By Richard Thomas A shift of tectonic proportions has taken place in American Whiskey these last couple of years, but to judge from the trade headlines one would assume that nothing had actually happened. Since long before I started writing about whiskey, there have been three stable-as-granite facts about the whiskey business: 1) Johnnie Walker …
By Richard Thomas When I first started writing professionally about whiskey, Tennessee had just four distilleries making whiskey that wasn’t classed legal moonshine and it didn’t have a whiskey trail. Now it does have an official trail with over two dozen distilleries listed. Yet despite the growth, the fixtures remain the same: some 60 miles …
By Kurt Maitland Continuing from Part 1. Kurt Maitland: So about American single malt. I’ve read and heard that you’ll be doing more releases. Josh, as you and Jason will be the boots on the ground for American single malt, could you enlighten me as to what you are thinking of doing in that space? …
By Kurt Maitland It was my great pleasure to spend some time with the brain trust of Single Cask Nation (SCN): Joshua Hatton and Jason Johnstone-Yellin (Co-owners and founders of the brand) and Jess Lomas, Global Sales Manager. I have known this crew for most of my time as a whiskey writer – I met …
By Richard Thomas Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye was the expression that prompted our Deputy Editor to coin the phrase “stronger whiskey is better whiskey.” The caveat there is that Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye is just strong enough. What makes it such an enjoyable cask strength whiskey is the distillery’s entry proof of 103. That is …
By Richard Thomas The first time I called on Wilderness Trail was early summer 2016. Located in picturesque Danville, a college town on the southern boundary of the Bluegrass that is an example of “ye can’t get thar from here!” (whatever direction you come from, it seems you must go somewhere else first to get …
By Richard Thomas Raylan Givens, the Federal marshal of Justified, once aptly described bourbon as being like drinking a “warm summer day.” The problem with that, as us Southrons will tell you, is that downing that warm summer day on a warm day leaves you too warm. The coming of warm weather in late springtime …
By Richard Thomas Being something of a whiskey generalist, one of the problems I grapple with regularly is how to overcome preconceived notions and deeply ingrained preferences. Enthusiasts have a tendency to be nerdy about whiskey, and nerds have a tendency towards blinkerdom. So, even though Scotch whisky present a wide, deep palate of flavors …
Negociant Lost Lantern Went All Mid-Western Whiskey For Its Spring 2024 Collection. We’ve Round The Entire Batch Up. By Randall H. Borkus Lost Lantern, the independent bottler of sourced whiskeys founded by a former Sales Manager at Astor Wine & Spirits (Nora Ganley-Roper) and a former whisky writer (Adam Polonski) usually presents its single cask …
By Richard Thomas One of the ugly little secrets of sensory science is just how much the senses of taste and smell can be influenced by preconceptions. Ideally, this reality can be guarded against, and it’s what makes the notion of the blind taste test so interesting. The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 was the …
