By Richard Thomas Rating: xxx Dewar’s is a pretty familiar sight in the United States, as well it should be: it’s the second-best selling Scotch Whisky brand in the country, and that country happens to be the world’s most lucrative whiskey market. Less well-known are the single malts (or grain whiskies for that matter) that …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- As covered in previous Broken Barrel reviews, the company’s gimmick is stave inserts, which they have trademarked as an “Oak Bill.” This puts a particular twist on the secondary maturation process, commonly referred to as finishing. Whereas conventional finishing involves transferring the whiskey from its original, primary cask to another …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Out this month is a new offering from Newport’s New Riff Distillery, part of the Northern Kentucky enclave of distilleries. This story starts when New Riff began mashing and distilling a 100% malted rye in 2014. The first batch of this was released a year ago, which was also when …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Rochester’s Black Button Distilling has a foot in two different camps when it comes to bourbon. One foot is in the craft sector, where they have released a flagship four grain bourbon. The other harkens back to a older and more traditional time, when New York was one of the …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler became a fan favorite from the start, establishing a reputation for transparency early on. The company was one of the first to ply the now well-trodden path of starting a whiskey business as a bottler of sourced stock, build a brand, and then transition into becoming …
By Emma Briones Rating: B Today, almost all distilleries start by learning from others. Some do it from a distance, others ask for help directly or use whiskeys from others to learn how to mix or tune. And what it does is enrich them all. To those who learn and those who teach. Some decide …
By Douglas Fraser Rating: B+ In an international and antipodean collaboration between the state of Vermont, USA and Sydney, Australia comes a rye whiskey barrel aged coffee liqueur. Mr. Black X Whistle Pig Barrel Aged Coffee Liqueur is the creation of stunning pairing of Mr. Black Coffee and Whistle Pig Rye Whiskey. This liqueur pairs …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B If you like Scotch and have never heard of Auchroisk, don’t feel ashamed. This Speyside distillery was founded in 1973, making it one of those late 20th Century foundations. This is purely anecdotal, but I have often found that distilleries started in the late 20th Century lack both the hype …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ If you read my work, then you are probably familiar with Indiana’s Starlight Distillery through Lisa Rope Wicker’s past work with them, that being how I usually make mention of them. The distillery was started by Ted Huber as an outgrowth of his orchard and winery, the latter being a …
By Emma Briones Rating: B+ There are only a few whiskeys that can be proud to have been releasing a high-end limited edition for almost 40 years. But Barry Crockett, ahead of his time, went for it in 1984 when there were barely a couple of distilleries in Ireland. Thanks to his drive and enthusiasm, …
