By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A In 1892, Joseph A. Magnus founded his Cincinnati, Ohio-based whiskey company and built a reputation for aged blended spirits, including his brand Murray Hill Club. That business closed in 1918 as Prohibition loomed. The name Magnus and its association with whiskey remained dormant for nearly a century. In 2015, …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A A quarter century ago, Wild Turkey introduced the Russell’s Reserve brand, celebrating their already famed Master Distiller, Jimmy Russell. At the time, Russell had just celebrated his 45th anniversary working at the Lawrenceburg, Kentucky distillery. The original version was a 10 year old, 101 proof take on Wild Turkey’s bourbon …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Although it is never assured, fans of Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon got releases for both 2025 and 2026, two years in a row. Dating back to the days of their first Master Distiller Willie Pratt, who was dubbed “Dr. No” for refusing to bottle releases until …
By Kurt Maitland Rating: B+ Old Forester is a well-known and much-loved Kentucky straight bourbon whisky produced by the Brown–Forman Corporation. It was the first bourbon sold exclusively in sealed bottles and was bottled and marketed in 1870 by the former pharmaceutical salesman turned bourbon magnate, George Garvin Brown. The Brown–Forman Corporation is still managed …
By David Levine Rating: B+ Continuing Loch Lomond Group’s track record of putting out affordable single malts at heritage age statements, today brings Loch Lomond 18 Year Old Single Malt. Notably, it’s closer to the $10/year threshold than its Glen Scotia 15 cousin (by business, not by location). If you’re looking for an approachable, easy-to-drink, …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- In September 2025, Heaven Hill returned to its historic roots in Bardstown, Kentucky in grand style. Although the company never left Bardstown after the disaster of the 1996 fire that destroyed their distillery, the locus of Heaven Hill operations clearly shifted to Shively after the purchase of the Bernheim Distillery. …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- To a bourbon fan, end of summer means more than more pleasant weather and the disappearance of mosquitoes. Autumn brings with it the annual limited edition release season, when all the most ardently sought, annualized whiskeys come out. Every year for the last eighteen years, the end of summer marked …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- This is one of those whiskeys that I feel should need no introduction or summary, but that said: it is among my personal favorites, one of the expressions I point to as being undoubtedly worth the (official) asking price. I’ll start with the mash bill. At a time when the …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A In late March 2025, Michter’s Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson approved the release of Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon. “Rather than on a strict age schedule, at Michter’s we bottle whiskey when our production team deems it fully matured. This continues the standards …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- During the 2010s, Utah’s High West made a splash with whiskey nerds for their transparency. Although they were a negociant (or non-distiller producer, as bloggers who didn’t know there was a better term already in use in whisky circles preferred to call such a company), they had two characteristics that set …
