Best Whiskeys For Dad This Year

Giving The Gift Of Whiskey On Father’s Day 2016

By Richard Thomas

Monkey Shoulder,
a popular go-to whisky
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

I imagine whiskey for Father’s Day means more to me than most opining on the subject this year, because unlike a lot of those other guys, I’m actually a father, and a relatively new father at that. H.L. Mencken once wrote:

“No married man is genuinely happy if he has to drink worse whisky than he used to drink when he was single.”

Take it from me, that wisdom is doubly true once kids enter the picture. If your Dad likes whiskey, then the only thing that shows your appreciation more than to give him a nice bottle for Father’s Day is to organize the garage, clean the gutters, or take some other irksome manual chore off his plate. Giving whiskey is much, much easier.

Budget Choices (Under $35)

There are any number of reasons you might be shopping for a Father’s Day on a budget, but there are plenty of whiskeys out there that balance good quality with an affordable price tag.

• James E. Pepper 1776 Rye: Once you get past low budget staples like Old Overholt and Rittenhouse, it’s the whiskeys based on MGP’s esteemed 95% rye stock that dominate the bargain end of the spectrum. One of the best is the James E. Pepper 1776 Rye, for no other reason than it is bottled at 100 proof. That counts among whiskey fans, who usually think of higher proof as making for better whiskey.
• Monkey Shoulder Triple Malt: This whisky is one of the top value buys in Scotch whisky. It’s all malt and a Scotch small batch, with each production run drawing on 27 casks of Kininvie, Balvenie, and Glenfiddich whisky. It’s a major favorite and go-to choice for many whisky fans, so if the odds are your Dad already knows and enjoys it. If not, he’ll start as soon as you give him a bottle.
• Woodford Reserve Bourbon: Woodford is a special item, since it remains the only Kentucky bourbon made with spirit from a set of Irish-style triple pot stills. What is more, even in this bourbon boom era, it still sits in a sweet price point and remains a real bargain. Yet what makes it a Father’s Day bourbon for me is where it’s made, right in the middle of the prime, Keeneland area horse country where I spent so many summers and weekends working for my Dad. If he were alive, this is what I would give him.

Michter’s US1 Sour Mash Whiskey
(Credit: Randall H. Borkus)

Mid-Range Options (Under $60)

• Laphroaig Quarter Cask: If your Dad likes Scotch, odds are high a peaty, Islay single malt is high up on his list of preferences. The problem is that Scotch is often expensive, and Islay whiskies are especially popular. Laphroaig Quarter Cask represents a very reasonably priced middle ground, which is why it is so enormously popular among Scotch fans. It’s not cheap, but it’s also not painfully expensive, and it doesn’t compromise on flavor.
• Michter’s US1 Sour Mash Whiskey: Let’s say Dad is a bourbon fan, but you want to challenge him with something just a bit outside of the standard bourbon repertoire. Michter’s Sour Mash is your choice. The mashbill is shrouded in mystery, but it is done in such a way as to qualify as neither a bourbon, a rye or an American malt, and we know that because it’s aged in new white oak. If any of those grains were above 50% of the mashbill, it would be one of the three. So, it’s an oddball, but a very yummy one.
• Pikesville Straight Rye: Although not a genuine Maryland-style rye whiskey, Pikesville is nonetheless a big bodied, high octane, flavorful character. The way to look at this whiskey is as the big brother to the cheap, fan favorite Rittenhouse Rye, because it’s the same stuff, only aged longer and bottled at 110 proof. It’s easily one of the best rye whiskeys in regular release today.
• Redbreast 12 Year Old: This is the expression spearheading the revival of single pot still whiskey, which in turn is doing so much to drive the popularity of premium, upscale Irish whiskeys, and thereby the category as a whole. Pot still whiskey is not just made in a copper pot, but also from a mashbill bringing together malted and unmalted barley, imparting a more spicy flavor. Want to get with the single pot still revival? This is how you start.

Midleton Dair Ghaelach
(Credit: Irish Distillers)

Splurge! ($100+)

• Ardbeg Dark Cove: The latest from the popular Islay distillery, this single malt is said to be their darkest whisky yet. Drawing on ex-sherry and ex-bourbon cask stock, it brings together a balanced palette of the sweet, spicy and smoky of Scotch whisky.
• Blade And Bow 22 Year Old Bourbon: Getting bourbons with double digit age statements, especially high double digits, is a challenge these days. Blade and Bow 22 Year Old represents a blend of Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace bourbons that is very well aged without losing its approachability, and at the same time isn’t impossible to find. If Dad is more of a casual bourbon drinker rather than a diehard, this is the ultra-aged expression for him.
• Booker’s Rye: If, on the other hand, you are looking for a pricey American whiskey that that only a genuine whiskey lover might appreciate; will be hard, but not impossible to find; and still has that double digit age statement, go straight to Booker’s Rye. It should easily grab the laurels as the best rye whiskey released this year, if not the best American whiskey in general.
• Midleton Dair Ghaelach: Arguably the best new whiskey released anywhere in 2015, this takes some very aged Irish pot still whiskey and ups the (already considerable) ante by finishing it in new Irish oak. At $250, this might actually be underpriced.
• The Macallan Rare Cask: On the opposite end of the spectrum from the peaty, smoky whiskies are the sherry bombs, and this offering from The Macallan emphasizes that end of the spectrum. The whisky is drawn from a variety of prized first-fill sherry casks, Olosoro sherry casks in particular.