Northern Kentucky’s New Riff Distilling has dropped its 10 year old bourbon and rye for 2026, but the duo will be available through the distillery’s Whiskey Club and their tasting room, starting on June 4th. “This release represents the continued evolution of New Riff whiskey,” said Master Distiller Brian Sprance. “Our first 10-year release captured …
Indiana-based 15 Stars has announced the fourth release in its First West collection: First West Explorer. Joining First West Small Batch, First West Toasted Oak and First West Extra Aged, this new expression represents a crossing point for the brand as its first with 100% in-house distilled bourbon. Crafted entirely from 15 Stars-distilled whiskey, First …
Noted Master Blender and consultant Nancy Fraley has retired from her post at Jos. A, Magnus & Co., the sourced bourbon brand named for the man who, in post-Civil War America, founded the once esteemed Murray Hill Club Whiskey brand in Cincinnati, Ohio. After graduating law school, Fraley intentionally bypassed a legal career to pursue …
By Richard Thomas Just the other day, I read some Instagram comments to the effect that it seems all Craft Barrel Spirits does these days is super premium releases. New batches of the classic Barrell Bourbon used to come every season or so. I also recently polished off a bottle of Barrell Bourbon Batch 8, …
Twenty years ago, Australian whiskey barely registered. A few small distilleries made limited batches for local drinkers, while most people still reached for Scotch or Irish bottles. Outside Australia, hardly anyone paid attention. The idea that Tasmania could produce whiskey better than Scotland sounded ridiculous. By 2026, the story completely changed. Australian whiskey now wins …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Although it is never assured, fans of Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon got releases for both 2025 and 2026, two years in a row. Dating back to the days of their first Master Distiller Willie Pratt, who was dubbed “Dr. No” for refusing to bottle releases until …
By Richard Thomas When the owners of Kentucky Owl bourbon brand, the Stoli Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late November 2024, an interesting footnote was an example of how an American liquor company can sometimes fall victim to mafia state tactics. Stoli blamed the bankruptcy on a malicious Russian cyberattack, essentially describing the …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Although each review is a thing unto itself, so it is basically fine to retell the same or a similar story for these annualized expressions, this time I really do not want to repeat the backstory of the defunct Bomberger Distillery in Pennsylvania and the Michter’s brand history. I’ll skip …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Having examined the background of Indiana’s Starlight Distillery at length in my review of their bottled in bond bourbon, I will focus exclusively on the whiskey-making. The whiskey is made from small batches of 15 to 18 barrels (these being 53-gallon American Standard Barrels or ASBs), but small batching is …
By Richard Thomas Spirits broadly and whiskey especially experiencing a sales slump and part of the reason is that the generational cohort entering the marketplace, Gen Z, has broader range of choices in legally available mind altering substances then their predecessors to choose from while also sharing the signature characteristic of youth everywhere: buck what …
