By Kenrick Thurston-Wilcox Rating: B With the rise of craft whiskey distillers offering consumers more varied options then ever before the producers over at Jack Daniel’s have taken notice. In recent years they have been producing one off experimental releases (originally known as Tennessee Taster’s Selection now changed to Distillery Series) to showcase the versatility …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- It’s been seven and a half years since Elijah Craig Small Batch went from 12 years old to No Age Statement, informally hovering between 8 and 10 years old. During that time, people like me have pointed to Elijah Craig Barrel Proof as a way to get at what the …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: C+ Barrell Craft Spirits recently announced the release of some cask finished whiskeys and their 10th Anniversary Barrell Bourbon, but I’m still working with Barrell Rye Batch 004! This is their first rye batch since 2020. Rye Batch #004 blend consists of straight rye whiskeys from Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B+ Barrell Craft Spirits has two new expressions: Barrell Bourbon Batch 035 and Rye Batch 004. The latter has been a few years in coming, since Barrell Rye Batch 003 was released back in 2020, but I’ll start with the bourbon. Barrell Bourbon Batch 035 is a blend that consists …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ First off, the formal title of this whiskey is quite a mouthful, so forgive me for not using the every single word in the title of the article: Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled Special Release Heritage Barrel Rye Whiskey. Still, I don’t think that sentence-length title is necessary to either identify …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Perhaps the most perplexing thing about the feverish madness that surrounds Pappy van Winkle and all things Buffalo Trace is how in that fever, the Buffalo Trace-obsessives have blinded themselves to all the good wheated bourbon made at other distilleries. Wheated bourbon is literally the only thing Maker’s Mark does, …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Continuing up Ian Macleod Distillers’ ladder of Isle of Skye blended whiskies has taken me to their 18 Year Old expression. It’s a pretty typical progression, really, although one that seems to show large jumps to American eyes. The cooler, milder climate of Scotland and heavy reliance on used cask …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Old Potrero’s signature style is a 100% malted rye whiskey, which is why they call themselves a “single malt,” even though that term is most often associated with malted barley. The California distiller has been pursuing this style since the 1990s, part of a distinguished class of small distillers who …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B+ The Glenturret Distillery is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. Located near Crieff in Perthshire, it lays claims to be the oldest working distillery dating back to 1775. Like many Scots distilleries, going back that far means pointing to some smugglers or Scottish moonshiners, so the “oldest distillery” …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Heaven Hill was the pioneer of “urban bourbon” destinations in downtown Louisville. Although it is often forgotten, before they opened the Evan Williams Experience on Main Street, there were no destination distilleries in the city. Although Louisville was a center for the industry, what was there (in Shively) was very …
