By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ Another entry in Bulleit’s line of bottled, ready-to-drink (RTD) classic whiskey cocktails is the Whiskey Sour, readily identifiable from its bright yellow bottle. This one is such a recent addition that Bulleit had not updated their website to include it at time of writing. It’s made with real lemon juice, …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Several years ago, Kirin stablemates Four Roses Bourbon and Asheville, North Carolina’s New Belgium Brewing announced they were doing a collaboration brew: Four Roses bourbon barrels would be sent to New Belgium and used to make a bourbon barrel ale. The twist is that New Belgium reportedly used their own …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Yellowstone Bourbon was revived at the Lebanon, Kentucky’s Limestone Branch Distillery, which is now part of the MGP drinks empire, First Luxco acquired the Yellowstone brand, then they bought half of Limestone Branch and gave Yellowstone to them, and then MGP buying Luxco in turn. In August, Limestone/Luxco/MGP announced they …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Sazerac Rye is the entry level rye whiskey from Buffalo Trace, named for the parent company and cocktail whose histories are so intertwined. Introduced in 2000, the rye stock behind it is the core rye whiskey for Buffalo Trace exceptions, but not the only one. Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- The Benchmark line was seemingly remade to check-mark all the boxes for how one can take the same basic stock of bourbon and bottle it, so naturally there is a single barrel version. The line starts with Benchmark Old No. 8, goes all the way to this single barrel expression, …
Updated July 26, 2025 By Debbie Shocair Average Rating: B Given what I do, most whiskey fans presume I am opposed to flavored whiskey. On the contrary, I appreciate the flavored stuff as “gateway whiskey,” bringing into the fold those who still harbor reservations. Founded by the late and esteemed Robert Cooper, Cooper Spirits has …
Updated July 26, 2025 By Debbie Shocair Average Rating: B Given what I do, most whiskey fans presume I am opposed to flavored whiskey. On the contrary, I appreciate the flavored stuff as “gateway whiskey,” bringing into the fold those who still harbor reservations. Founded by the late and esteemed Robert Cooper, Cooper Spirits has …
By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ For longer than The Whiskey Reviewer has been in existence, whiskey nerds have scoffed at the term “small batch.” If anyone was complaining about it in the actual small batch era of the 1990s, I was happy enough to not meet them; in those days, the bourbon fans I knew were …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- The twist for this particular installment of Benchmark Bourbon, a Buffalo Trace whiskey made from the #1 bourbon mash bill and intended as a mass market, bargain shelf product, it draws from barrels aged on the top floors of their rickhouses. In describing Benchmark Top Floor Bourbon, Buffalo Trace Distillery …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- When Sazerac chose to build up the Benchmark line, it really put its back in and did it in one big push, releasing a five-expression brand extension all at once in 2020. Benchmark Bonded was part of that major expansion. The Benchmarks are all Buffalo Trace bourbon mash bill #1 …
