By Richard Thomas Rating: B- It’s been a while since we’ve touched on Jura single malts (several years for me in particular), so I think a little reintroduction is in order. Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides, north of and adjacent to Islay. It’s a mountainous and boggy island, and it’s main claims to fame are having more ...
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A. Smith Bowman Sequential Series #16 Bourbon Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B/B As much as Buffalo Trace is known for its commitment to experimenting with whiskey-making (witness Warehouse X), for a steady stream of interesting twists on the production process one should turn to their Sazerac stablemate, Virginia’s A. Smith Bowman. The most recent example is the latest release from the Abraham Bowman Sequential Series. The purpose ...
Read More »Four Roses Al Young Small Batch Bourbon Review (LE 2017)
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ It’s becoming a thing to put an identifying theme on batch-driven releases nowadays, a trend best exemplified by Booker’s adopting individual titles for its batches after two decades of doing without. Four Roses may be starting to go this route too, which is fine, since it really is a handier way to identify individual releases. ...
Read More »Barrell Bourbon Batch 011 Review
By Debbie Shocair Rating: B+ It isn’t often that I’m asked by several people about a good whiskey before Ive had the opportunity to sample it, that being the reason my interest was doubly piqued when I received a bottle of Barrell Bourbon Batch 011. I had certainly heard good things about this cask strength bourbon (both the brand and ...
Read More »Diamond State Rye Whiskey Review
By Father John Rayls Rating: B+ This tasting experience was a pleasant surprise, because make no mistake, Diamond State Rye Whiskey is young. In fact, it’s very young. I sampled batch/bottle 3-591 from January 18, 2017, which had spent 11 months in new oak casks. Typically, age is a very good thing when applied to whiskey production, but it’s not ...
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