March Madness

March Madness: The Final Result

Posted by: Nick and Ted

It’s been a wild ride, fellow Wafflers. 64 distilleries began the journey (back when it was actually March) and, like Antony Green, now it’s election night we’re prepared to call it.

On this most auspicious of nights, with the world celebrating not one but three major events, namely the Australian Federal Election, World Whisky Day and Eurovision Finals, we can finally reveal what you, our faithful followers, voted as the number one whisky in the world.

It came down to a clash between two Islay titans, but like Highlander (… Islander?), there can be only one winner. Break out the laurel wreaths, because the winner of the Whisky Waffle March (and April… and May) Madness bracket is:

ARDBEG

Ardbeg Win!

Over 200 years old and one of the Islay big three, Ardbeg is, as it proudly states on the bottle, the maker of the ‘Ultimate Islay Single Malt Whisky’. But in this case, also the world. Ardbeg claims our heart with its character: smoky, peaty and full of fire but also genuine, accessible and unpretentious. They win us around with the dependable 10 Year Old, the mind blowing Corryvreckan and then stick the landing with the glorious Uigeadail – and then bring out something excitingly new every year to please the fanboys!

Did the right distillery win? Too bad if not, you guys voted for it, so it’s your fault if it’s wrong. But let us know your thoughts anyway!

Thanks all who voted. Keep on waffling.

March Madness Grand Final

Posted by: Nick

Finally our March Madness bracket reaches the final round: the Grand Final. Yes, what started out six weeks ago with 64 distilleries (technically 63 distilleries and 1 independent bottler) has been whittled down to just two. And our finalists?

In the red corner: Bruichladdich!

On the road to the final Bruichladdich overcame the number one seed, Glenfiddich, Tassie favourite Overeem and in a nail biting semi final they defeated the peated powerhouse Laphroaig by a margin of 59% to 41%.

And, in the blue corner, they will be facing: Ardbeg!

Ardbeg have taken down some sherried Scottish superpowers along the way with Glendronach, Balvenie and recently Glen Moray falling victim to the peat monster.

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So now it all comes down to this: Bruichladdich vs Ardbeg. Two Islay dynamos duking it out to become Whisky Waffle’s inaugural champion distillery – but who will win?

YOU DECIDE!

Voting has never been easier! We only need one name! Leave your vote in the comments or on our social media platforms.

Happy voting and keep on waffling!

March Madness Semi Finals

Posted by: Nick and Ted

And then there were four. In a matchup of biblical proportions, David came up against Goliath and against all odds, slew the beast.

Round 5 Whisky Waffle March Madness

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That’s right, the ridiculous strength of the Tasmanian independent titan, Heartwood, was no match in the end for the Speyside pocket-pleaser, Glen Moray. Tim Duckett wasn’t the only Tasmania to fall, with elegant Overeem roundly smashed by indie Islay outfit Bruichladdich. In fact, there’s potential for an all-Islay showdown in the final, with Ardbeg seeing off Glenfiddich’s little sister Balvenie with ease and Laphroaig narrowly fending off the Orkney vikings from Highland Park. First we have to get through the semi-finals though and there’s some tough choices ahead. It really comes down to sweet vs peat – where do you fall in the battle? Cast your votes now at http://www.whiskywaffle.com or on our social media platforms.

March Madness Quarter Finals

Posted by: Nick

It’s getting serious now! After what I can only assume were many sleepless nights of pondering the impossible choices presented in round 3 we have 8 winners! And they are:

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Some big results, fellow wafflers. Overeem win the battle of Tassie dominance, the two remaining Islay behemoths narrowly overcome their opponents and Highland Park knock out champion Tassie distillery Sullivans Cove, all by only a couple of percentage points. It was an unbelievably close round, with many results only decided by the final few votes.

And now our quarter finals take shape. Bruichladdich have not had too much trouble dealing with opponents so far, but will Overeem prove a sterner test? Glen Moray, everyone’s favourite underdog have scraped through so far, but face Tasmanian independent title favourites Heartwood in the next round. Elsewhere, Highland Park take on Laphroaig and two Whisky Waffle favourites in Ardbeg and Balvenie go head to head.

Who will win? YOU DECIDE! It’s getting easier to vote these days – just send us four names via a comment, email or social media and we will add them to collection of votes!

