The Best Whisky in the World is Neither Bourbon or Scotch

It looks like Japanese whiskys—already gaining acclaim and popularity recently—have stepped out ahead of the competition.

The 2015 Whisky Bible, an annual industry publication, has named Japanese Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 the best whisky in the world. And shockingly, for the first time, Whisky Bible author Jim Murray did not include any Scottish distilleries in his top five list.

Murray called the Japanese variety a “wake up call” to the Scottish whisky industry in an interview with The Daily Mail. The Yamazaki victor earned 97.5 points out of a possible 100, thanks to its “‘nose of exquisite boldness’ and finish of ‘light, teasing spice’,” according to Murray. But you better act fast if you want to get your hands on a bottle — only 18,000 were made, and we’d imagine they’ll start to fly off the shelves thanks to this rave review.

The 2015 edition of the Bible comes out next week. To write it, Murray says he sampled as many as 4,700 whiskies to narrow down the best.

Photo credit to Getty Images.

 http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/japanese-single-malt-best-whisky-esqsyn