By Richard Thomas Rating: B Several years ago, the Old Pepper brand was a fixture on round-ups of the best expressions of MGP’s ubiquitous 95% rye, 5% malted barley rye whiskey. It was near and dear to my heart for more than just that standing, however. When Amir Peay started Georgetown Trading Co. and acquired …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B The forerunners of modern craft whiskey, distillers like Stranahan’s and Tuthilltown, are fast coming up on their 20th anniversaries. Even so, none has released a 15 year old whiskey, and I don’t expect either that landmark or a 20 year old expression to be coming any time soon. I doubt …
By Andrew Graham Rating: B I have become quite a fan of most of what’s in the George Remus portfolio. We’ve talked about Remus here before, but in short, it is one of two in-house brands of MGP, the distillery on the Indiana-Kentucky border that’s more commonly associated with large-scale contract distilling. What’s easy to …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ A few years ago, the folks in Lynchburg, Tennessee decided to do a special release of their relatively new rye whiskey (after a series of teaser releases, the flagship JD Rye came out in 2017) by taking it cask strength and single barrel. That was apparently well enough received that …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- The Old Elk brand got started with a blend of bourbons, crafted by former MGP Master Distiller Greg Metze. Their next step was to expand the line with a straight wheat and a straight rye whiskey. All three are sourced, and the sourcing remains undisclosed. Old Elk’s rye uses the …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- A few years ago, FEW Spirits introduced a novel spin on their bourbon by cutting it with cold brew coffee instead of water. They were followed by a Jameson cold brew whiskey and a few cold brew whiskeys introduced by small distillers around the country. Now Kings County in Brooklyn …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Located right in the middle of the Speyside region, Tamdhu Distillery has spent most of its existence furnishing malt for use in other blends. My understanding is that it has been such a reliable producer in this respect that it is jokingly referred to as the “Can-dhu Distillery.” That said, …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Jim Beam has been making it easy for me to be a contrarian these last few years, because in the midst of whiskeydom’s own Big Lie — the so-called “Bourbon Shortage — they keep slapping age statements onto things, as well as introducing new middle-aged expressions. The latest example was …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Here at The Whiskey Reviewer, we took a look at Old Elk, the brand launched with the guidance of former MGP Master Distiller Greg Metze, with their 2018 inaugural Blend of Bourbons. They’ve since opened their tasting room in Fort Collins, Colorado and have greatly expanded their line. It’s well …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- American Single Malts are poised to become an official thing, with a Federal designation from the TTB expected to come around the corner this year. Limestone Branch has become the latest company to join the movement with their latest brand extension, putting Yellowstone American Single Malt into regular release. Except …
