend Killjoy.
We’re very excited by this distillery, and many others from the Nordics
The Nordics Hit the Mainstream
Speaking of whisky shows, that same recent visit found this author dancing through the sweet fields of Scandinavia and beyond like he was yer one from the Sound of Music. Copenhagen, Thy, Myken, Teerenpeli, Bivrost, Feddie, Flóki… There was no shortage of trailblazers, mavericks, farmers, and scientists working their own Nordic charm on the water of life. While the likes of Kyrö, Stauning, Hven, and Mackymra show there’s much more than just novelty to the Nordics (indeed, some of the names newer to the wider whisky world, like Teerenpeli, have been going for over 20 years now), what’s changed is the exposure.
Along with France, the Scandi + market is making a real case for itself as the new Japan, not massively high in volume, but rich in excitement, adventure, and whisky that shimmers with golden promise. In some cases, literally. That’s a barley joke. If you’re not the crowd for that, who is ffs?
Meet American single malt whiskey.
American Single Malt is here to stay
American single malt isn’t new either. But 2025 is the year it was finally ratified as an official whiskey category. Validity, quality control, and precious marketing opportunities abound for our pals across the pond, now wearing the proud sash of officialdom. The rules, in line with most designation of origin, are all about integrity/being the fun police, and state the following: American Single Malt must be distilled to 160 proof or less in the U.S., produced at one distillery using 100% malted barley and stored in oak barrels no larger than 700 litres.
We recommend you explore brands such as Westland, Virginia, Mountain Mama… wait, what happened there? As we were saying, there’s fine American single malt to enjoy from the likes of Balcones, New Riff, Copperworks, St. George, and Belmont Farm. Even Jack Daniel’s has got in on the act, and Boulder has a peated single malt. This is just a snapshot of a market that is only going one way, kids.
A whisky sells out, finds its way back on the market, and you snap it right up
You love an Old Favourite
The thing about being a retailer is that we can observe purchasing trends on our own site. Sometimes they are not very revealing. You like Lagavulin 16. Stop the press. But we do notice some more interesting trends happening right in front of our eyes. Like the demand for private purchases. We’re a marketplace for old bottles that have been discounted, and you lot can’t get enough of them.
An old Glenmo 10 from the 80s? You want it. A special edition of Johnnie Walker to mark a Chinese New Year? Bought before we barely even put it on our virtual shelves. Nostalgia, value, the fact that things really were better way back when… It’s hard to define a pattern when the reasons for purchasing a single bottle are also singular. But whatever the motivation, there’s no news like old news for our customers.
Idris Elba. But you knew that already.
Celebrities go beyond Tequila
Celebs do love a bit of Tequila, don’t they? You can’t fucking move for a celeb Tequila brand in the last few years. When The Rock and a Kardashian get involved, you know we’ve reached critical mass. But not every celeb thinks they need to have a Tequila brand to be cool like Clooney. We’ve seen them increasingly embrace other markets. Margot Robbie, Dre & Snoop, even James May have gone down the gin route, perhaps hoping for that sweet Aviation dolla. It ain’t Tequila, I guess. Then folks such as Kiefer Sutherland, Beyoncé, and Chris Stapleton have put their name to whisky; that’s fun. If anyone is going to bring whisky kicking and screaming to new demographics, it’s the Queen B.
Look a little deeper and you’ve got Cranston and Paul vibing with mezcal, Idris Elba backing Cognac, and Lenny Kravitz going for sotol of all drinks (God, he’s cool, isn’t he?). But the hot new direction will be for the sober celeb. Think about it. You know what they’re like, all healthy and preachy and weirdly vampiracal. Tom Holland has a 0% ABV beer, Bero, and Lewis Hamilton has Almave, for those who like Margaritas, but not themselves. Har har. Ok, it’s easy to shit on non-alc stuff, I’ll lay off. Just expect to see more of it. Oh, I just got the joke in the Bero name. Very nice, Spiderman.
Craigellachie whisky, aged in Bas Armagnac casks
“Exotic” casks
This is a pretty permanent inclusion, but for a reason. Every time you think you’ve seen every kind of cask, the limit gets pushed again. You might have thought Tequila or rum casks were all the rage. Try a wine you’ve literally never heard of. Or some mad Frankenstein wooden monster made from different parts all stapled together. You wanted finishes, you got ‘em. A market that will never finish. It’s an appetite that cannot be sated. Eat, feast, dear whisky friends. It’s that or the Loch for ye…
