By Randall H. Borkus Rating A-  “Taconic,” (/təˈkɒnᵻk/) was once transliterated as the Taghkanic or Taughannock, meaning “in the trees,” and used as the name of a Lenape chieftain. Taghkanic is still used in eastern New York, as in the name of a small town in the region, for features within and outside the Taconic Mountains. The founders of Taconic Distillery, Gerald Valenti and Paul ...

By Douglas Fraser Rating: B Booker’s Batch 2019-04 “Beaten Biscuits” holds true to the Booker’s signature of delightfully strong, high proof Kentucky straight bourbon. “Beaten Biscuits” is named after the biscuits Booker Noe made using the recipe passed down from his grandmother. Noe spent years perfecting the recipe, beating the air out of them, and ensured the biscuits maintained a ...

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B The historic James E. Pepper Distillery was making bourbon in Lexington, Kentucky until 1958, when production ceased and the brand was abandoned for over 50 years. In December 2017, the new James E. Pepper Distillery (DSP-KY-5) began distilling whiskey again in part of the old building, basing its mash bill on historic recipes and ...

By Emma Briones Rating: A- Each year, Douglas Laing launches for Christmas a special edition of one of their most known whiskies: Big Peat. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the Big Peat brand, so its limited-edition Big Peat Christmas 2019 had to be something really special. As for each edition, the recipe quantities change, but not the ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Jack Daniel’s has followed up on the success of last year’s very limited release, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Heritage Barrel, with a new installment for 2019. For 2018, Master Distiller Jeff Arnett ordered 200 specially toasted barrels, filled them up with Tennessee new make at a mere 100 proof (an particularly low entry proof, lower ...