When it comes to whiskey – and single malts especially – nothing beats Scotland, right?

Well, not quite.

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While single malts remain the pinnacle of whiskey (at least according to snobbish whiskey bores and single malt producers), they are also very much a Caledonian specialty, so it's safe to assume that the best malts in the world stem from the rocky shores and craggy peaks of the islands and Highlands of Bonnie Scotland.

That's not quite the case, as it transpires.

While single malts are made in pretty much every country that makes whiskey, the Scottish producers have traditionally been the heavy hitters, dominating in terms of volume, shelf space and scores. However, there are signs that that might be changing.

A year ago, our rundown of the top 10 single malts included nine Scottish examples and one "other"; this year, non-Scottish bottlings take three spots on the list.

(And a note on the spelling of "whiskey". At Wine-Searcher we spell it "whiskey" when we refer to the Irish or American product and also when we speak of the generic brown spirit; we use "whisky" when specifically referring to styles that use that spelling, so apologies for the seeming inconsistencies.)

Usually for wine, we base our lists on a mean of critics scores, updated monthly and weighted according to the number of reviews, and number of critics. For example, a wine with a score of 94 based on 100 reviews from many critics may appear higher in the list than one with a score of 95 based on 10 reviews from fewer critics.

However, that weighting is less important for spirits, as there are fewer reviews and scores. Instead, we have simply listed the bottlings in order of their aggregated critic score.

So let's see who took top honors this year.

The World's Best Single Malts on Wine-Searcher:

Bowmore Black Bowmore Trilogy 42 Year Old 97 $39,074

Highland Park 25 Year Old 96 $868

Bowmore Small Batch 25 Year Old 96 $561

The Macallan Fine Oak 17 Year Old 96 $696

The Yamazaki 18 Year Old 95 $1146

Kavalan Solist Ex-Bourbon Cask 95 $135

Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 95 $658

Kavalan Solist Moscatel Sherry 95 $476

The Dalmore Cigar Malt Single Malt 95 $166

Glenmorangie Signet 94 $245

The three "others" are hardly any great surprise: Taiwan superstar Kavalan (which made the list last year with its Ex-Bourbon Cask bottling) adds its Sherry cask expression to the list and Japan's legendary Yamazaki distillery also joins the fun. Kavalan had two entries a couple of years ago and its whiskies have been wowing reviewers for a few years now, so it's to be expected that it makes the grade.

Yamazaki, by comparison, has often featured in our Most Expensive and Most Wanted lists, but it debuts on the best malts list this year.

Otherwise, it's very much a case of power taking the lead. The seven Scottish malts are all big beasts: three (the two Bowmores and Ardbeg) are from the famously highly flavored region of Islay, the only place on earth where the water tastes like whiskey, while the Highland Park has island heritage, coming from Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands.

The Highland whiskies on the list also emphasize power: the Macallan goes for rich flavor from time in oak barrels, while the Dalmore is designed to have enough oomph to match a decent cigar. The Glenmorangie Signet, meanwhile, is made from 30-year-old whiskies and packs a memorable punch.

Overall, it's interesting to look at the scores, too. Spirit reviewers and critics tend to have a more grounded approach to scoring than their wine counterparts, eschewing the kind of attention-seeking high scores that have become more prevalent in the past 15 years (almost to the point where we're shortly going to need a 150-point scale for some wines). Instead a score of 90 is considered excellent, rather than just a starting point.

That said, five years ago, our top single malts had aggregated critic scores of 91 each; we've come a long way since then, with all but one of today's top 10 scoring at least 95. Just two bottlings from the 2018 list remain in the top 10 (the Macallan and the Dalmore), meaning that some clearly outstanding whiskies have been released onto the market in the interim, and have attracted impressive scores.

And while all is looking good for single malt producers, perhaps a few Scottish distilleries will be looking over their shoulders to see where the next challenge to their supremacy is coming from.

To view on Wine-Searcher, please click here.