One’s made on a remote Arctic island. Another came in an old Irn-Bru bottle. This list isn’t what you think. Andrew Smith, co-founder of Little Brown Dog Spirits and former vet, has built a reputation on doing things differently.
When we asked him to name the best whiskies in the world, he didn’t send tasting notes. He sent stories. From cult Nordic distilleries to warehouse drams with friends, this is whisky through the eyes of a maker who values people, place, and character above all.
Best Remote Whisky: Myken, Norway
Andrew Smith’s top pick for remote whisky goes to Myken, a tiny Arctic island distillery that most drinkers will never see in person.
“Probably one of the craziest places you could ever build a distillery,” says Smith. Myken sits five hours by boat from Bodø in northern Norway, with just twelve full-time residents and no natural fresh water, they desalinate seawater to make their spirit.
Despite the odds, Smith says the whisky is “incredible” and well worth the effort to seek out. “It deserves all of our attention.”
Best Core Range Picks: Everyday Drams Done Right
For someone immersed in single casks and obscure bottlings, Andrew Smith still makes time for the industry’s backbone, core range whiskies that offer value, quality, and consistency.
“There are a number of stand-out, excellent value malts out there right now,” he says. His go-to? Arran 10 Year Old. “Not just because of my obvious Arran bias, it’s simply a quality product at a very fair price.”
Also on his list:
- Tobermory 12 – a characterful coastal dram with real depth
- Ardnamurchan A/D Sherry Cask – a sherry-led release with balance and weight
- Glencadam 13 Year Old – often overlooked, but impressively elegant
And then there’s Drookit Dug, Little Brown Dog’s own blended Scotch. Designed to be “approachable and affordable for sharing,” it’s bottled at cask strength (albeit lower ABV), non-chill filtered, and natural colour. “We call it our cask strength session dram,” says Smith. It recently took home Best Blended Scotch at the 2024 Scottish Whisky Awards, not bad for a dram built around drinkability.
In a world of rare and expensive whiskies, Smith reminds us: “Reputations are built on your core product.”
Where Style Meets Wood
When your day job involves cask selection and blending, picking a favourite whisky style isn’t easy, and for Andrew Smith, it’s almost beside the point.
“My preference for style changes with mood, weather, company and location,” he says. But what doesn’t change is his attention to how spirit and wood interact.
“For me it’s all about matching the character of the distillate with the right cask.” He offers a few pairings as examples:
- Glen Garioch in first-fill bourbon
- Royal Brackla in oloroso
- Old grain in refill wood
He’s also an advocate for underused finishes: “I enjoy working with less commonly used cask types like calvados, Pineau des Charentes and white port as much as more traditional wood.”
That sense of experimentation is central to Little Brown Dog’s output, and to Smith’s own appreciation of whisky. “I suppose variety is my own style.”
Best Personal Whisky Moments: Irn-Bru Bottles and Mortlach 1939
Some of Andrew Smith’s most memorable whiskies never had labels, or corks.
An old farming neighbour, friendly with a few warehouse managers over the years, passed on some astonishing drams in makeshift packaging. “Old Irn-Bru bottles, wine bottles, recycled whisky bottles with post-it notes for labels,” says Smith. “It was a very useful exercise in developing your palate.”
But his top moments aren’t just about what was in the glass, they’re about who was there. Like the 1939 G&M Mortlach shared among friends at the Spirit of Speyside festival, or a quiet afternoon with Pinkie sampling casks in Lagavulin’s warehouse.
“For me, so many of my best whisky drinking experiences have been as much about the people I was enjoying them with,” he says. “That perhaps biases my perception of the dram and the moment, but that’s kind of the point.”
The Dram That Started It All: Lagavulin 16
Everyone has that one bottle that pulls them in. For Andrew Smith, it was Lagavulin 16, back in 2002.
“It really made me think, wow, I need to explore this category and try to understand it better.” Smoky, powerful, and unmistakably Islay, it sparked a curiosity that’s never left.
Final Thoughts
Andrew Smith’s picks aren’t about status or price, they’re about character, curiosity, and connection. From Arctic distilleries to core-range staples, his choices reflect a whisky life well lived, and well tasted.
To see what he’s working on next, including experimental casks and award-winning blends, visit littlebrowndogspirits.com.
Read the full article at The Best Whiskies in the World According to Andrew Smith of Little Brown Dog.
