By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Only just a few limited editions from small distillers have risen to the hype that greets the titans of Kentucky’s annual autumn release season, that time when most of the hot ticket limited releases come out. Although born of far more humble origins than the big distiller stuff, Stranahan’s Snowflake has come to match them ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- It’s been little more than a year since the James E. Pepper brand came home to it’s a new distillery in its old building in downtown Lexington, so it will be some years before their sourced whiskeys are replaced with their own stuff. Even so, that does not mean that the brand doesn’t have some ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Double barrel aging, or maturing whiskey in two rounds of new white oak, has become very much a thing in American Whiskey. I like to think of it as distinct from “finishing,” because the point isn’t to derive flavors from outside the traditional profiles of American Whiskey by reaching for Port pipes and Sherry casks. ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Joe Beatrice’s Barrel Craft Spirits enjoys a well-earned reputation for having created a handful of series consisting of one-shot quality, cask strength blends of sourced whiskeys. Now he has taken what was already a premium operation up a level with the Barrell Craft Spirits (BCS) line. This is the first release, a mix of bourbons ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A Laphroaig seems to be on a roll with releasing ultra-aged expressions. Last year they turned out a 27 year old single malt, and now they have a 28 year old. One might be tempted to see this new malt as an older rendition of the previous limited edition, but it has a different warehouse provenance. ...