By Douglas Fraser Rating: A Sagamore Spirits is known for making its rye whiskey in Baltimore. Time and time again, Sagamore aims to outdo themselves and create something better than what they have done before. This latest expression is no different. This Maryland rye whiskey distillery sets the standard for rye whiskey everywhere. Sagamore Spirits …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Bardstown’s Preservation Distillery has previously released fabulous-but-sourced whiskey sourced from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee and Canadian. Recently, they departed onto the well-trod path of blending those sourced stocks their own distillate, produced in their pot still in Bardstown. Just months ago, Preservation was ready for the next step. In …
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: B+ Although the world’s whisky boom seems to be coming to an end, it lasted long enough to finally bring Japanese whisky into the spotlight and spawn an expansion of their whisky-making industry. Although growth in Japan was not nearly as explosive as in, say, Ireland, it saw more new distillery …
Updated April 29, 2025 By Richard Thomas Average Rating: A- The thing about Michter’s Legacy Series is one could be forgiven for forgetting it exists. This is because from its inception, the series has consisted of two brands: Bomberger’s and Shenk’s. Both of those have been around for years, with the pair being spins on …
By Richard Thomas St. Patrick’s Day falls on Monday the 17th this year, so the party will begin on the preceding weekend. But the trickle of new Irish Whiskeys began entering the market in February, to get the word and the product out in time for the emerald holiday. So it is with the latest …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A+ All through the Bourbon Boom, the Jack Daniel’s company men in Lynchburg and Louisville were resistant to the idea of putting age statements on Mr. Jack’s whiskey. That was despite the historical fact that Jack Daniel himself released age statement whiskeys in his day. Why is not exactly clear, and …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Ever since the entire category of Japanese Whisky (finally) blew up and attracted international, popular acclaim more than a decade ago, the category has been beset by a shortage of aged stocks of whisky that has put classic brand names like Nikka and Yamazaki out of reach of most consumers. …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Perhaps overlooked in the tumultuous news of major downsizing at Brown-Forman was last month’s release of a new batch of Old Forester 1924 10 Year Old Bourbon. The 1924 expression is a departure from the standard Old Forester in that it has a different origin mash bill: 79% instead of …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Part of the fun of sourced whiskey is when the bottler/negociant behind the stuff provides just a few hard facts about the liquid, but without revealing the source. Situations like that call for those with true nerdom in their bones to play whiskey detective. Such is the case with Cream …
