By Richard Thomas Lately the mainstream news seems to have been on a see-saw when it comes to Scotch whisky. On the uptick, it reports on how large and valuable the whisky industry is (such as it did during the September 2014 independence referendum) or on how the value of rare, collectible bottles of the stuff is at an all-time ...

By Julia Ritz Toffoli Two weeks ago I went on a very short, very last minute trip to Lisbon for work. I don’t recommend flying to Europe for just a couple days, but the disadvantages—exhaustion, never really knowing what time it was, a very high plane time to destination time ratio—were overwhelmingly outweighed by the delights that I discovered there! ...

By April Manning Rating: C+ Although it’s true that over 90% of bourbon comes from Kentucky, it seems that Indiana is starting to get into the spirit(s) of things. Bear Wallow Distillery is one of the first craft, family-owned distilleries to open Indiana, and they have kept up the historic moonshining tradition of Brown County by opening the county’s first ...

By Richard Thomas Growing within the larger whiskey boom are many trends relating to aging in wood. Barrel-aged cocktails are catching on in mixology, while at home a growing number of enthusiasts have taken to experimenting with further aging off-the-shelf whiskey using small barrels and so-called “whiskey sticks.” The basic principle behind the whiskey sticks isn’t a new one, and ...

By Father John Rayls With apologies to William Shakespeare, whose side are you on? Passion and drama sells products, and in whiskey nerd circles, the facts really don’t matter so much when passion and drama enter the issue. Just choose a side and argue the points loudly, and if you don’t happen to know the facts, feel free to contribute ...