By Richard Thomas Rating: B Of the two single barrel reserves made by Rochester’s Black Button Distilling, my impression is that their Port Barrel-finish is better known than the Apple Brandy finished bourbon I took up a few weeks ago. The pedigree is quite similar: Black Button made it with their four grain mash bill, and aged it for somewhat ...
Read More »B
Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 2 Bourbon Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Started last year, the Wyoming Whiskey National Parks series embodies the distillery’s partnership with the National Parks Foundation, the official charity of the National Parks Service. Given that they are situated out in Big Sky Country, it’s only fitting that the first two installments in the series are named for the most famous parks on ...
Read More »Booker’s “Ronnie’s Batch” Bourbon Review (2022-01)
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ This morning I received word that the second 2022 batch of Booker’s was on it’s way, so it is a good thing I was already intending to write this review of the year’s first batch! This one is called “Ronnie’s Batch,” for a 40 year veteran of Jim Beam who worked with Booker Noe, Ronnie ...
Read More »Painted Stave Bottled in Bond Bourbon Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Back when Painted Stave Distilling in Delaware first started making bourbon in late 2013, every enthusiast was most enthusiastic about wheated bourbon. They chose to buck this by committing to a high rye mash bill, and it proved to be wise to ignore what the buzz was all about at the time. Fads come and ...
Read More »Broken Barrel California Oak Bourbon Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- As I have been working through the Broken Barrel line-up for The Whiskey Reviewer bit by bit these last months, only a brief recap of who these folks are is necessary. Drawing on sourced whiskey made in Owensboro, Kentucky, Broken Barrel then adapts stave bits from other casks (ex-bourbon barrels, new French oak and Sherry ...
Read More »