By Father John Rayls Rating: A My first experience with Balmorhea Texas Straight Bourbon from Garrison Brothers Distillery was last year, as an experimental release. At that time, it was only available at the distillery and was a very limited release. Apparently, they listened to their fan base, because it’s now available as a general release. The whiskey is named ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: B+ The Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 was instituted to insure the public’s safety (and consolidate the position of big distillers vis-a-vis rectifiers, as bottlers were known then). Having the designation “bottled in bond” (BiB) on a whiskey label stood for quality, because it met the government guaranteed: The whiskey must have been produced at a ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Beam Suntory upped their game in the Knob Creek brand by extending its rye line. Earlier this year, they released a 115 proof single barrel version of that whiskey; now they have followed up on it by releasing a cask strength (119.6 proof), 9 year old rendition. Between the two, one would have a near ...

By Emma Briones Rating: B In its Wine Geese series, Green Spot has been exploring the characteristics that using special wine casks can bring to its single pot still whiskey. The second expression in this range is Green Spot Chateau Montelena. This whisky brings together the stories of two different Irish entrepreneurs. On one side are the Mitchel brothers, who ...

By Emma Briones Rating: B+ Located on the Scottish Highlands, Tomatin has recently launched a new limited-edition range. Called Five Virtues, it is inspired by nature elements that have been key to human evolution. These elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water) are also a part of the whisky process. That is why the brand has decided to honor them ...