Rye Whiskey Reviews

Old Overholt 12-Year Extra Aged Cask Strength Rye Whiskey Review: Built for Cocktails

Once the liquid eased below the shoulders of that glass Old Grand Dad-style bottle, it did come round and begin waking up. Dark stone fruits appeared on the nose, along with white pepper, cigar leaf, oak and flamed citrus.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Wilderness Trail Kentucky Straight 6-Year-Old Private Barrel Wheated Bourbon Review

It's not often you get to taste the flavor evolution of one of your favorite products, especially if your favorite hails from a heritage distillery. I've been an early adopter of Wilderness Trail, and the ability to taste - in real time - the arc of one of my favorite brands is incredible.

Rye Whiskey Reviews

Pursuit United Triple Mash Rye Review: 121 Proof Blend Twist

The nose is clean and a little sharp thanks to that sturdy proof that presents as white pepper, but it moves quickly to sweetened cereal grain (think Frosted Flakes before they're drowned in milk), raisin, cinnamon, toasted oak and bitter chocolate.

Interview

Q&A with Jim Gaffigan on ‘The Bourbon Set,’ his new standup

I knew that I couldn't do an entire show just about bourbon. I mean, maybe I could in Kentucky and Tennessee and maybe Atlanta, or North Carolina. (Then) I was like, “You know what? I'm just going to do it for myself and for those people that are interested in this topic.”

Annual Summit

Tours, tastings, bottle shares and BBQ highlight Bourbon & Banter ’25 Summit

Surely no one came to bourbon musing there would someday be drinkers like them; lovers of bourbon who want to see it made, meet the people who make it and then drink it with friends new and old. But that, in a nutshell, describes Bourbon Banter’s third-annual Summit.

Members only

Virtual Tasting

Replay: 10th Mountain Distillery Virtual Tasting

Paid-members only

BITB Club

Replay: BDC Live Tasting #16

Our sixteenth Blinkd Drinkers Club (BDC) Live Tasting of the Year was held this past Monday. This month's tasting included samples illustrating the growing trend of multi-brand blending, craft distilleries finally coming of age, and a reminder that heritage distillers can create new products for the market that

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

RD1 Spirits: An Amburana for the Haters

The finish isn't overwhelming, as Amburana usually is, and provides just enough spice and sweetness to keep it interesting. I'm not sure if it's the combination of my delight for cinnamon and my love for caipirinhas...but I just really enjoy this whiskey.

Podcast

Ramble On: The 2025 Summit Podcast Special Edition

This wasn’t an “anniversary episode.” No balloons, no confetti, no commemorative T-shirt order (yet…). Just a damn good conversation fueled by great whiskey and even better company.

On The Road

Cain carries on centuries of family whiskey-making at Nobeltons Distilling House

Lest you think Cain is some radical spirits maker, know that his grain choices and fermentation techniques are rooted firmly in family traditions. For more than a century, his family has used its own heirloom varietal born of Canadian rye “that’s similar to a brasado rye.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Pinhook 10-Year Vertical Series Bourbon Review – 115.9° Proof

This bourbon is a study in patience. Knowing the founders of this brand, they didn't expect this whiskey–the first barrels they ever bought before moving to distill at Castle & Key distillery–would turn out as well as it has...

Ingram Distillery

Ingram Distillery Announces Floating Barrelhouse Built From Salvaged SS Edmund Fitzgerald

Once completed, The SS Edmund Fitzgerald Barrelhouse will host guided tastings, overnight berths, and what Ingram calls a “nautical proofing program,” where barrels experience the constant temperature swings of Lake Superior’s famously unforgiving climate.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Angel's Envy 2025 '10' Cask Strength Bourbon Review

Saying it's not a complex bourbon is not a sleight, rather it's a nod to whiskies that present as lean, lithe and elegant–which is no small feat for liquid resting 10 years in oak. In a world of double-oaked wood and tannin bombs, this measured approach is much appreciated.

On The Road

At Wood Hat Spirits, better corn is the fulcrum of flavor

Gary Hinegardner has a problem with bourbon makers. He says the No. 2 yellow dent corn used by the vast majority of American whiskey makers is a subpar grain never intended for the distillation of America’s native spirit.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

1792 Cognac Cask Finish Bourbon Review – $38 Value Pick

Truth is I prefer 1792 releases over anything from Buffalo Trace–outside of its incredible Antique Collection, of course. I'm like a lot of bourbon drinkers who love visiting Barton to duck cobwebs in dusty rickhouses to thieve whiskey eventually bottled as Full Proof single barrels.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C925 Bourbon Review – 9yr/129-Proof Bargain

As good as this 9-year C925 is, it makes me long for the labyrinthine nuances of those earlier, older versions. This one is simpler, but still expectedly delicious.

Members only

Virtual Tasting

Replay: J. Henry & Sons Virtual Tasting

American Whiskey Reviews

Blue Run Buck & Brush Review: Why This $125 Blend Misses the Mark

In this case, Blue Run is asking $125 for a whiskey blend that's half Bourye's, age, lacking Bourye's well-earned reputation and triple the price for Knob Creek's iteration–all while delivering a product low on complexity and flavor compared to those.

Podcast

Bourbon & Banter Podcast #39 – Gitche Gumee Cometh

The biggest and most honest podcast in all of bourbon is back — this time live and in person (and we've got the video to prove it). That’s right, Pops and Bob are finally sharing a mic and a room again, kicking off fall with full pours, fresh rants, and faces made for radio.

Tequila Reviews

Fortaleza 2025 Winter Blend Review: Reposado Reveal

On the nose is a battle between fruit and minerality, olfactory soldiers armed with aromatics derived from airborne yeast, cooked agave, tahona crushing and finishing in those ex-American whiskey, ex-PdC and ex-Madeira casks.

Paid-members only

BITB Club

Replay: BDC Live Tasting #15

Our fifteenth Blind Drinkers Club (BDC) Live Tasting was held a little over a week ago. This month's dark and disturbing tasting kits included a variety of samples providing a fantastic range of expressions, including budget-friendly bottles and pricier, hard-to-find new releases. As always, hanging out with everyone

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Booker’s The Reserves Review: 2025 Tequila-Barrel Bourbon

Not only is it delicious, it's unique. This release marks the first time any spirit in the Beam portfolio was aged in ex-tequila casks, and it is–to my palate–an historically powerful bourbon that's beneficially tamed because of that.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

2025 King of Kentucky Bourbon Review: 17-Year Majesty

This is one of those bottles that makes me want to say to Chris Morris, "Just do more of this, please. Lots more of it."

Tennessee Whiskey Reviews

Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Heritage Barrel Review

On the palate, its 100 proof delivers satisfying spice and tingle while staying supple and enjoyable neat. Toasted oak is prominent, but not in the heavy-handed, newly sawn lumber way of many toasted barrels that dominate the maturate resting within them.

On The Road

9 Trends From The 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Festival

Distilleries jockeyed for headlines, unveiling new releases, launching new brands, and—most dramatically—Heaven Hill returned to making Bourbon in Bardstown. The Kentucky Bourbon Festival isn’t just a local event anymore; it’s a tentpole moment on the whiskey calendar.