By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ When most people think of South Carolina, they likely think of Charleston or Myrtle Beach and not Appalachia, although the northwestern corner of the state and the city of Greenville lie in the foothills of that mountain range. Keeping that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Greenville’s Dark Corner Distillery has some ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ Among the Scotches that are nearly omnipresent on the bar, store and restaurant shelves in Portugal and Spain is the Logan De Luxe 12 Year Old blend. For years now the questions of just what that Logan stuff is and what it’s like have lurked in the back of my mind, and finally I decided ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ Greenville, South Carolina’s Dark Corner Distillery bills itself as producing the “World’s Best Moonshine,” but they also have the singular distinction of being the first distiller of rye whiskey in the history of the state. Earlier this summer, Dark Corner turned out a 115-bottle batch of its Carolina Straight Rye, and in the process they ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ It says it right there on the bottle: “Kentucky’s 1st Distiller” and “Since 1783.” Although some legendary figures in bourbon history predate Evan Williams, the Welsh immigrant was the first to set up a commercial distillery, and in what was then the American frontier before Kentucky was a state or the debate on the U.S. ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C- My interest in Jim Beam Black 8 Year Old was rooted in a simple curiosity. That classic of small batch bourbons, Knob Creek, also comes from Jim Beam and is a nine year old (albeit a much stronger one). So, I wondered, would an eight year old version of Jim Beam, bottled at a slightly ...