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 Richard Thomas Rating: A- I put Michter’s 10 year Old Single Barrel Rye in the same class as expressions like W.L. Weller 12 Year Old, the famed “Baby Pappy,” in terms of being an annualized limited edition of a certain high, consistent quality, scarce availability and general price point. The market value for W.L. …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A+ May 2026 saw Preservation Distillery host a release party for what was only the second installment for Very Olde St. Nick Immaculata, after a wait of four years. The festivities were hosted by Master of Maturation Kyle Lloyd and the Preservation team, where Lloyd spoke to the gathered crowd …
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 Richard Thomas Rating: A- Although each review is a thing unto itself, so it is basically fine to retell the same or a similar story for these annualized expressions, this time I really do not want to repeat the backstory of the defunct Bomberger Distillery in Pennsylvania and the Michter’s brand history. I’ll skip …
By Alex Southgate Rating: A The folks over at Halcyon Spirits kindly sent me their latest offering to try, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve already reviewed their fourth and fifth release, which was great. This being said, I was elated to see their newest expression, because this time it is a 28 Year Old …
By Douglas Fraser Grade: A Proper 12 was co-founded by Irishman and former UFC Champion Connor MacGregor, but the brand is now owned by Proximo Spirits. Following scandal, MacGregor is no longer the public face of the brand. The 13 Year Limited release is the first of the 13 Year series of single malt whiskeys, …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A I just finished the manuscript on a new book about Buffalo Trace, and a feature of Buffalo Trace nerdom is knowing all the details of their esoteric collection of warehouses found on their main property. The immediate climate for these buildings are all the same, but they come in so …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Introduced in 2014, Bomberger’s Declaration from Michter’s has become a fixture of late summer’s annualized releases. Although this expression and its sibling, Shenk’s, do not (yet) have the same buzz attached as either Michter’s other limited editions (such as Barrel Strength Rye or the 10 Year Old Single Barrels) or …
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. …
