Speyside distillery and single malt brand Glen Grant launched The Glasshouse Collection last month as a new prestige range featuring the oldest aged expressions ever in the distillery’s permanent collection. The Glen Grant 21 Year Old is joined by The Glen Grant 25 Year Old and 30 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whiskies to form …
We continue The Whiskey Reviewer‘s tradition of offering the staff’s Top Picks for the previous year, announced every year in early January. This is our informal version of an awards show in print, with an infamous on informal. We do not convene a panel, because that is too much of a bother! Instead, each member …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- For a long time, the only brand in the Jim Beam portfolio that was more neglected than Old Grand-Dad was Old Overholt. The only two expressions in the line were the namesake standard and Old Grand-Dad 114, a favorite budget buy among fans of high rye bourbon. What is more, …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Longrow is named after a distillery that was once located next to Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown, Scotland. The original distillery was founded in 1824 by John Ross and closed in 1896. The property was later incorporated into Springbank, and Longrow’s old warehouse now houses Springbank’s bottling hall. In the …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A This 2024 release of US*1 Toasted Barrel Finish Bourbon is the latest in ten years of the label. The Toasted Barrel expression is distinguished from the standard US*1 Bourbon by its double new oak treatment: a second maturation round in a toasted barrel, following its initial rest in a …
By Richard Thomas When it comes to good drink and fine food, living in Kentucky offers a bounty so good that it often surprises those not acquainted with the Commonwealth. The presence of the bourbon industry obviously covers the first part of that pairing, but also serves as the wellspring for the latter. Whiskey and …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- When I sampled Gentleman Jack and took my notes some days ago with an eye on making it my last review work of 2024, I did so expecting to revise and update a review from more than ten years ago. I took it completely for granted that either I or …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B The Balmoral Hotel has been with us for more and a fixture of Edinburgh than a century, but it’s whisky bar–approrpriately named SCOTCH–has only been around for a decade. Nonetheless, that is long enough for Head Whisky Ambassador and Bar Manager Cameron Ewen and Moa Reynolds, a Swede now writing …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Louisville’s Rabbit Hole Distillery is both one of the newcomers to Bluegrass whiskey and at the same time part of its new class of medium-sized distillers (distinct from both the legacy and new “Kentucky Majors” and the small producers typically associated with craft whiskey). Considering the company went from foundation …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Technically, the second round of 2024’s Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond still came out in the autumn: even if bottles didn’t reach shelves (or samples reaching reviewers) until it was officially early winter, the actual announcement was on December 12. For those who are not very aware of the calendar, winter …
