What's Your Favorite Distiller?

Choosing between Highland Park and Bruichladdich would be like choosing a favourite child... Exciting (marketing)tales of the North vs promoting local farmers & products.

After some more thought I guess it is Balvenie afterall...They have a nice range to choose from - although the pricing of their whiskys is getting out of hand.

I honestly couldn't pick one, nor could I honestly throw them into any specific order. However American whiskies it's easily Buffalo Trace. The Eagle Rare is nice, but the Antique Collection is just stellar and I always have at least ONE bottle if not more in my collection.

Japanese, at this time it's Hakushu, specifically the 12 year old which I think is great bang for buck.

Australian, this is a hard one as in my experience all of them have bottled some duds and all of them have bottled some brilliant whiskies. Limeburners usually makes me grin. I just tried an Overeem Sherry Cask that blew my whisky club (and myself) out of the water and I just sampled some delicious Sullivan's Cove at Whisky Live. Starward is going places in my opinion so they could go to my number 1 Aussie distiller once that have more whiskies then just their entry level, out there.

Scottish: Here's the real tough one! Speyside: Glenfarclas, Aberlour. Love Glenfarclas, it's one of my stops on my visit to Scotland, Aberlour was my first entry level single malt and the Abunadh is almost always brilliant. Islay: Ardbeg, nough said. Lowlands: Love every single Rosebank I've had. Auchentoshan has been hit and miss for me. Enjoy them, but it's the cask strengths where they shine I believe. Islands: Talisker!! However my recent Tobermory 15 blew me out of the water and made me consider them as a distillery that needs further exploration. Highlands: Honestly not sure, I've had some awesome Glengoynes and Glenmorangies, along with a few other excellent Highland whiskies, but this one needs further exploration!

That's all right, Ash. Favorites (plural) is cool. We'll make an exception for you any time ; ) BTW, I've used a few of your suggestions to acquire some bottles this year that turned out to be aces.

@GotOak91 - Totally agree on the choice of Aberlour...but do we have to restrict this to distillery, or can we expand it to bottler / blender? If so, I'd take anything that Compass Box has produced...

@rigmorole Thanks buddy!

Tobermory. They have the variety of the peated Ledaig and unpeated Tobermory and I've yet to encounter any bottling from them that doesn't impress. Tobermory 15yo is still my number 1 dram.

Mortlach runs a VERY close second though.

fractional distilation, very effecive method of crude oil seperation

@whiskeygirl LOL, thanks, that just made my night! Best comment by a site spammer I've seen so far.. amazing.

For Single Malt Scotch, it would have to be Caol Ila, for their tasty peated and unpeated selections, you get the best of both worlds!

Ideally though, I'd have to pick the Midleton Distillery in Ireland! Everything they make, from their basic Paddy's blend, the 12 year old Jameson blend, their even tastier Powers brand, to the perfection of their Redbreast Single Pot Still Whiskey and the highly anticipated annual Midelton releases, they really have it all under one roof!

For single malts I'd go with Glenfarclas. The 12, the 15, and the 105 are all amazing. Haven't gotten into the older years yet. Of course, Aberlour is the obvious alternative choice.

But I'm also partial to Glenmorangie for their solid, affordable, and eclectic mix of bottlings.

Outside of Scotland, I'd go with Kavalan. I live in Taiwan, so I may be bias. But almost every single bottling they've released is a hit, with the 'Soloist' series being standouts.

For eccentric distilleries, I'd go with Benriach. Their releases are all over the map. Very hit and miss. But I love that they're an independent distillery with a flare for experimentation. They toy with sherry, bourbon, peat, wine casks, etc. Fun to try.

Bruichladdich! You've got the choice: sherry , bourbon, wine,... Influences. No peat or extreem peated. Bruichladdich=best (in my opinion)

Have to throw in with Ardbeg. Their standard releases are fantastic. When you can find the right batch of the TEN or the Uigeadail . . . that is all you need. The special releases are just gravy (as of late over sweet gravy with a distinct wine influence . . . but still gravy . . . and I didn't even need to mention the Corry!)