By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Rochester’s Black Button Distilling has a foot in two different camps when it comes to bourbon. One foot is in the craft sector, where they have released a flagship four grain bourbon. The other harkens back to a older and more traditional time, when New York was one of the nation’s major whiskey-making states. This ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler became a fan favorite from the start, establishing a reputation for transparency early on. The company was one of the first to ply the now well-trodden path of starting a whiskey business as a bottler of sourced stock, build a brand, and then transition into becoming a distiller. They have yet ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Laws Whiskey House got to my house, I thought “in a few years, I will need to stop talking about mature craft whiskey and start talking about middle-aged craft whiskeys!” That would be because this third batch of the Colorado distillery’s San Luis Bonded Rye is seven years old. Who knows how much more of ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ If you read my work, then you are probably familiar with Indiana’s Starlight Distillery through Lisa Rope Wicker’s past work with them, that being how I usually make mention of them. The distillery was started by Ted Huber as an outgrowth of his orchard and winery, the latter being a Hoosier institution dating back to ...

By Douglas Fraser Rating: A- Ed Belfour is a Hall of Fame NHL Hockey Player who was lucky enough to be a part of two Stanley Cup Championship winning teams. An avid whiskey fan with a strong palate too, he has now found a new venture in the bourbon business. This new spirits company, is a family run operation led ...