By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Jack Daniel’s may be the crown jewel of the Brown-Forman empire, but its foundation is Old Forester. Several years ago, the company decided to give that foundation a much-needed brand extension into the premium direction, introducing four new expressions. Each entry in this Whiskey Row series had a year name–1870, 1897, 1910 and 1920–and its ...

By Douglas Fraser Rating: B+ Old Elk Distillery is based in Fort Collins, Colorado, just sixty miles from Denver. This expression is sourced from MGP’s very high wheat, wheated bourbon whiskey, with a mash bill of 51% corn, 45% wheat and 4% malted barley. As with many brands, sourcing from MGP is a staple of Old Elk during their start-up ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B When a brand like Glenglassaugh releases what is essentially a new entry-level run in their line-up or revamps their look, it’s a good guess that the powers that be behind that brand are making a marketing and sales push or repositioning the brand. Something to that effect. Glenglassaugh owner Brown-Forman seems to be doing both, ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- The Russells are set to become a three-generation dynasty of master distillers at Wild Turkey Distillery. First came Jimmy Russell. Although his father was a distillery worker, Jimmy was the first to rise to the top production spot, a post he held for so much of modern history that the identity of Wild Turkey as ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: Upon returning to Kentucky in November 2016, I spent a few months catching up with the bourbon industry. Of course, during my eight year stint in Europe, I would call on various distilleries whenever I was visiting the family in the Bluegrass, but there was never enough time on any given visit to knock out the ...