Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye takes home the top rating for American Whiskey

If it seems like every week there’s a new competition out there revealing its list of the best boozes on the planet…Well, there is. The lucrative enterprise has blossomed into a full-fledged cottage industry. And consumers, thirsty for more knowledge on how to direct their spending, are forever eager for the guidance that this industry promises to provide.

But for the folks at the International Wine & Spirits Competition, this isn’t any sort of novel utility. IWSC has been judging its namesake liquids since 1969. That makes them among the oldest such organizations on earth. Every year its prestigious panel of judges convene in London, and the trade eagerly awaits its anointments.

Now the 2024 results are in. The trusted pros of IWSC have tasted through thousands of spirits—hailing from over 90 countries across the globe—to reveal the top rated tipples currently on shelves. Today we take a look at the highest-rated American whiskey from these evaluations: out of a possible 100 points, Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old recorded an astounding 98.

What makes this supremely allocated spirit so darn special? Well, it comes from Buffalo Trace, of course, which very well might be the most awarded distillery on earth at this point. But those accolades are typically amassed by its bourbon labels; EH Taylor, George T. Stagg, WL Weller, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, to name a few recent examples.

Sometimes overlooked is this 18-year-old rye, which has been a pillar of the venerated Buffalo Trace Antique Collection since its inception in 2000. It enjoyed a brief moment of glory all the way back in 2005, when a prominent spirits publication dubbed it the “Whiskey of the Year.” Shortly thereafter, the distillery emptied this prized stock into steel tanks in order to preserve it and—between the years of 2006 through 2015—this was the juice that entered glass each year.

Fresh-from-the-barrel Sazerac 18 returned to the collection in 2016 and has taken some time to win over connoisseurs. By many standards, the first standout release from the 2.0 era didn’t emerge until 2022; a spry juice driven by clove and anise aromatics and finishing poignantly with menthol and eucalyptus.

The tasting panel at IWSC, which included legendary malt maker, Dr. Bill Lumsden, had this to say about the prize winning liquid: “Juicy fruits, beautiful balance, and outstanding clarity of flavours. Oranges, leather, and toasted bread with a touch of cloves. The finish is classic and easy drinking, bottled at a good ABV.”

It’s true, the 90-proof bottling is an ideal delivery vehicle for this specific flavor profile. It amplifies the earthier elements of rye grain without drowning out its subtleties in a wash of heat. The only real drawback of this dram is how complicated it is to actually procure it. Despite the fact that it’s rarely accused of being the star of any annual BTAC release, it remains an ultra-aged whiskey from Buffalo Trace.

Translation: you’re never going to get it for anywhere near its listed retail price, which here ought to be around $125. The 2023 release is currently fetching upwards of $1800 per bottle on the secondary.

We wish we could offer you some cost-cutting workaround. The best we can suggest, however, is to keep a careful lookout for this year’s edition of Sazerac 18 when it goes to market in November—aka “BTAC Season.” Perhaps by that time the majority of whiskey fans will be dreaming instead of Sazerac’s bourbon brethren. But you’ll know better than to sleep on a rye like this.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – AUGUST 24: Event partner Buffalo Trace Distillery product at the ACM Party … [+] For A Cause at Ascend Amphitheater on August 24, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ACM)

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Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye takes home the top rating for American Whiskey

If it seems like every week there’s a new competition out there revealing its list of the best boozes on the planet… Well, there is. The lucrative enterprise has blossomed into a full-fledged cottage industry. And consumers, thirsty for more knowledge on how to direct their spending, are forever eager for the guidance that this industry promises to provide.

But for the folks at the International Wine & Spirits Competition, this isn’t any sort of novel utility. IWSC has been judging its namesake liquids since 1969. That makes them among the oldest such organizations on earth. Every year its prestigious panel of judges convene in London, and the trade eagerly awaits its anointments.

Now the 2024 results are in. The trusted pros of IWSC have tasted through thousands of spirits—hailing from over 90 countries across the globe—to reveal the top rated tipples currently on shelves. Today we take a look at the highest-rated American whiskey from these evaluations: out of a possible 100 points, Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old recorded an astounding 98.

