By Richard Thomas For Spring 2017, Scotland is delivering a little something for everyone. The seven whiskies that follow include not just offerings for Sherry devotees and Peat lovers, but also whiskies rare and old; using peculiar woods; and made with an eye on Bourbon drinkers. Ardbeg Kelpie ($140) The latest from the fan favorite Islay distillery, Ardbeg Kelpie is ...

By Richard Thomas Spring 2017 is turning out to be an unusually busy time on the American whiskey release calendar, and of particular note are a trio of ultra-aged whiskeys, either already working their way through distribution to a store shelf near you or soon will be. For those who obsess about high age statements or rare, hard to find ...

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Heaven Hill Distilleries is proud of being the nation’s largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer. They also love their claim to holding the world’s second largest inventory of Bourbon and possibly the most “extra-aged” barrels of any distillery. The latter has led to the introduction of expressions like Elijah Craig 21 ...

By Richard Thomas Some may be surprised to learn that although whisky-making has been spreading around the globe in recent years, the industry had already long extended beyond the “Big Five” nations of Scotland, the United States, Ireland, Canada and Japan. Even if you discount the ersatz Indian whisky industry on technical grounds, the French and Germans have had whisky ...

By Richard Thomas When Penderyn opened in 2000, returning whisky distilling to Wales for this first time since 1894, most observers I know of reckoned it was an appropriate development. The Welsh, after all, were just as Celtic as the Irish and the Scots. But England getting into the whisky-making game was an odder development, provoking slight bewilderment. The English, ...