Seeking Greatness

“In our 30th year producing this list, we observed a new influence taking shape, that of purposeful intention.”

For longtime consulting automotive editor, Robert Ross, this year’s best aerodynamic accomplishment—the Lamborghini Huracán Performante— speaks to the way the industry combined age-old practices with cutting-edge expertise. He recalls his first visit to the brand’s factory in September 2001 to photograph the Murciélago for a story about the “modern-era” supercar. “Back then, the Lamborghini production line was a modest affair with hundreds of choreographed technicians and acres of sub-assemblies on rolling racks.” It was a propitiously timed visit, as Robert witnessed what he says was “like a rare lunar eclipse or the once-in-a-decade mating ritual of a near-extinct species”: the very last Diablo inching along the production line, directly followed by the first series-production Murciélago. “This nose-to-tail procession described the end of one era and the beginning of a new one,” he says—a tradition that rolled forward with this year’s Huracán Performante. “It’s not enough to build a fancy hotel anymore— properties have to benefit the local communities or environment, too,” observes our travel editor, Jackie Caradonio, who points to Shanghai’s new Amanyangyun— this year’s best urban oasis—as an example of creating something with widespread meaning and impact. In an effort to save a centuries-old camphor forest and scholars’ village from rising water levels caused by the construction of a new dam, a team moved more than 10,000 trees about 400 miles to create a forest around the new property. “It was a Herculean effort that was about so much more than just raising another hotel,” says Jackie. “It rescued a village and an entire forest—including some 1,800-year-old trees.” In selecting the year’s top spirits, Janice O’Leary, our Los Angeles bureau chief, collaborated with contributing editor Richard Carleton Hacker on numerous tastings, beginning with the Universal Whisky Experience, an annual collector event in Las Vegas. There they debated the attributes of Macallans, Yamazakis, and Dalmores. “After that 2017 event, Richard was convinced the 50 Year Old Dalmore was one of the best scotches ever made. But then the 40 Year Old was released last fall, and I thought that was the superior single malt. We both agreed it belonged on our list for 2018,” says Janice. “It, like our spirit of the year, relies on the decades of experience that master distillers and blenders have accumulated and their willingness to push the boundaries of how whisky and tequila—and even gin—are aged.” There is no rushing time or that unique experimental genius when it comes to making exceptional spirits.