By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ When you’re Sazerac, thinking about creating a whole new line of mass market bourbons and casting about for ideas, Full Proof has got to be an easy one. The idea of “full proof” or “entry proof” bourbon is to cut the end product back to the same strength used when …
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 Douglas Fraser Rating: C The Samuel Maverick Distillery is named after Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803 – 1870), a lawyer and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. He is therefore one of those founders of a First Family of Texas. Just a few steps away from the historic Alamo site, the distillery is located …
By Richard Thomas Rating: C Port and bourbon are one of those pairings that, when right, can be an absolute home run. Something that elevates the sweetness while controlling that sweetness through tannin and oak, being an easy drinker without veering into dessert whiskey. More often than not, however, the two are used somewhat haphazardly …
By Richard Thomas Rating: C- In introducing the new drinks line in early 2023, Jim Beam declared that, come summertime, Kentuckians like to drink lemonade or fruit punch with bourbon on their front porches. Well, I’m a born and bred Kentucky horse farmer’s son, and I prefer to make mules with our native Ale-8-One or …
By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ Before there was a Town Branch Distillery or even a sourced brand, there was a Lexington Brewing Company, with the distillery erected on the property of the original brewery. Today’s joint Lexington Brewing & Distilling Company isn’t quite what most people imagine when they think “brewstillery,” because the brewery and …
By Richard Thomas Rating: C- Triple Dog Irish Whiskey is certainly packaged to catch your eye from the shelf: its modern, sleek design and red and black colors will stand out amid a cluster of just about any potential mixture of whiskey bottles. Although I find the studded collar on the neck of the bottle …
By Douglas Fraser Rating: C+ Smokehead Islay Single Malt Whisky is a peat bomb for lovers of smoky whisky. The brand belongs to Ian Macleod Distillers, and its source on Islay is undisclosed and one of the company’s best kept secrets. Rumors point to Lagavulin and Caol Ila, but those are just rumors. This is …
By Richard Thomas Rating: C- As the craft whiskey boom really took off in the early 2010s, many small producers were on the look out for techniques to reduce maturation time or bypass it all together. The classic was to age in small or tiny barrels. The best examples of this tailored their production process …
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 …
