By Father John Rayls Rating: B I do love the concept of grain to glass and I admit to a bias in favor of that concept. However, I have also found that adhering to this concept by itself doesn’t automatically mean I’ll love the whiskey. By contrast, I have also found that a whiskey being sourced and bottled doesn’t automatically mean ...
Read More »B
Bowmore 15 Year Old Scotch Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Bowmore is the oldest distillery on the famed Scottish island of Islay and the second oldest in Scotland, founded in 1779. Islay distilleries form a crowd of big, charismatic personalities, so it’s no easy task to stand out. That Bowmore has managed to do just this, and has a large and devoted enough fan following ...
Read More »Redemption Wheated Bourbon Review
By Father John Rayls Rating: B+ “The release of our Redemption Wheated Bourbon represents the first in a series of limited production expressions that we will bring to market over the next few years,” said Tom Steffanci, President of Deustch Family Wine & Spirits, in a prepared statement. This Redemption Wheated Bourbon is four years old and bottled at 96 ...
Read More »Jim Beam Signature Craft 12 Year Old Bourbon Review
By Father John Rayls Rating: B Jim Beam 12 Year Old Small Batch was released in 2013, as a part of the Jim Beam Signature Craft Series. That somewhat overlooked series also included The Harvest Collection, a 12 Year Old finished in Spanish Brandy casks, The Quarter Cask Bourbon and The Masterpiece finished in PX Sherry casks, among others. New ...
Read More »Balblair 2003 Scotch Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Balblair is one of a very select group of Scottish distilleries that releases their single malts as vintages rather than age statement or no age statement (NAS) expressions. It’s an odd way of going about doing things for a whisky, for while wine is very much influenced by how good the grape crop of a ...
Read More »