By Richard Thomas An inside joke in the booze writing trade is how made-in-America single malt whiskeys have been the “next big thing” for …., oh, the last several years. Don’t get me wrong: American-made malts have become a vibrant part of the national whiskey scene, and I for one applaud how it is a …
Created by beer people with a passion for whiskey and an eye towards sustainability, Brooklyn’s newest distillery – Arcane Distilling – today introduces its flagship whiskey, Arcane Alpha. Helmed by CEO Brian Thompson & Distiller Phil Morgan, Arcane is a new type of distillery that lives at the intersection of beer and whiskey. Arcane combines …
By Richard Thomas If you are as lucky as I am, you get two Father’s Days. Because my child lives abroad, he marks the occasion on their calendar; I mark it on the American holiday. That way, I get to celebrate it twice, and the second round is coming up, because in the United States, …
Lost Lantern, an independent bottler of American whiskey that launched less than 18 months ago, is pleased to announce their Summer 2022 collection, featuring seven limited edition single casks from six celebrated craft distilleries: McCarthy’s in Oregon, Frey Ranch in Nevada, Starlight in Indiana, Dad’s Hat in Pennsylvania, St. George in California, and Balcones in Texas. …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B New Holland Brewing of Holland, Michigan is one of the many brewers occupying the “brewstillery” niche, taking advantage of the fact that in its early stages, malt whiskey and beer are basically the same thing. All it requires for a brewer to make malt whiskey (the brewery also makes their …
By Richard Thomas A few years ago, I coined the phrase “Craft Whiskey 2.0” to describe new and evolved features that defined small whiskey-makers relative to what they were in 2005 or 2010*. However, I never codified everything I meant by that anywhere, not even in my book American Whiskey, preferring to focus on the …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Located in the Appalachian foothills of Virginia, not all that far from Charlottesville, Virginia Distillery made its initial reputation for skillfully created hybrid whiskies: they blended their youthful in-house American single malts with imported Scottish malts, and then gave the hybrid a “marriage” (secondary finishing) in used-but-native Virginia casks. An …
For centuries, Scotland set the standards in single malt whiskey; but in recent years, new voices have emerged to challenge the sanctity of tradition. Starting in October 2021, Westland Distillery sought to assess how their single malts, and those from around the world, measure up against each other and against the original forefather,by launching The …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ One of the best aspects of Lost Lantern’s model is also what makes it unique: it’s a true negociant in the European sense, but plying its business in the United States. There are two things to understand about that statement to get at why it makes them unique. First, as …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- California’s St. George Spirits is an example of what I call craft distilling before there was craft distilling. Founded by Jörg Rupf in 1982. After spending a decade in brandy-making, ex-nuclear scientist and former brewer Lance Winters showed up on Rupf’s doorstep, looking to make whiskey and with a bottle …
