By Richard Thomas The bourbon boom was well underway when Deputy Editor Kurt Maitland and I paid a visit to Vendome Copper & Brassworks in mid-2014, but it continued to accelerate year on year in the almost eight years since then. Blanton’s was still reliably on store shelves and the so-called bourbon shortage was on …
By Richard Thomas A few years ago, I coined the phrase “Craft Whiskey 2.0” to describe new and evolved features that defined small whiskey-makers relative to what they were in 2005 or 2010*. However, I never codified everything I meant by that anywhere, not even in my book American Whiskey, preferring to focus on the …
By Richard Thomas St. Patrick’s Day 2022 is now about a month away, and the mix of pandemic fatigue and omicron still spiking hard means folks will both celebrate at home and out in bars. No matter, because the best way to celebrate Hibernian identity is still to hoist a dram of fine Irish whiskey, …
Treat the whisky drinker in your life to some whisky accessories. Instead of trying to guess which bottle of whisky they’ll enjoy the most, opt for a more creative gift and choose some accessories that will elevate any whisky drinker’s evening tipple. Discover our guide to the best whisky accessory gift ideas. Glasses The secret …
By Richard Thomas Even though Japan is routinely listed as one of the five traditional whisky-making regions/countries (along with Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the USA), the sheer quality of its whiskies remained under the popular radar for decades. That came to an end in the mid-2010s, but something interesting came hand-in-hand with the craze for …
The Whiskey Reviewer does not hold an annual awards panel. Yet we are also focused on all things whiskey, have a team of contributors, and because of those three points we have an unusual way of doing what are our de facto awards. Instead of handing out medals or drawing up a conglomerated list, every …
The Problem Isn’t The Secondary Market Anymore. It’s The Retailers. By Richard Thomas Whenever the subject of the spiraling cost for limited edition whiskeys has come up during the last decade, someone always curses “the secondary market.” Lately, it has even become the villain for why brands like Blanton’s are no longer available on store …
If you’re bringing a bottle of Maker’s Mark home for the holidays, the distiller wants to help you with your baggage fee. You can’t take a bottle in your carry-on, so through December 31 (or until the funds run out),… Read More
Trump’s Trade War Didn’t Help Bourbon Consumers At All, But It Might Have Crippled The Goose Laying The Golden Eggs By Richard Thomas Between March and June 2018, President Trump enacted tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum for certain countries, and then extended those tariffs to imports from the European Union. While …
By Richard Thomas As late autumn arrives, the trees turn bare and the first frosts appear, I restore a bottle of Scots single malt to my liquor shelf. Late autumn to early spring is when I most enjoy most Scotch whiskies, especially the richer or smokier ones. Yet the thing about Scotch is that it …
