There are a few places I’ve found helpful in exploring my whiskey hobby. First I was introduced to Distiller (follow me), which has its own great archive of expert reviews and user ratings/tasing notes. Reading through these has helped me learn a ton and identify some bottles to be on the lookout for.
I’ve also enjoyed lurking in communities like my local Facebook group and the reddit whiskey network (Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch… even peeked in on /r/tequila!). The Reddit Whiskey Network is a treasure-trove of great conversation, recommendations, and reviews. On top of that, they archive all the reviews in the network, which turns out to be a great resource. Of course, most people reading this are probably coming from there, so I don’t need to tell you.
Review Visualizer
I tapped into the Reddit Whiskey Network Review Archive and pulled the raw data into a Tableau Public workbook. As of now, there are three useful tabs:
- Best – Ranks whiskey bottles by average review. You can see the spread and filter by type/region.
- Value – This one is fun. A scatter plot of Median Price and Average Rating. Find the sweet spot above the curve for the “best value” bourbons (but don’t get scared off from the others… drink your favorites!)
- Reviews – Check out the users with the most reviews, and get links to all of them.
I recommend viewing this on desktop. If you insist on using mobile, go explore the app on Tableau Public.
If you find this useful and want to help keep it afloat, please consider shopping my merch. My margins are low but every bit helps! Check out the full store or see a couple of my favorites below:
Improvements
I’d love to be able to add more to this and make it useful in new ways. Leave your feedback/suggestions in the comments here or on reddit and I’ll work on adding new features over time. I’ll also do some specific blog posts aimed at highlighting some of the top whiskeys.
