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Five Great Whiskeys to Congratulate Your Grad

Is somebody you care about graduating from college? They deserve a drink that's not light beer or well tequila.
  • Margarett Waterbury is a whiskey enthusiast and industry expert.
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May marks the kick-off of graduation season, and while we definitely don’t recommend buying your high school graduate a bottle of bourbon, something tells us those newly minted degree holders striding proudly off university campuses across the country could do with a drink.

Most college students don’t have a lot of cash to spare, so if they’ve been imbibing as a student, the odds are good they’ve been scraping by with the cheapest booze money can buy. What better time than now to introduce them to the wonderful world of better whiskey?

This age-stated release from Michter’s routinely knocks the socks off reviewers—bold, balanced, delicious; it’s exactly what bourbon should be. It can be a little tricky to track down, but if you manage to find a bottle, you’ll spoil your grad for life on bottom-shelf bottles. 

If peated Scotch is still a bit…aspirational to your budding drinker, ease them into it with a bottle of Oban 14-Year-Old single malt. There’s plenty of smoke, but it’s balanced by a full-bodied maltiness and sweet dried fruit. If this clicks, they’ll have a whole lot of fun exploring to do in years to come.

Balcones True Blue

Millennials are famously interested in craft and authenticity, two qualities that Balcones has in spades. This whisky is made with a variety of blue corn cultivated for generations by Native Americans in the southwest, giving it a distinctive flavor unlike anything else.

If your grad is into rye whiskey, E.H. Taylor Jr. Straight Rye from Buffalo Trace offers something a little different. Unlike many rye whiskeys from big Kentucky distilleries, this one is nothing like bourbon. In fact, it contains no corn at all, just rye and barley, resulting in a huge, grain-forward flavor without a ton of sweetness. Dry, snappy, and balanced, this is a rye in no need of mixers for maximum enjoyment.

Readbreast 12-Year-Old

If Jameson is the only Irish whiskey your grad’s been knocking back, why not introduce them to the finer pleasures of the category? Redbreast 12-Year-Old is a perfect entry point to Irish whiskey’s more sophisticated tiers. Unlike Jameson or Bushmills, Redbreast is produced entirely on a pot still, and as a single pot still whiskey it contains malted as well as unmalted barley, making it a delicious distilling lesson in a glass. 

Margarett Waterbury

Margarett Waterbury is the author of "Scotch: A Complete Introduction to Scotland's Whiskies" and a full-time freelance writer and editor specializing in the beverage industry. Her work has graced the pages of numerous publications, including Whisky Advocate, Food and Wine, Spirited Magazine, Artisan Spirit, Edible Seattle, Sip Northwest, Civil Eats, Travel Oregon, and many others. She also boasts editorial experience as the former managing editor of Edible Portland and as a co-founder and former managing editor of The Whiskey Wash. In recognition of her talent, Margarett received the Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year award in 2017 and was awarded fellowships for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers in 2017 and 2019.

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