By Richard Thomas Rating: B Located right in the middle of the Speyside region, Tamdhu Distillery has spent most of its existence furnishing malt for use in other blends. My understanding is that it has been such a reliable producer in this respect that it is jokingly referred to as the “Can-dhu Distillery.” That said, Tamdhu has not escaped the ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Jim Beam has been making it easy for me to be a contrarian these last few years, because in the midst of whiskeydom’s own Big Lie — the so-called “Bourbon Shortage — they keep slapping age statements onto things, as well as introducing new middle-aged expressions. The latest example was giving an age statement to ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- American Single Malts are poised to become an official thing, with a Federal designation from the TTB expected to come around the corner this year. Limestone Branch has become the latest company to join the movement with their latest brand extension, putting Yellowstone American Single Malt into regular release. Except the whiskey doesn’t actually come ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B At my book launch late last year, I was asked what brand was overdue for a cask strength version. Without even a moment’s pause, I said “Bernheim.” Heaven Hill released the cask strength version of its seminal Elijah Craig Small Batch a decade ago, in 2013. Back then, both the Small Batch and Barrel Proof ...

By Kenrick Thurston-Wilcox Rating: B+ Based in Buena Vista, Colorado, Deerhammer Distillery was founded in 2010 by the couple of Lenny and Amy Eckstein. Lenny had been working at Colorado craft whiskey trailblazer Stranhan’s, and decided to try his hand at making his own whiskey. Inspired by the bootstrap ambition of the early Western settlers (Lenny’s first still was a ...