What makes this supremely allocated spirit so darn special? Well, it comes from Buffalo Trace, of course, which very well might be the most awarded distillery on earth at this point. But those accolades are typically amassed by its bourbon labels; EH Taylor, George T. Stagg, WL Weller, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, to name a few recent examples.

Sometimes overlooked is this 18-year-old rye, which has been a pillar of the venerated Buffalo Trace Antique Collection since its inception in 2000. It enjoyed a brief moment of glory all the way back in 2005, when a prominent spirits publication dubbed it the “Whiskey of the Year.” Shortly thereafter, the distillery emptied this prized stock into steel tanks in order to preserve it and—between the years of 2006 through 2015—this was the juice that entered glass each year.

Fresh-from-the-barrel Sazerac 18 returned to the collection in 2016 and has taken some time to win over connoisseurs. By many standards, the first standout release from the 2.0 era didn’t emerge until 2022; a spry juice driven by clove and anise aromatics and finishing poignantly with menthol and eucalyptus.

The tasting panel at IWSC, which included legendary malt maker, Dr. Bill Lumsden, had this to say about the prize winning liquid: “Juicy fruits, beautiful balance, and outstanding clarity of flavours. Oranges, leather, and toasted bread with a touch of cloves. The finish is classic and easy drinking, bottled at a good ABV.”

It’s true, the 90-proof bottling is an ideal delivery vehicle for this specific flavor profile. It amplifies the earthier elements of rye grain without drowning out its subtleties in a wash of heat. The only real drawback of this dram is how complicated it is to actually procure it. Despite the fact that it’s rarely accused of being the star of any annual BTAC release, it remains an ultra-aged whiskey from Buffalo Trace.

Translation: you’re never going to get it for anywhere near its listed retail price, which here ought to be around $125. The 2023 release is currently fetching upwards of $1800 per bottle on the secondary.

We wish we could offer you some cost-cutting workaround. The best we can suggest, however, is to keep a careful lookout for this year’s edition of Sazerac 18 when it goes to market in November—aka “BTAC Season.” Perhaps by that time the majority of whiskey fans will be dreaming instead of Sazerac’s bourbon brethren. But you’ll know better than to sleep on a rye like this.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – AUGUST 24: Event partner Buffalo Trace Distillery product at the ACM Party For A Cause at Ascend Amphitheater on August 24, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for ACM)

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts.

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site’s Terms of Service. We’ve summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

So, how can you be a power user?

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site’s Terms of Service.

By Andrew Paul

Posted on Jun 15, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

3 minute read

Earth is bombarded by an estimated 48.5 tons of meteors and meteorites every day—and while (most) of that material luckily burns away as it hurtles through the atmosphere, smaller chunks of ancient space rock still occasionally end their multi-billion-year journeys by slamming into the planet. Of the roughly 82,000 meteorites found on Earth so far, there’s a very solid chance that only one has ever made it into liquor bottles.

Earlier this year, Pegasus Distillerie announced Shooting Star Vodka, a limited run of vodka infused with an “ordinary chondrite” meteorite. Recovered in 1977 in Nebraska, experts believe the 22.5-pound “Huntsman (b)” space rock actually arrived on Earth back in 1910, when a meteorite of the same composition was found about three miles away from its sibling—leading astronomers to theorize the two originally belonged to a larger piece that broke up upon entering the atmosphere around that time.

But regardless of its arrival time, Huntsman (b) eventually found its way into the hands of Pegasus founder, Maxime Girardin, through an Arizona intermediary. While an heir to a multigenerational family of winemakers from the Burgundy region of France, Girardin wanted to pursue a different direction for his new company by experimenting not just with terrestrial ingredients, but ingredients originating in the depths of outer space.

But creativity only goes so far if your drink ends up tasting like moon dust. Luckily for Pegasus, that’s far from the case: the official Popular Science verdict is that Shooting Star Vodka is very good, actually.

[Related: Watch a meteor’s incredible light show above Spain and Portugal.]

