By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ Adam Spiegel started his California distillery in 2010, late enough that I suppose it would be appropriate to call Sonoma Distilling Company a “middle entrant” into the craft whiskey scene. When it comes to the small and medium distilling scene, collectively known as “craft whiskey,” I think it’s best to ask what are they doing ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Dad’s Hat Vermouth Finish is their best known whiskey of this type, but not the only one, because the Philadelphia-area distillery also has a Port-finished version of its whiskey. Taking the same very high rye, no corn recipe (80% rye + 5% malted rye, then 15% malted barley) that is the basis for all their ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Whereas the rye whiskeys of Kentucky barely qualify as such, with a rye content just over the 51% minimum mandated by Federal law, it’s pretty much the norm for a rye made anywhere else to have more of the primary grain in it than that. The next most common style is the MGP-made 95% rye ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Whereas most craft distillers make a handful of spirits, and some turn out a plethora of different spirits, a few focus on doing just the one thing. Dad’s Hat is an example of the latter, because the only thing they do is make Pennsylvania style rye whiskey. That isn’t to say they have only one ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Until the whiskey crash of the 1970s dealt a near death blow to what was by then a declining category, rye whiskey used to have three regional styles. On one end of the spectrum was the sweet Kentucky Rye, with it’s mash bill that just barely met Federal requirements (usually 51 to 54% rye). On ...