By Richard Thomas Rating: A- In 2023, I chose to do a rare batch review for the 14th installment of Bruichladdich’s famously smoky Octomore series. This year, I chose to tackle October 15.1, 15.2 and 15.3 separately, which brings me to the third and final chapter of Octomore 2024: the ultra-peated Octomore 15.3. Bruichladdich has …
By Doug Fraser Rating: A- Four Branches Founders Blend Bourbon is the result of a culmination of four prior US service members from the four major branches of the US Military (i.e. not the Space Force). The bourbon represents those four branches–Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy–with the intent to be enjoyed by all while still …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A For any brand that is revived and reintroduced during my career as a food, drinks and travel writer, I’m always amazed when the lot count reaches several or (especially) a double digit number. Inevitably I find myself thinking “Has that newcomer really been around that long? Is it actually a …
By Alex Southgate Rating: A- It’s nice to try something new. It’s even nicer to be given the opportunity to be one of the first to try something and this is why I’m currently feeling both honored and excited in equal measure: Halcyon Spirits newest expression is a 17 year old Caol Ila. This whiskey …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- New Midleton is solely responsible for keeping the legacy of Irish pot still whiskey, based on a mix of malted and unmalted barley, alive. Although that style of whiskey figures in most everything they make, it was the re-launch of the brand Redbreast in 1991 that was instrumental in reviving …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- In some ways, the bourbon calendar is more predictable than the real passage of the seasons, especially here in Kentucky and in the era of climate change. Today it is dry and quite pleasant outside, but I have no idea if the next round of storms will bring with it …
By Alex Southgate Rating: A I’m a firm believer in not having too much of a good thing. That being said, it’s nice to be able to get two expressions from the same distillery in one go. This is great for a number of, but the main one is that it gives us a good …
By Douglas Fraser Rating: A Lodestar Whiskey is a women-owned and -operated spirits brand, based out of California. Two German-born cousins, Anna Axster and Wendelin von Schroder, founded the brand after discovering whiskey while working in the music industry. They found that, in their opinion, there was not a whiskey expression that spoke to everyone. …
By Alex Southgate Rating: A There are some brilliant independent bottlers out there producing some very fine whisky. Halcyon Spirits are a relatively new independent bottler, but they are part of that group, so I’m excited to see what their Burnside 27 Year Old Blended Malt brings to the table. To offer some background, Halcyon …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A Once one gets past their regular release line-up and into its limited expressions, Michter’s Distillery is not in the habit of doing annual batches. As I will discuss in detail in two weeks with a feature rounding-up the best of Michter’s Barrel Proof Rye, these things could come out the …
