By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Although ex-bourbon barrels dominate the cask stock for maturing whiskey around the world, whether it be in original ASB or hogshead format, one doesn’t hear much about old rye whiskey barrels. Once upon a time, that made a good deal of sense, as rye whiskey production was miniscule compared to bourbon. Yet several years ago, ...

By Emma Briones Rating: B Highland Park has recently revamped their core range. Along with the launch of their new look and the discontinuance of Dark Origins, the Orkney distillery has released a new expression that may be a little bit different from what we are used to: Highland Park Full Volume. Breaking with the usual Viking theme with this ...

By Debbie Shocair Rating: B- Tommy “Red” Bordner began learning his way around the moonshiner’s still when he was just twelve years old, and today he heads up a distillery in Boiling Springs, SC, where he is making a bevy of  (legal!) spirits. His output spans a range from flavored moonshines to an agave spirit (not made in Mexico, so ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Few individual expressions have the kind of production story about them that Maker’s 46 has built up. The expression was Maker’s Mark first major brand extension, using a finish based on seared French Oak staves inserted into the middle of the barrel. This was an idea first employed by the independent Scotch blender-bottler Compass Box ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: A- Boondocks Cask Strength 11 Year Old American Whiskey was a surprising item. Created by Royal Wine Corporation, it’s stats make it a light whiskey: 80 to 90% corn, some rye and malted barley in the mashbill; distilled to above 160 proof; and aged in used oak barrels. Light whiskey is rarely seen on store ...