Scotland Is Ashamed: Japanese Whisky Voted Best In The World

Scottish pride was bruised a bit today when the Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 — a Japanese whisky — was voted the best whisky in the world by the Whisky Bible. This is the first time in the Whisky Bible's 12-year history that a Scottish whisky failed to make even the top five. It's also the first year that a Japanese malt earned the top spot.

Whisky expert and Whisky Bible founder Jim Murray called the upset a "wake-up call" for Scottish distilleries, claiming that the Yamazaki is a "a single malt which no Scotch can at the moment get anywhere near."

Ouch. After further calling Scotch whiskies "drab and mediocre," he went on to praise the Japanese winner for its "nose of exquisite boldness" and finish of "light, teasing spice." There were only 18,000 bottles of this award-winning whisky made, so you may have some trouble finding the best whisky in the world (a cursory search returns bottles available for purchase in France, Spain and the U.K. at minimum of $130 per bottle).

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Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi