By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Jeptha Creed occupied a special spot for me for a few reasons before I got hold of their new bonded bourbon. They were the first new distillery I visited upon returning to the United States from my long sojourn abroad; they were among the first (and are engaged in a …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B If one reads these pages about world whiskey or the business of whiskey at all, then the fact that France is the world’s second largest market for our thematic drink should be well-driven into your noggin by now. Because French whisky consumption is the highest in the world, at over …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B+ Irish Distillers has once again joined forces with the Mitchell family to unveil the famed, revived Blue Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. The last sighting of Blue Spot in the U.S. dates back to 1964. This year’s unveiling ends a 56-year drought and completes the historic Spot Whiskey …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ About a month ago, Brown-Forman brought a pair of Benriach whiskies across The Pond and to American Shores, these named for two seasonal practices of the distillery. Smoke Season is so named because Benriach sees only a single production run of peated whisky per year, a short run at that. …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ When I realized the latest installment of the King of Kentucky was the fourth, I shook my head in wishful disbelief. Has it really been four years for this revived brand, carrying cask strength, middle aged Brown-Forman juice in the single barrel format? Soon, I will be able to do …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ It’s hard for me to believe that Angel’s Envy Cask Strength has reached it’s 10th anniversary, but here we are! “”Back in 2012, our first Cask Strength release was a run of just 600 bottles available in only two states,” said company co-founder Wes Henderson in a press release. This …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Redwood Empire is a distillery in Sonoma County, California’s Russian River Valley, and they draw their name from an old apple company in whose buildings they are operating from. Running with their namesake, the distillery follows a theme of naming their whiskeys after prominent trees, and they also pledge to …
By Andrew Graham Rating: B The drawing on the label of a new expression from The Balvenie, dubbed The Sweet Toast of American Oak, says it all. The drawing is of a barrel, and it’s there because this whisky is all about the wood. Here’s the basic story behind this expression: It’s 12-year old Balvenie …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Kentucky Owl dates its brand identity back to 1879, and was one of many Bardstown distilleries that were shuttered by Prohibition, never to reopen. The brand was revived in 2014, in the middle of the Bourbon Boom, and fast gained a reputation for producing excellent one-time releases based on well-sourced, …
