As we reflect on 2025, we wanted to take a moment to look back with you. This past year, our team published across more mastheads than ever before — from commercial insights and founder journeys to science, capital, and tasting culture. So we pulled the data, dug into what you engaged with most, and asked a simple question: what stories shaped the conversation for our audience this year?
What we found was a vibrant mix of perspectives, personalities, and ideas — a snapshot of an industry in motion and a community that’s as curious as it is passionate. Below is a look at the content you returned to, shared, bookmarked, and talked about the most in 2025… and what it tells us about where whiskey is heading next.
Spotlight: Capital & Character — by Jack Sullivan
Every year has its defining voice, and in 2025, Jack Sullivan’s commercial insights became essential reading. His Capital & Character piece resonated because it captured something rare: a real‑time view of the market from someone who spends every day in the market, on the phone with brands and capital providers, and in the middle of the deals that shape supply.
Readers gravitated to Jack’s ability to translate shifting market signals into clear, grounded takeaways. It wasn’t theory — it was the industry as it actually behaves.
Spotlight: How to Start a Whiskey Brand
This guide became one of our most saved and shared posts of the year — and for good reason. It distilled years of founder conversations, client experiences, and market lessons into a practical roadmap for anyone dreaming of launching a whiskey brand.
The engagement told us something important: founders want clarity, and they want it from people who’ve actually done the work.
This post will continue to evolve as the category evolves, but its core message remains the same — great brands are built with intention, not accident.
Spotlight: Bourbon & Wine Prices Are Dropping — Why History Says This Was Always Coming
When the market shifts, people want context. This piece delivered it.
By blending historical cycles, supply dynamics, and long‑term pricing patterns, it helped readers make sense of a moment that felt confusing from the outside. The takeaway wasn’t doom or hype — it was perspective. And that’s exactly what our audience showed up for.
Spotlight: Whiskey Innovators — John Angus
If 2025 had a breakout storyline, it was science. And no one took a more unique approach at exploring all the interesting facets of the liquid we all love.
John Angus brought a fresh lens to whiskey — one rooted in chemistry, process, and experimentation. His content attracted thousands of readers who wanted to understand why whiskey behaves the way it does, not just how it tastes.
This series proved something we’ve long believed: innovation isn’t a niche topic — it’s the heartbeat of the industry’s future.
Spotlight: How VentureFirst Quietly Became One of Whiskey’s Most Strategic Financial Partners
This interview pulled back the curtain on a part of the industry that rarely gets the spotlight: the capital partners who help brands scale, stabilize, and seize opportunity.
Readers appreciated the transparency and the strategic depth — a reminder that whiskey is both an art and a business, and the business side is evolving quickly. And we had a great time learning more about the VentureFirst team and value in this market.
Spotlight: Ferguson Whisky — Scaling Success, Overcoming Challenges, and Building for the Future
Few stories captured the spirit of 2025 like the rise of Ferguson Whisky.
This piece resonated because it was honest — about the challenges, the pivots, the wins, and the vision required to build something meaningful in this industry. It showcased the human side of whiskey, and our audience responded with enthusiasm, support, and curiosity about what comes next.
Spotlight: Raconteur Rye: Unapologetically Rye
Raconteur Rye deserved its own spotlight — and your engagement made that clear.
This wasn’t just a brand feature; it was a story about voice, conviction, and a team unafraid to bring something unapologetic to the rye category. Readers connected with the boldness of their approach, the clarity of their point of view, and the energy they’re injecting into the market.
The response to this piece told us something important: personality matters. In a crowded landscape, brands with a strong identity — and founders willing to stand behind it — are the ones that break through.
Spotlights: Bardstown Bourbon Company
One of the most enjoyable parts of our editorial year was diving into the Flight Spotlight series — a masthead built purely around exploration, discovery, and the joy of tasting whiskey side‑by‑side.
Our feature on Bardstown Bourbon Company was a standout, not just because of the brand’s reputation, but because flights give our audience something they consistently love: a structured way to compare expressions, understand nuance, and experience how character shifts with age, mashbill, and blending philosophy.
Across 2025, these spotlights became a place where we could slow down, pour a few glasses, and talk about whiskey the way people actually drink it — with curiosity, contrast, and conversation. Whether it was exploring high‑rye profiles, comparing finishing techniques, or highlighting the subtle differences between distillate styles, these pieces reminded us that whiskey isn’t just a market or a business. It’s a sensory world.
One of the clearest pieces of feedback we heard in 2025 was simple: “Show us more of your inventory.”
So in Q4, we launched the Brindiamo Barrel Spotlight — a new masthead dedicated to sharing real barrels, real opportunities, and real market signals directly with our audience.
The response was immediate and energizing. These spotlights sparked conversations, surfaced demand, and helped us stay even closer to where the market is — and where it’s heading.
This new series will continue into 2026 with even more consistency, clarity, and access. And in the spirit of transparency, our latest spotlight is already live — a look at what’s moving, what’s emerging, and what’s worth paying attention to as the year begins.
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that the whiskey world is more interconnected than ever — and our audience is hungry for insight across every corner of the industry. We’re excited to keep building on that momentum in 2026 with more founder stories, more science, more commercial intelligence, more capital conversations, and more ways to stay close to the market.
Thanks for reading, sharing, and shaping the conversation with us. Here’s to another year of learning, building, and raising the bar together.
Matt Breese: Jan 15, 2026 12:57:26 PM
As we reflect on 2025, we wanted to take a moment to look back with you. This past year, our team published across more mastheads than ever before —...
Matt Breese: Oct 30, 2025 3:56:55 PM
Welcome back to the Brindiamo Barrel Spotlight, our weekly email series highlighting the barrels, distilleries, and market dynamics shaping today’s...
The market for bourbon barrels is bifurcated. Over the course of the last 24 months, the conversation has shifted from how to find whiskey to how to...
Matt Breese : Oct 30, 2025 3:56:55 PM
Welcome back to the Brindiamo Barrel Spotlight, our weekly email series highlighting the barrels, distilleries, and market dynamics shaping today’s...
The market for bourbon barrels is bifurcated. Over the course of the last 24 months, the conversation has shifted from how to find whiskey to how to...
Matt Breese : Oct 10, 2025 4:06:20 PM
When Ferguson Whisky launched its 12-Year-Old Speyside Single Malt earlier this year, the debut was more than just another new bottle on the shelf......
Matt Breese
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