By Father John Rayls Rating: B The Watkins Select Bourbon Whiskey is a “bottom shelf” winner.  Bottled at 80 proof, it’s a surprise find and an interesting sample of sourced bourbon from Kentucky. It’s readily available and probably much overlooked, but very little information is available for Watkins Select, and it definitely isn’t a top tier bourbon. Still, it’s good ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage made from a distilled spirit that has been flavored with fruit, cream, herbs, spices, flowers or nuts. About 20 years ago I became acquainted with my first honey bourbon whiskey liqueur, a product that is now known as Wild Turkey American Honey. It was yummy stuff on the rocks, ...

By Father John Rayls Average Rating: B If you’ve been living under a rock for the last 5 years, you might not have noticed that the world of whiskey has been undergoing some dramatic changes. The record demand for all-things whiskey has brought about an unprecedented explosion in new distillery startups, and there have been new innovations and experimentation from ...

By Debbie Shocair Rating: B- When I wrote this it was the season for Easter candy, endless varieties of chocolate eggs, and…. chocolate whiskey. Easter is gone now, but the lingering pleasure of seasonal chocolates lives on for some weeks in our cupboards, and Ballotin Original Chocolate flavored whiskey is a fine and tasty grown-up accoutrement to your spring stash ...

By Debbie Shocair Rating: B It only seems right that on the heels of Thin Mints and all the other delights proffered by the Girl Scouts this time of year, we should address the idea of a Chocolate Mint flavored whiskey. This is the second of four expressions from Ballotin, the happy brainchild of former Brown-Forman brand manager Paul Tuell, ...