By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B+ Liberty Pole Spirits is a family-owned and -operated craft distillery started in 2016 by Jim, Ellen, Rob and Kevin Hough. The Houghs are longtime residents of Washington County, Pennsylvania. They caught the distilling bug in the early 2000’s when Jim bought a 10-gallon still and learned the ropes of …
By David Levine Rating: B+ It’s hard to believe that Stauning Danish Whisky is almost 20 years old. Founded in 2005 by a group of nine friends, it came online at roughly the same time as the first wave of the new craft movement in the US. In many ways, Stauning represents the entire Nordic/Scandinavian …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ In June, Uncle Nearest co-founder Fawn Weaver launched her long awaited book about the slave who taught a teenaged Jack Daniel’s how to make whiskey, and whose descendants have worked at making Jack Daniel’s whiskey ever since: Nathan Green. That book, Love and Whiskey, instantly became a best-seller. Uncle Nearest …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Although Whiskey del Bac (aka Hamilton Distillers, although they don’t seem to use that name so much anymore) has had their Arizona-style American malt whiskey on the market for almost a decade now, they only just released their first bottled in bond this year. My guess is that this was …
By David Levine Rating: B Mizunara – just the word makes whisky lovers’ ears perk up and their wallets empty. This Japanese oak species is native to Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, belying its scientific name of Quercus mongolica (though some sources label it as crispula, a variant of mongolica). An average new, 53 gallon American …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Hybrids remain one of the great sleeper categories in American Whiskey. Defined as a blend of two or more major types of whiskey, the granddaddy was Wild Turkey Forgiven. That defunct expression is now more than a decade in the past, predating Eddie Russell succeeding his father as Master Distiller …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Tamdhu is one of many Scottish distilleries as part of the late 19th century whisky boom, and like most of those founded in that era, it was located first and foremost for proximity to a railroad. It closed between 1927 and 1947, was mothballed again in 2010, but then acquired …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ The latest limited edition to come out of the Redbreast line, the Irish Whiskey brand that helped revive single pot still whiskey, gives the whiskey a particularly regional spin on American oak. As a Redbreast, it’s a pot still whiskey, which means it is made from a mix of malted …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ For many years, Rebel Yell 10 Year Old has remained one of the best kept secrets in bourbon fandom. Perhaps that is because it is a Rebel Yell, which is generally perceived as a bargain brand. Certainly bourbon bloggers have been raving about the expression all along, yet somehow it …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Jim Beam is almost making a point of taking the croakers who push the “bourbon shortage” narrative out back and smacking them in the face. First, they bucked the prevailing trend and put the age statement back on their flagship premium bourbon, Knob Creek. Then they introduced 12, 15 and …
