By Richard Thomas Rating: B Upon receiving an invitation to go to Le Claire, Iowa for the bottling of this year’s Four Kings Collaboration Whiskey, I had to resist joking that it was the 4×4 release, as this was the fourth time at bat for the “Four Kings” of Mississippi River Distilling, FEW Spirits, Corsair Artisan and Journeyman. Having seen ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: B- Painted Stave Distilling, a micro-distillery in Delaware, has named its whiskey line “Diamond State,” and their Diamond State Bourbon is two years old and bottled at 92 proof. I got to try the second batch from this fairly new distillery, which was just released this month and represents a four fold increase in number ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: A- Michter’s sets their founding year as 1753 in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, and their founder as John Shenk, a Swiss Mennonite farmer. Having married a Swiss Mennonite 43 years ago, I can really relate to this part of the story! It’s rumored that General George Washington stopped at the farm and purchased sufficient barrels of whiskey ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- When an independent bottler has built a distillery, it is said they have transitioned from sourcing to making in-house product. Yet it’s not simply building a plant and barreling (or perhaps bottling an unaged version of their) new make that makes that transition a success. Instead, that comes when the company’s in-house product is capable ...

By April Manning Rating: C+ Westward Oregon Straight Malt Whiskey is the creation of House Spirits Distillery, which is based in what some would consider one of the unlikeliest of places for whiskey, Portland, Oregon. However, Oregon’s dry, warm summers and wet cool winters are just what House Spirits’ founder, Christian Krogstad, called for in the crafting of this spirit. ...