If you haven’t already, check out our podcast where we discuss the results up to round 3.

Happy voting and keep on waffling!

March Madness Round 3

Posted by: Nick

The suspiciously April-y March Madness Whisky Waffle bracket powers on into Round 3: the round of 16! Once again we’ve halved the field in a vicious round 2 which saw a number of shock results and big guns fall.

Gone is Australian whisky’s founding member Lark, Australian whisky’s high-selling Starward and all remaining American and Irish representatives. Possibly the biggest shock of all is the defeat of number 3 seed Lagavulin, knocked out by the dark horse, Glendronach.

Below is the full list of results, including the match ups for Round 3:

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We now move into the pointy-end of the competition and once again there are some juicy match ups.

In another gut-wrenching all-Australian match up Overeem take on Belgrove, Macallan verse Balvenie in a battle for Speyside supremacy and the last remaining non-Australian or Scottish drop, Paul John, ~~loses to~~ takes on Heartwood. Perhaps the one that kills me the most, however, is my favourite Islay distillery fighting to the death against my favourite mainland distillery: Ardbeg vs Glendronach. Only one can progress to the quarter finals. Who will it be?

YOU DECIDE! Let us know in the comments, on social media or by emailing whiskywaffle@gmail.com

Vote by whatever rules you feel you’d like to live by. Skip any you can’t decide upon and get us your thoughts throughout the week sometime!

Good luck, and may the best dram win!

March Madness Round 2

Posted by: Nick

Ok, I know, technically it’s no longer March, but Whisky’s greatest elimination challenge continues unabated, pitting distillers from around the world in a series of tense and often unfair head to head bouts. Round 1 has been run and won and the results are as follows:

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There were a number of tense tussles throughout the initial qualifying round – several of which involved local drams. In an all-Australian affair, Starward narrowly defeated recent award winner Hellyers Road by claiming 54% of the vote. Whisky Waffle also bid a tearful adieu to Bunnahabhain, defeated by Tassie champion Sullivans Cove which enjoyed 58% success. The other Tassie dram to bow out was Nant, defeated by regular pocket-pleaser Glen Moray.

However the fun does not stop there; as we fondly farewell 32 grand drams, we turn our attention to the subsequent 32. And my, what decisions we will have to make! The round is headlined by some all Australian bouts: Limeburners take on Overeem and Belgrove come face to face against the godfather himself! Elsewhere, the salty kings Laphroaig and Springbank go head to head and there is a battle of the Glens: Glenrothes vs Glenfarclas. A battle sneaking under the radar, but causing me much grief, is the number 3 seed Lagavulin taking on another favourite of mine: Glendromach. Holy. Crap.

How will it end? Who will triumph? YOU DECIDE! As with the previous round, leave your votes in a comment or on social media – or in an email to whiskywaffle@gmail.com

Vote for as many as you like, but feel free to leave any you’ve not tried. The more people who vote the better – and drumming up support for your personal favourite is most definitely allowed. Happy voting fellow Wafflers. Lets see who comes out on top!

Whisky Waffle Does March Madness

Posted by: Nick

Whiteboards across America are currently full to bursting with the scenarios and machinations of the National College Athletic Association Division One Championships, which is, apparently, a basketball tournament. Across the country sports fans go AWOL for the month as they construct their own brackets to try to predict the direction the results may take.

While the Whisky Waffle boys are not so interested in the basketball, we are somewhat curious about the format. So, with much excitement, we present our own spin on the competition: March Whisky Madness!

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Lagavulun vs Pappy Van Winkel! Ardbeg vs Kilchoman! Jack Daniels vs Knob Creek! Who wins? You decide!

Starting now, and finishing… whenever we finish, we’re putting the vote to the people! Through comments on this post and on social media we’ll tally up support for each whisky to decide who will progress to the next round. Then we’ll post the second round and go again!

There is no criteria to your vote – decide however you like! If you’ve not tried one before, bad luck for that whisky! If you don’t want to vote on every match up – just skip that one! If you own a bottle or two, why not set up a head to head tasting to truly decide!

Post a comment with the list of your choices, or if you don’t want everyone knowing your opinion, email us at whiskywaffle@gmail.com We’re also constructing an email list for each round, so send us an email if you’d like to be included.

It’s meant to be a bit of whisky-nerdery fun, so start voting and help us find the 2019 March Whisky Madness Champion!