By Richard Thomas Rating: B For the whole of the 21st Century, Islay distillery Bruichladdich has been defined by its 1994 closure. Many Scottish distilleries have been closed and reopened, but those closures are often a matter of history and have little or no impact on the whiskies available today. Bruichladdich’s seven year gap is different, precisely because it is ...
Read More »B
Ben Holladay Rickhouse Proof Small Batch Reserve Bourbon Review
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B- The brothers Ben and David Holladay founded the Blue Springs Distillery in 1856a, it was at a limestone well supposedly discovered by Lewis and Clark. The distillery changed hands multiple times; first to George Shawhan, who renamed it the Shawhan Distillery in 1900; again in 1936 to become the Old Weston Distillery; finally turning ...
Read More »Glenglassaugh Portsoy Scotch Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B When Brown-Forman bought the BenRiach Group, they acquired not just BenRiach, but also Glendronach and Glenglassaugh. The acquisition marked the first foray into Scotch Whisky for a company best known for Jack Daniel’s, and they’ve stuck with the trio of malt distilleries these last seven and a half years. This past autumn, Glenglassaugh received a ...
Read More »Heaven’s Door Exploration Series #1 Calvados Cask Bourbon Review
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B+ Heaven’s Door Calvados Cask Straight Bourbon is the first expression in the Heaven’s Door Exploration Series, a sourced and limited edition expression series showcasing distinct finishing cask stock. This first release in the series is a blend that marries the complexity of a toasted oak barrel and a French Calvados brandy cask finish. This ...
Read More »Bulleit Single Malt Whiskey Review
Updated March 6, 2024 By Richard Thomas Rating: B For more than a decade, American Malt Whiskey has been the unquestioned domain of the craft distiller. The mixology-driven Rye Crunch of 2011-12 gave small whiskey-makers some space to carve out a niche in reviving moribund rye whiskey styles, but most rye sold is still made by big distillers in Canada ...
Read More »