By Douglas Fraser Rating: A- Barrell Craft Spirits is an independent blender and bottler of whiskeys and other spirits, based in Louisville, KY. So far, they have created 32 unique batches of their signature bourbon, all bottled at cask strength. Each release is its own different expression, as they are drawn from different distilleries, and …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Five years ago, we reviewed a Port-finished single barrel bourbon from Rochester’s Black Button Distilling. That is still listed as the staple single barrel expression from Black Button, but it has since been joined by a cask strength version finished in Apple Brandy casks instead of the Port casks. The …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Hybrid whiskeys were quite the thing several years ago. This category includes any blend made from two or more distinct types of whiskey, with the first major example in the United States probably being the reportedly accidental creation of Wild Turkey Forgiven, a bourbon-rye hybrid. Virginia Distilling Company’s initial line …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- These last few years have seen Colorado-based Laws Whiskey House build on the age of their bonded whiskeys, year by year. I have enjoyed watching the progression and the results of this so much that I am thinking I need to time a 2023 visit to the Centennial State to …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Smoking grain has been a widely embraced practice in American craft whiskey for more than a decade now. Darek Bell, co-founder of Nashville’s Corsair Artisan Distillery, wrote an entire book on the subject. In the Southwest, smoking with mesquite has become a regional signature. Some distillers have taken to importing …
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 Richard Thomas Rating: A- Laws Whiskey House got to my house, I thought “in a few years, I will need to stop talking about mature craft whiskey and start talking about middle-aged craft whiskeys!” That would be because this third batch of the Colorado distillery’s San Luis Bonded Rye is seven years old. Who …
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 …
