By Richard Thomas Rating: B Branch & Barrel is located in Centennial, Colorado (“The Centennial State”), an exurb of Denver located south and just slightly east of Denver’s core. Operating since 2015, the distillery is part of a vibrant craft whiskey scene that I had in the running for becoming America’s third whiskey state (after …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Starting out almost a decade ago as the company that brought whiskey-distilling back to Baltimore, Sagamore Spirits has built its reputation around a Maryland rye revival. Although not as famous as its Pennsylvania neighbors for rye whiskey, Maryland has its own rye-making tradition that is at least as old, eventually …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B It has been little over a year since Ohio’s Middle West Spirits bought Old Elk Distillery, based in Colorado, but now Old Elk has come out with its first major release since the acquisition. This new launch is a 10 year old collection, consisting of a straight bourbon (rye recipe); …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B In May 2026, 15 Stars announced the fourth release of its First West collection: First West Explorer. Joining First West Small Batch, First West Toasted Oak and First West Extra Aged, this new expression is a first consisting of 100% in-house distilled bourbon. Theirs is an interesting story. Rick and …
By Genevieve Jacot-Guillarmod Rating: B Inchmoan is the name of an island in Loch Lomond, and is commonly translated as “island of peat” or “peaty island,” which is a fitting name for the distillery’s smoky style of whisky. Loch Lomond is also one of Scotland’s most unusual distilleries. Most Scottish distilleries produce either malt whisky …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ When I learned that Michter’s was releasing a cask strength version of their US*1 Sour Mash Whiskey, two thoughts simultaneously entered my head. One was “at last!” The other was “they will soon run out of new variants to introduce.” The two thoughts are intertwined. Michter’s core line up consists …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B- Jeptha Creed Distillery is a women-owned craft distillery located outside Shelbyville, Kentucky, led by mother-daughter team of Joyce and Autumn Nethery. I have generally enjoyed the bourbon crafted at Jeptha Creed Distillery. I met Master Distiller Joyce Nethery and her daughter Autumn, Director of Operations, a few years back …
By Genevieve Jacot-Guillarmod Rating: B Loch Lomond is one of Scotland’s most versatile distilleries, producing both single malt and single grain whiskies using a pot stills (including an idiosyncratic Lomond still) and continuous Coffey stills. That flexibility allows them to experiment with styles that blur the boundaries of conventional Scotch categories. When I first encountered …
Updated July 8, 2026 By Alex Southgate Average Rating: B I was fortunate to be able to sample Warehouse 2 Batch No.001 by Fettercairn recently and I have to say that I was mightily impressed. But, I was also able to try out the 12 Year Old expression from Fettercairn, and here are my impressions. …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Although it defies the expectations of many denizens of internet’s whiskeydom, those of us with long memories or knowledge of history realize that just because the Bourbon Boom is over does not mean new companies and brands will not be forthcoming. Some of the most popular and well-established brands today …
