By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Having examined the background of Indiana’s Starlight Distillery at length in my review of their bottled in bond bourbon, I will focus exclusively on the whiskey-making. The whiskey is made from small batches of 15 to 18 barrels (these being 53-gallon American Standard Barrels or ASBs), but small batching is …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- I think to understand why Baltimore’s Sagamore Spirits does things the way that it does, one needs to start with what Maryland style rye whiskey is. While the Kentucky style of rye, which is as close to bourbon as possible without actually being bourbon, or Pennsylvania’s lots of rye, no …
Buffalo Trace Distillery has marked the 25th installment of its Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC) with its first new addition since the BTAC line-up solidified almost two decades ago: Colonel E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon. Introduced in 2000, BTAC honors Buffalo Trace Distillery’s historic whiskey brands and the visionaries behind them, offering enthusiasts some of the …
New Riff Distilling announced the re-release of its acclaimed Red Turkey Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon for the first time in four years. New Riff first began distilling with Red Turkey Wheat in 2016 and has continued distilling, aging and developing this wheated bourbon ever since. The inaugural batch was released in 2021. “We’ve worked with …
North Carolina’s Southern Distilling Company, has released its newest expression: Southern Star Bottled-In-Bond Straight Rye Whiskey. Crafted in a single distilling season, aged four years, and bottled at 100 proof. Distilled and bottled in-house in Statesville, North Carolina, the whiskey has a mash bill of 51% rye, 39% corn, and 10% malted barley and honors …
First introduced in 1882, the Old Grand-Dad Bourbon brand predates the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897, but that doesn’t mean the one cannot offer the other something by way of improvement. Jim Beam acquired the brand in 1987, and for a decade and a half it was the standard bearer for the distillery’s spicy …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- When Sazerac chose to build up the Benchmark line, it really put its back in and did it in one big push, releasing a five-expression brand extension all at once in 2020. Benchmark Bonded was part of that major expansion. The Benchmarks are all Buffalo Trace bourbon mash bill #1 …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B At this juncture, I think its necessary to underline the expansion of the Old Fitzgerald brand. When Heaven Hill reintroduced the brand to enthusiasts several years ago, it was revamped as a bi-annual, bottled in bond expression of their wheated bourbon stock. Moreover, Old Fitz Bonded routinely clocked in at …
Calumet Farm was once famous as a sprawling fixture that dominated the western country outside Lexington, Kentucky. The whitewashed board fences and white, red and green barns of the property were iconic, the farm was home to many famous race horses over the decades, and the property’s fall was the stuff of true crime podcasts …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Earlier this week, Kentucky bourbon saw a new brand emerge, and this in a time where much of the industry talk is about faltering sales and ruinous Trump tariffs. Once sometimes does not get to choose when their plans come to fruition, however, and this spring was when Avalon Spirits …