The boutique alcohol has been rigorously assessed (multiple times) by the author of this piece, who confidently concludes the spirit is a unique variation on classic wheat vodka. There’s certainly a note of spring water in the nose for Shooting Star, and although there is still a bit of bite to it compared with similar vodkas, the surprisingly sweet flavor profile cuts through any burn to deliver a satisfying, refreshing overall taste—but as Girardin explained earlier this month, given that vodka contains no sugar, it’s unclear how the meteorite infusion accomplished this. There even might be the slightest of effervescence to the liquor.

Before you can infuse vodka, however, you need some actual alcohol. Pegasus’ distillation process relies on organic, locally sourced French wheat and barley, as well as spring water collected from an underground river that passes through limestone layers roughly 150-meters (about 492-feet) below the company’s Burgundy distillery. Once the vodka is made, then it’s time to mix in the meteorites.

Infusing drinks dates back thousands of years and follows a relatively straightforward process of osmotic diffusion, in which alcohol permeates an added substance’s cell walls and takes on some of the chemical properties responsible for flavor. Rarely do alcohol infusions involve mineral material like stones and space rock—but there’s surprisingly a lot of organic matter in them to influence the flavor properties of a liquor like the Shooting Star vodka.

In the case of Shooting Star’s up-to-18-month infusion process, its reliance on amphoras further help enhance the unique flavor. Thanks to their porosity, the terracotta pots allow oxygen to pass through the exterior and act as a binder between the vodka and dissolving meteorite minerals.

[Related: Mars might have an asteroid problem.]

Of course, it’s easy for imaginations to run wild about potential unintended consequences of consuming liquor made from space rock exposed to billions of years’ worth of interstellar radiation. But if it makes any hesitant taste testers feel better—everything around us, including ourselves, is at least slightly radioactive.

All matter is composed of star stuff, after all, and you’re likely to register more radiation on your kitchen countertop than a hunk of meteorite here on Earth. Similarly, any radioactive elements in space rocks decay pretty fast after landing on Earth—if anything, the “vodka” part of Shooting Star Vodka is arguably the most unhealthy ingredient.

As for whether or not Shooting Star is worth paying $200 to try, that really comes down to just how badly a drinker wants to taste the cosmos—but that just may be the meteorite talking.

Finding a business with substantial growth potential isn’t easy, but it’s achievable by examining a few key financial metrics. Firstly, it’s essential to see an increasing return on capital employed (ROCE) and, secondly, an expanding capital employed base. This indicates a company that continually reinvests its earnings back into the business to generate higher returns. With that in mind, we’ve noticed promising trends at Rocky Mountain Liquor (CVE:RUM), so let’s delve deeper.

For those unfamiliar, ROCE measures a company’s yearly pre-tax profit (its return) relative to the capital employed in the business. Here’s the formula to calculate this metric for Rocky Mountain Liquor:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets – Current Liabilities)

0.057 = CA$1.1m ÷ (CA$24m – CA$4.8m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

Therefore, Rocky Mountain Liquor has an ROCE of 5.7%. In absolute terms, that’s a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Retailing industry average of 12%.

View our latest analysis for Rocky Mountain Liquor

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you’d like to look at how Rocky Mountain Liquor has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of Rocky Mountain Liquor’s past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Rocky Mountain Liquor’s ROCE growth is quite impressive. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 114% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. Basically the business is generating higher returns from the same amount of capital and that is proof that there are improvements in the company’s efficiencies. On that front, things are looking good so it’s worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.

On a related note, the company’s ratio of current liabilities to total assets has decreased to 20%, which basically reduces its funding from the likes of short-term creditors or suppliers. Therefore, we can rest assured that the growth in ROCE is a result of the business’ fundamental improvements, rather than a cooking class featuring this company’s books.

In summary, we’re delighted to see that Rocky Mountain Liquor has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. And since the stock has fallen 31% over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

If you’d like to know about the risks facing Rocky Mountain Liquor, we’ve discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

While Rocky Mountain Liquor isn’t earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

MOSCOW — Palouse Habitat for Humanity set a monthly sales record in May by earning $20,000 through its Moscow retail store.

University of Idaho football coach Jason Eck knew for a while that he was sticking around, but on Wednesday it became official.

