New Riff Rye
New Riff Distillery, located in Newport Kentucky, is an actual distillery. It saddens me that I have to specify that, but so many brands that are new to the shelves in the last decade can’t say the same.
Sazerac Rye (Revisited)
Sazerac is one of the industry workhorses, fueling many a bar’s rye-based cocktail menu. Normally that would be a mark against it, but Sazerac (distilled by Buffalo Trace) still manages to be one of the best quality-to-price options on the bloated rye whiskey shelf. Amazingly, it can still be found for the same price it was selling for in 2012 when I first reviewed it!
Timorous Beastie (10 year)
Independent bottler Douglas Laing has been weathering the dry years (decades?) of the single-malt boom by making its name on blended malt whiskies such as Timorous Beastie, Rock Island, and Big Peat. The bottler still puts out excellent casks of single malt under its Old Particular label, and I have been very pleasantly surprised by the value offered by some of them. That said, it’s a dry time for independent bottlers because there is so little “extra” scotch lying around in warehouses for them
Smooth Ambler Contradiction Bourbon
Smooth Ambler is a West Virginia distillery founded in 2009 that, like so many other upstart distilleries, initially turned to sourcing and relabelling whiskey while waiting for its own new-make spirit to age. Like High West, Smooth Ambler has chosen the route of creative blending to add value and individuality to these sourced whiskies. The Old Scout and Contradiction bottlings are both examples of this, and the website is very transparent about where these whiskies were (not) made, stopping ju
Compass Box – Orchard House
I’m a big John Glaser fan. I think he’s done more to elevate blended scotch and especially blended malt (The Artist Formerly Known As Vatted Malt) than anyone in the industry. That said, the last many releases I’ve found to be overpriced and while not underwhelming, they have not exceeded expectations. I’m sure this is due to a drastic increase in pricing of barrels on the secondary market, a drastic decrease in the quality available on the secondary market (distilleries are keeping their good b
Old Forester 100 Proof Straight Rye
I’ve not been a huge fan of Old Forester products before, although I had some fun with the “Prohibition Style” release (whatever that means). However, a reviewer’s job is never done and there are always more whiskies to try. Onward!
Benromach Triple Distilled
Released in 2017, Benromach Triple Distilled was a limited edition from owners Gordon & MacPhail that did not make it through the current lineup re-packaging (which was slated to hit US shelves in 2021 but hasn’t, yet). Triple distillation is uncommon in Scotland (Auchentoshan is the only distillery that does it regularly, to my knowledge) but de rigueur in Ireland. It is considered common knowledge that triple distillation results in a cleaner, crisper, and perhaps blander spirit, but there are
Old Elk Blended Straight Bourbon
Old Elk Blended Straight Bourbon is a blend of sourced straight bourbons, with the youngest aged 5 years. As for the mash bill, Old Elk is once again an outlier: A whopping 34% malted barley, 51% corn, and 15% rye. I’ve never seen that much barley used in a bourbon before. They say it makes the whiskey extra smooth. The bourbon is bottled at an acceptable…
Kilkerran (12 year)
The name Kilkerran is Scots Gaelic for “head of the lake of Saint Kieran’s cell” and refers to a local historic settlement. Glengyle distillery uses a local water source, Crosshill Loch, for its process and proofing water. After a series of “Work in Progress” malts, Kilkerran is now bottled under a range with an 8 year-old cask strength expression, an NAS “heavily peated” expression, and this flagship 12 year-old. Glengyle actually uses Springbank’s…
Far North Spirits Roknar Rye
Roknar is one of the products of Far North Spirits, a “Field to Glass” distillery in Hallock, Minnesota, near the Canadian border. This is a single-estate rye made from non-GMO “AC Hazlet” rye grown on the family farm, mashed with 10% heirloom corn and 10% malted barley, and hammer-milled, fermented, and double-distilled in small batches on-site. The whiskey is matured in…