New Brand Releases

Hidden Barn Releases Seven-Year-Old Bourbon Finished in French Oak

The release is a blend of five barrels distilled at Neeley Family Distillery with a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 20 percent rye and 10 percent malted barley.

New Brand Releases

‘Honey, It’s Barrel Aged!”

If you haven’t had honey drizzled on a pizza, you're missing out. Hot honey is even better, as in spiced up rather than heated.

Interview

Q&A with Carey Bringle, Peg Leg Porker Tennessee Bourbon

Personally, I like 8-year-old whiskey, which I think is kind of a sweet spot for bourbon. But we’ve got older stuff, including a barrel from the first lot that I ever bought. It’s 16 years old and it’s 148 proof.

This Round's Mine

A Private Barrel Pick at Four Roses Bourbon Is One of a Kind

“Oh, we’ve had people argue about it for sure,” Mandy Vance, manager of the Private Barrel Selection process at Four Roses, told me a few years ago about a pick. They generally work it out, though, because they’re having fun.”

Tequila Reviews

La Pulga Tequila Blanco Review

The nose is rich with cooked agave and pleasant back notes of sour orange peel, tamarind, eucalyptus, wild honey, spring flowers and some minerality.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Mizunara Review

This is a deep, rich bourbon. The aroma is dark with molasses, Demerara syrup, and a bold fruitiness alternating between bright, fresh berries and fortified wine. As things open up, some crunchy toffee and pipe tobacco arrive.

Members only

This Round's Mine

Rye Isn't All That Spicy, Experts Say

Immediately, I thought of Heaven Hill’s bourbons, which have only 10 percent rye in the mashbill but come off as nicely spicy in the glass. Then Veach cited Old Fitzgerald, a wheated bourbon that has terrific spice notes despite having no rye.

Tennessee Whiskey Reviews

George Dickel Bottled-In-Bond Spring 2011 Tennessee Whisky Review

The nose is rich and complex, combining dried flowers, ripe raspberries and blackberries and whiskey-wetted oak.

New Brand Releases

Heaven Hill Distillery Announces Launch of Heaven Hill Grain to Glass

The craft nature of this unique line of Whiskeys starts at the very beginning – the seed. The idea for the line began over eight years ago as the brainchild of Heaven Hill Executive Chairman Max Shapira.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Angel's Envy Cask Strength Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon Review

If you're even semi-American whiskey savvy, you recognize the phrase in this bottle's name: Cask Strength Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon. Well, it's true: no water was added to achieve 100 proof; just the mingling of sub- and above-100-proof casks to attain that essential proof for BIB.

Members only

On The Road

Smooth Ambler's Best Whiskies Are Yet To Come

Of all the lessons Little has learned, one that seems obvious is: “We’re going to do what’s right for the whiskey, not what’s right for marketing. Do everything necessary to make the whiskey delicious.”

New Brand Releases

Milam & Greene Whiskey Releases Rare Distillery Edition Batch 5: 5-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Distillery Edition Batch 5, Five-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey was pot-distilled in a 300-gallon copper still. It is made with a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 22 percent malted rye, and eight percent malted barley along with their proprietary yeast recipe.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Old Elk Cognac Finish Bourbon Review

There are days when I think, "I'm finished with cask finishes!" and then there are days when cask finishes redeem themselves. Old Elk Cognac Cask Finish did that recently when I tasted it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Members only

This Round's Mine

Many National Bourbon Day Cocktails in Kentucky Aren’t Worth Celebrating

Last year at a high-level Kentucky whiskey industry event I requested a Manhattan. When the genial “bartender” merely poured me bourbon on the rocks, I asked about the vermouth and bitters. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “Can you tell me what to put in?” I settled for whiskey on the rocks.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Larceny Barrel Proof Batch B524 Review

If any tells you bourbon is too one dimensional, all vanilla and butterscotch, hand them this bottle. It's a veritable fruit salad of flavor and aroma, kicking off with a rich, buttery nose of caramel-covered red apple, soft baking spice, and cocktail cherry.

Members only

This Round's Mine

Sourcing Whiskey: Good or Homogenizing?

But after tasting hundreds of bourbon iterations in my career, the consistency of them many is becoming as concerning as comforting. Some days, I wonder if too many are just too similar, especially when I see so many parallels in my tasting notes (and others’) for reviews and barrel picks.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Maker's Mark 'Heart Release' Bourbon Review

Like every wood-finished Maker's release, The Heart Series offers up a rich and complex nose featuring oak, chocolate, cinnamon and clove. Pastries, pie crust and fruit tarts made from all three doughs emerge laced with caramel and mocha.

New Brand Releases

Penelope Bourbon releases Rosé Cask Finish

The bourbon features an aroma of candied fruit and cream with floral and herbal notes; forward notes of refreshing and sweet hints of vanilla; a body that transitions from sweetness to herbal, floral and strawberry cream; and a rich, vanilla finish with hints of strawberry and lingering notes.

Are Single Barrels An Endangered Species?

So, why are these “picks” gathering dust? Are there too many on the market now? It used to be that legacy distillers, especially those with old barrels ripe for store pick harvest, supplied the bulk of those options.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

15 Stars Private Stock Bourbon Review

The palate backs up the nose with bitter chocolate, milk chocolate, honey, cooked cherries and Demerara syrup. Brown sugar and baking spices collide and reemerge independently to form a fantastic, warm finish.

Members only

Interview

Q&A with Hall of Fame master distiller, Jerry Dalton

“Master distiller” was a new title back then, and Dalton believes he’d never have received it without Booker Noe’s blessing.

Members only

Jack Daniel's

You don’t know, Jack! – Part 2

Countless whiskey fans—me included—are enjoying Jack Daniel’s growing lineup of higher-proof and longer-aged releases. I’m not the first to say that Jack is becoming its best self in these new releases.

Industry News

20-year Beam Bourbon Among Bardstown Collection Releases On Sale June 12-14

Lucky me, I got to try them all, including the 20-year-old bourbon released by James B. Distillery. Bottled at 109 proof, the 259-bottle batch came from six barrels aged on the first floor of a nine-story rickhouse on its Clermont, KY, campus.

Industry News

Old Forester Releases President’s Choice for Father's Day

President’s Choice dates to 1964 when former Brown-Forman President George Garvin Brown II offered the first private single barrels to customers. That tradition continues today as Old Forester surprises consumers with a summer release of President’s Choice.

Rye Whiskey Reviews

15 Stars First West Fine Aged Rye Whiskey Review

Its aromas begin with bright citrus, ripe fruit, a whiff of mint and some a solid serving of baking spice. Unexpectedly, toffee joins the party alongside maple syrup and caramelized brown sugar.