By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ In November 2018, Seattle’s Westland Distillery launched a new annual, limited edition series billed as an exploration of blending. What Matt Hofmann and his crew say they are up to is taking a looser approach to bringing together different strains of whisky, as opposed to moving along a course that brings them to a set ...

By Emma Briones Rating: A The Macallan is celebrating the opening of their new $190 million distillery. In my opinion, if you’re a Macallan fan and can’t go see it yourself in the near future, there’s nothing better than trying their brand new whisky: The Macallan Edition Nº 4. With The Macallan Edition Nº 4, the Scottish distillery goes back ...

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A According to Four Roses lore, in 1884 Paul Jones Jr., a successful whiskey distiller and ex-Confederate army officer, was enamored with a Southern belle beauty. Jones sent his beloved a handwritten proposal of marriage prior to escorting her to a grand ball. She playfully replied that if her answer were to be “yes,” a ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Of all the whiskeys in the Michter’s line up, my favorite has become the 10 Year Old Single Barrel Rye. Some are better whiskeys, but also near impossible to get and dramatically more expensive. I have a short list of whisk(e)ys I’d be willing to pay $100 to $200 a bottle for to keep one ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B The hallmark of Westland Distillery is applying as much terroir of their coastal Washington state home as possible to making American single malt whiskey. Part of that is the use of Quercus garryana, a uniquely regional species of oak tree. As any true whisk(e)y enthusiast should know, barrel aging imparts between 40 and 80% of ...