Economically, 2025 was a tough year for whiskey producers. After decades of expansion, category growth slowed, partly due to tariffs and shifting consumer trends. Challenges were especially acute for smaller distilleries in the U.S. and abroad, and the American Craft Spirits Association reported a second consecutive year of declining sales.

On the flip side, trends were friendlier to consumers. Shelves offered a range of expressions and flavors, and once-novel techniques — like toasted barrel finishes — became practically mainstream. A buyer’s market also meant greater purchasing power for drinkers, especially for premium bottles. It’s a shift customers noticed across American, Irish, Scotch, Japanese, Canadian, and other world whiskies, even though tariffs created notable exceptions.

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To get a better sense of the whiskey world today — and where it’s headed in 2026 — we caught up with four experts whose roles span the industry, from authors to producers to beverage directors. Here are their top trends of 2025, along with a wishlist for the near future.

The push toward older bourbon

In whiskey, older doesn’t always mean better. That’s especially true in bourbon, where virgin oak and hot climates can cause whiskey to mature (and evaporate) quickly. Old bourbon risks becoming overly oaky, and with low yields and taxes, it can be prohibitively expensive to produce.

“Not that long ago, if you asked a master distiller what was the ideal age for bourbon, they would generally say six to eight years. There were very few American whiskies older than 12 years old,” says Noah Rothbaum, author ofThe Whisky Bible.

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But older bourbon has become common. Twenty years into America’s bourbon boom, brands have plenty of mature whiskey they need to sell. than in previous eras, many of those barrels were intended for longer maturation. Variables like heat and humidity were monitored to ensure the whiskey remained high quality, even after multiple decades in a barrel.

“In 2025, we saw the number of extra-matured bourbons increase significantly, including the recently released Knob Creek 21 Year Old and the Blade & Bow 30 Year Old,” Rothbaum tells Food & Wine. “I imagine that every brand will soon have a 20-year-old bourbon.”

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Experimental wood is reshaping whiskey

While distillers have been tinkering with wood for years, 2025 witnessed an explosion in the breadth of cask types. For some, those experiments paid off with industry-leading awards.

“In 2025, exploration seems to be at an all-time high. Especially with some accolades or social proof,” says Blake Riber, founder of online spirits retailer and blending house Seelbach’s. “Starlight Mizunara won Best Bourbon at an awards show. We’re racing to reorder and meet the high demand.”

Rothbaum agrees that when it comes to flavor, wood is one of the most obvious levers to pull. “While Scottish distillers have been very innovative, American distillers are now increasingly looking for creative and legal ways to change the flavor of their whiskey,” he says. “So it’s no surprise that brands have been experimenting with unusual types of oak, like chinquapin.”

For non-distilling producers that contract distill or source whiskey, cask finishing is especially effective at crafting distinct flavor profiles. “Producers are leaning into wine casks, alternative woods, double maturations — all the things whiskey nerds used to whisper about,” says Julie Macklowe, founder of The Macklowe Whiskeywhich bottles bourbon, rye, and American single malt. Some of her releases feature secondary cask maturation, including rye finished in single malt barrels and bourbon finished in port.

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But not all experimental woods are universally beloved. Originating from the forests of Brazil, Amburana is a hardwood traditionally used to age cachaça. It’s become popular among American and Irish whiskey producers, yet the wood’s scarcity has raised concerns.

“Amburana is endangered because of deforestation and has been on a steady decline for a few years now,” says Ben Wald, head of beverage programming at The Flatiron Room. “While the flavors it imparts can be fantastic, I don’t think it is worth the damage it is causing to the environment. I do get pitched amburana spirits a lot, but I don’t taste them unless they can prove the provenance of the barrel was sustainable and speak to the efforts being made to replant the tree.”

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Less pour, intention: the rise of smaller bottles

In recent years, America’s federal government loosened restrictions on container sizes. That allowed producers to sell bottles in the internationally standardized 700-milliliter size, along with a number of smaller formats.

“Now that we’re years into being able to have 500- and 700-milliliter bottles, one of the main barriers to formerly EU and UK exclusive whiskies has come down,” says Wald.

That’s one less obstacle for brands selling in the American market. It’s also opened the door to smaller-format bottles, a welcome trend for drinkers who want to buy without making a significant commitment. Numerous Scotch producers have embraced the 500-milliliter format. In America, major bourbons like Elijah Craig, Maker’s Mark, and Eagle Rare have leaned into 375-milliliter bottles.

And just as restaurants shift menus to accommodate customers taking GLP-1 medications, so too are spirits companies looking to adapt.

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“As wellness culture — and yes, the Ozempic effect — reshapes appetites, people want indulgence without excess,” Macklowe says. Her company has invested heavily in 200-milliliter bottles for what she calls an “eat less, drink better” era. “I love that one perfect two-ounce pour is replacing the old-school ‘heavy-handed’ mentality. It’s chic, it’s elegant, and it aligns with where culture is heading.”