By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ It all started in 2010 with inserting some French Oak staves into existing barrels of maturing bourbon to create Maker’s 46, but since then Maker’s Mark has taken the stave insert concept to its limits. The Loretto distillery erected the world’s only bourbon-aging cellar to further the production process for …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B At this juncture, I think its necessary to underline the expansion of the Old Fitzgerald brand. When Heaven Hill reintroduced the brand to enthusiasts several years ago, it was revamped as a bi-annual, bottled in bond expression of their wheated bourbon stock. Moreover, Old Fitz Bonded routinely clocked in at …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B The final member of Kanosuke’s current trio of whiskies is their Hioki Pot Still Whisky. The Hioki distillery was previously covered in our review of Kanosuke Double Distillery Whisky. Hioki used primarily to make shochu, a Japanese spirit that is similar to vodka in that it can be made with …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Next Century Spirits was founded by Scott Bolin and Joel Pawlak, and the company opened their distillery in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2018. Their website makes it clear that they have positioned themselves as a contract distiller, but the company also has its in-house brands relying on a mix of …
By Douglas Fraser Rating: B+ Old Elk Distillery, located in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been adding some interesting blends to its lineup of bourbon. Old Elk Slow Cut is the latest release from the distillery, highlighting their lengthy proofing technique. Old Elk has a longer proofing process than most bourbon distilleries, a step undertaken to …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Six years ago, Old Forester introduced its first rye whiskey. Keeping that in mind, it is about the time the company should do something to build further on its rye. The brand was introduced at 100 proof, so it was already in tandem with Old Forester Signature (the 100 proof …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B My first acquaintance with Iowa’s Cedar Ridge Distillery was 7 1/2 years ago, one of those things that serves to remind me just how long I have been writing about whiskey. I had traveled to Iowa to visit a different distillery, invited for the bottling and launch of a different …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Although the world’s whisky boom seems to be coming to an end, it lasted long enough to finally bring Japanese whisky into the spotlight and spawn an expansion of their whisky-making industry. Although growth in Japan was not nearly as explosive as in, say, Ireland, it saw more new distillery …
By Richard Thomas St. Patrick’s Day falls on Monday the 17th this year, so the party will begin on the preceding weekend. But the trickle of new Irish Whiskeys began entering the market in February, to get the word and the product out in time for the emerald holiday. So it is with the latest …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Ever since the entire category of Japanese Whisky (finally) blew up and attracted international, popular acclaim more than a decade ago, the category has been beset by a shortage of aged stocks of whisky that has put classic brand names like Nikka and Yamazaki out of reach of most consumers. …
