Since you wrote "whisky" instead of "whiskey", I'll assume you mean Scotch or Canadian. I like Canadian OK but nothing really reaches the heights for me, so it'll have to be Scotch. Top favorite: Highland Park. The regular 12-year-old is great, the special 15-year-old is mind-blowing, like discovering a new part of your palate you didn't know was there before.

I love me some Islay malts as well (like the bombshell Laphroaig mentioned below, or the slightly more civilized Lagavulin). My favorite, though, is Caol Ila, which has several different bottlings. NONE OF WHICH ARE AVAILABLE IN WASHINGTON STATE. Thank you, WSLCB.

Well, technically that's not true, since they have a small supply at some stores. Try 12th and Pine or Queen Anne, but it will be gone soon. I hate the WSLCB with the heat of a thousand suns.

People sneer at blended Scotch, but they are missing out. Pinch is a lovely dram.

My favorite whisky cocktail is three fingers of Scotch in a glass with a couple of ice cubes. Purists will say that the ice "breaks up the oils" and "chills the flavor away" but IMNSHO they're wrong. The very slight chill lets the whisky warm and come to life on my tongue (where it sits for quite a while). And the melt makes the flavor bloom (you could use a little water instead).

I have lots of favorite whiskies – a few are: Ri1 Rye, Woodford Reserve Bourbon and the new Maker’s Mark 46 is pretty fantastic as well!

Here is one of my new favorite cocktails that I recently made up – Rye’Invention : Measure 1 1/2 oz Ri(1) rye whiskey, 3/4 oz Aperol and 3/4 oz St Germain into a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Stir. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange zest or flaming orange disk.

– Kathy Casey

If Scotch is admissable, it would be Laphroaig. (10 year or quarter cask are both fine with me) It's not for everyone though- it's intensely smokey/peatey.

My favorite whiskey cocktail is the Manhattan or a Rob Roy. (sub Scotch for Bourbon)

The new Maker's "46" is quite good -- a nice addition to the bourbon lineup. I'm also a big fan of Elmer T. Lee bourbon, and of Michter's Rye.

"Favorite" is a big word -- I'm inclined to stick to the tried and true, and rye-whiskey Manhattans and bourbon Old Fashioneds are always gonna be high on my list.

But for a nice diversion, there's the Boulevardier -- essentially a whiskey Negroni, made with equal parts rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and Campari (though some prefer two parts whiskey to one part each of the other ingredients -- it's worth trying it both ways to see which one you prefer). Stirred with ice, strained into a cocktail glass, with a piece of orange peel twisted over the drink.

Some of my favorite Whisk(e)y’s are:
Scotch - Lagavulin distillers edition
Rye – Sazarac 18 year
Bourbon – Buffalo Trace

15-year Glenmorangie matured in port casks.

As for a cocktail, the Rusty Nail is my favorite:

3 parts blended scotch
1 part Drambuie

Drambuie on the bottom, scotch on top in a snifter or highball glass. Refined enough to look cool, strong enough to put a fire in your chest.

Dear everyone else who answers this question:

While I'm sure you answered with the best of intentions, you are respectfully wrong ;)

The finest bourbon in the world is unequivocally Pappy Van Winkle's 20 year bourbon. It's smoother than the 10 year, but not quite as mellow as the 23 year. It has a unforgettable wisp of vanilla scent that wafts inches from the bottle's nose. If any scotch drinker tries to snub their nose at you ("waahhh... scotch is just sooooo much more complex"), you can hand them a sifter of this elixer and put all arguments immediately to rest.

On the other hand, it's also very difficult to find and usually over $100/bottle. So, yeah. Evan Williams is a good well.

My favorite recent discovery is whiskymaker called Compass Box. They have a bunch of different excellent whiskies, depending on what you like. My husbands likes peat-y stuff so loves their Peat Monster, and I'm more partial to the one called Hedonism. They have an infused whisky called Orangerie that is phenomenal in old-fashioneds (just smelling it made me want to have one in front of a fire. At Christmas). Not sure where to get it in Seattle, though...

Maybe because my Grandpappy drank it, but I'm a fan of Wild Turkey.

Dry Fly Whiskey is from a micro-distillery in Spokane and it uses only ingredients bought from family-owned farms in Washington. I haven't had enough whiskey to be a snob (except to point out your bad spelling of it), but Dry Fly is my favorite for these reasons.