June 7 passed largely without notice. And yet, on that day in 1965, a very different Supreme Court from that which overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago struck down a Connecticut law enacted in 1879. Drafted by state legislator P.T. Barnum, the law forbade married couples access to contraception.

A worker looks back to check the line of fire he is starting for a controlled burn Friday in a field south of Lewiston.

Thinly sliced beef, shrimp, lotus root, and noodles are among more than 30 ingredients on the menu at Everhot Mongolian Hot Pot, a restaurant where diners cook their meals at their tables.

Steve McGehee

June 7 passed largely without notice. And yet, on that day in 1965, a very different Supreme Court from that which overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago struck down a Connecticut law enacted in 1879. Drafted by state legislator P.T. Barnum, the law forbade married couples access to contraception.

As readers may remember from a previous column (and the Old Testament leaves no doubt), sexual congress between consenting couples have one sanctioned purpose and that is childbirth. To do otherwise is to violate God’s commandments and practices such as coitus interruptus is punished by death administered by no less a personage than the Big Guy himself.

After 1965, the law of the land finally allowed married couples to have physical knowledge of each other for mutually affirming reasons having little or nothing to do with populating the earth. The rights guaranteed under the Griswold v. Connecticut ruling were, in 1972, extended to unmarried couples as well in Eisenstadt v. Baird.

The Connecticut statute in question was enacted in the aftermath of the federal law passed by Congress in 1873, the Comstock Act. This law had made provision of contraception into a federal crime. As expected, real-world consequences soon followed, with 24 states passing their own laws restricting access to contraception.

In 1916, Margaret Sanger, believing that reproductive free choice was foundational for the liberation of women from poverty and subservience, defied New York law, opened the nation’s first birth control clinic in Brooklyn and served 30 days in prison for her crime. She went on to found Planned Parenthood.

Around the same time, activist firebrand Emma Goldman was arrested twice for violating the same New York prohibition. She, too, was imprisoned in 1916 for the crime of disseminating information about birth control.

Time moves on and with it, attitudes toward a lot of once controversial things. The dam broke with Griswold and, by 1973, the High Court defended in Roe v. Wade the principle that the Constitution protected a woman’s right to control her own reproductive freedom. Even barriers to homosexuality soon came crashing down. In 2003, in a pivotal case, Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment protected even gay women and men. They could henceforth have sex without fear of government watchdogs peering through their bedroom curtains. Then, in 2015, in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision, same-sex couples were finally allowed to marry.

Winds shifted again on the Court and, for the first time in Constitutional history, a right of citizenship once guaranteed was taken away. The Dobbs decision, just like the Comstock Act before it, opened the floodgates and, what was once sanctioned nationwide, was left up to the state legislatures.

The assault by evangelicals on sexual freedom hasn’t stopped with Dobbs. Anyone believing that making abortion nearly impossible to obtain would satisfy the lust for vengeance of those for whom sex is a dirty word hasn’t read the Old Testament.

Or read Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion on Dobbs where he wrote that the Supreme Court should “reconsider all of the courts sustainable due process precedents including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell.”

For heterosexual adults of reproductive age and anyone gay or lesbian should sit up and take notice. In the ruling which guaranteed marital rights to same-sex couples, there were four dissenters. Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Scalia. Three still sit on the High Court and Scalia’s replacement and two others were nominated by Donald Trump to cement his hold on the religious extremists which make up his most loyal base of support.

Assume you’re a hetero adult and view sexuality as a healthy component of human existence with no necessary connection to adding more children to an already overcrowded world. Griswold hangs by a thread. Or perhaps you’re part of a gay married couple and thought your rights were guaranteed. Just this week, Senate Democrats introduced a bill in Congress codifying citizens’ rights to contraception. With but two dissenters, both women, Republican senators in lockstep voted the bill down.

Think your rights under the Constitution are inviolable? Better think again before voting Republican for any officeholder at the state or federal levels.

McGehee, a lifelong activist, settled here in 1973 and lives in Palouse with his wife, Katherine. His work life has varied from bartender to university instructor to wrecking yard owner.

Steve McGehee

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