By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Each member of the seminal Jim Beam Small Batch Collection is now the center of its own brand line-up, and three of the four have had rye whiskeys either as limited editions or regular extensions. But of those three, I think the most appropriate to have rye whiskey attached to …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Many companies began in the whiskey business the way James E. Pepper did, building their brand using sourced whiskey. After establishing that brand and proving its viability, they then set out down the road of financing and building a distillery. In some cases, this begins a transition from reliance on …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ The Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series, originally known as Tasters Selection, is now in its eleventh installment. During that time, the series has done a variety of iterations with their staple Tennessee Whiskey, such as finishing it in smoked hickory wood barrels and doing the barrel goes to beer than back …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Released in 2010, Maker’s 46 was the first major brand extension by the distillery that essentially invented premium bourbon as we recognize it today, way back in the mid-1950s. The idea behind Maker’s 46 is one borrowed from the wine industry, and first applied in the whisk(e)y business by the …
Updated July 18, 2023 By S.D. Peters Average Rating: B Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey is the “aged” version of one of the two Scotch-style whiskeys distilled by Santa Fe Spirits – and another fine example of an independent distiller making good things happen to whiskey in the 21st Century. An American distillery, set against a …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ A few years ago, the folks in Lynchburg, Tennessee decided to do a special release of their relatively new rye whiskey (after a series of teaser releases, the flagship JD Rye came out in 2017) by taking it cask strength and single barrel. That was apparently well enough received that …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- A few years ago, FEW Spirits introduced a novel spin on their bourbon by cutting it with cold brew coffee instead of water. They were followed by a Jameson cold brew whiskey and a few cold brew whiskeys introduced by small distillers around the country. Now Kings County in Brooklyn …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Jim Beam has been making it easy for me to be a contrarian these last few years, because in the midst of whiskeydom’s own Big Lie — the so-called “Bourbon Shortage — they keep slapping age statements onto things, as well as introducing new middle-aged expressions. The latest example was …
By Douglas Fraser Rating: D There are many celebrities making their way into the spirits business these days. In my experience, only one of those celebrity whiskey brands was one that I enjoyed. It seems like these spirit brands pop up and try to make a splash in the industry, as a vanity project or …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- American Single Malts are poised to become an official thing, with a Federal designation from the TTB expected to come around the corner this year. Limestone Branch has become the latest company to join the movement with their latest brand extension, putting Yellowstone American Single Malt into regular release. Except …
