By Richard Thomas Rating: C The idea of hybrid blends of whiskey, combining two or more types, has been catching on, with most of the attention focused on Wild Turkey’s Forgiven and the work of High West. The “catching on” part means more and more hybrids, though, and these aren’t as well-known as the critically acclaimed, aforementioned pair. One such ...

Updated December 23, 2015 By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ Back in August, Lexington, Kentucky’s Barrel House Distillery transitioned from making moonshine, rum and vodka and into making proper whiskey by releasing their RockCastle Bourbon. Avid Travel Channel watchers or fans of British presenters Jeni & Ollie should note, however, that this is not the same stuff that Ollie Smith tried ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ With bourbon booming, the idea of pitching Scotch to appeal to either bourbon drinkers or people who might become bourbon drinkers is catching on. Pernod Ricard has already dabbled in this area with its limited release Barrelhound, but now they have gone one further with Ballantine’s Hard Fired. That isn’t what the company itself is ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ Rebel Yell Small Batch Rye is a two year old, 90 proof (45% abv) whiskey sourced out of MGP in Indiana. We know that because Luxco, makers of Rebel Yell, followed the letter of the law and then some by telling us as much in the fine print on the back of the bottle. The ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C- Rebel Yell has gone through plenty of changes between its 1936 introduction* as a Stitzel-Weller bourbon and its present ownership by Luxco, reflected both by what is inside the bottle and in the appearance of the bottle itself. The brand began life as a small circulation release focusing mostly on Southern customers, but by the ...