By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Elijah Craig-maker Heaven Hill boasts that it holds the world’s second largest inventory of Bourbon and possibly the most “extra-aged” barrels of any competing distillery. With that stock in mind, if there is one thing Heaven Hill has perfected, it is their ability to cherry-pick exceptional single barrel whiskeys to offer a Whiskey craving ...

Today’s Giants Are Small Fry Compared To Those Of The Past By Richard Thomas Whiskey enthusiasts sometimes strike me as a wary and suspicious lot, especially when news breaks of a company getting bought up. Leaving out the ugly racial tinge that attended the response to Suntory buying Beam Global, each instance in the wave of big liquor companies buying ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Bowmore is the oldest distillery on the famed Scottish island of Islay and the second oldest in Scotland, founded in 1779. Islay distilleries form a crowd of big, charismatic personalities, so it’s no easy task to stand out. That Bowmore has managed to do just this, and has a large and devoted enough fan following ...

By Richard Thomas Part of the Bourbon Boom is the way in which the rise of Kentucky’s Native Spirit has tugged the other major categories of American whiskey on its coattails. Once upon a time, rye whiskey was a sleepy thing, known to most because of Don McLean’s song “American Pie.” Wheat whiskey and American malt whiskey had all but ...

A Chat With Kenneth “Butch” Flint, Second-Generation Beam Man By Debbie Shocair When you take the tour of Jim Beam’s distillery property in Clermont, KY, one thing that you soon notice is that nearly every employee has a smile for visitors, and not just any old “oh, you’re here touring and I’m supposed to appear friendly” kind of smile. It’s ...