By Richard Thomas 2015 was The Whiskey Reviewer‘s fourth year, and its second as a web magazine. This is also the third year for our “Top Picks,” our own informal and annual awards. Rather than convene a formal awards panel, we instead allow staff members to make their own, individual choices in two “Best Of” categories: “Best New Whiskey;” and ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: B+ Being a long time Hoosier, albeit one currently living in Texas, I have followed the storied adventures of a certain distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana with great interest. Now operating under the the name of MGP, the distillery located across the river and northwest of Louisville began producing in 1847. However, many people are unfamiliar ...

Putting Last Year’s Shortage Scare Stories Under The Microscope By Richard Thomas The previous year’s most consistent whiskey storyline was the “whiskey shortage,” spawning a plethora of articles in the whiskey press and the larger mainstream media, running right up to the last days of 2015. Tales of rapidly evaporating stocks of Scotch and bourbon have been a staple of ...

Debunking The Five Major Myths About Rye Whiskey By Richard Thomas The explosive growth of rye whiskey has drawn more interest in the spirit than it has enjoyed at any time since before Prohibition, but unfortunately all that interest has not wiped away some of the ignorance attached to good, old fashioned rye. Worse, some of the myths that date ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- The Hye, Texas-based Garrison Brothers Distillery has certainly earned its place at the forefront of the American craft whiskey movement. Part of that stature is its status as one of the oldest small whiskey distilleries in America and the oldest in the Lone Star State, predating even the more ballyhooed Balcones. The other part is ...