By Richard Thomas Rating: B Old Potrero’s signature style is a 100% malted rye whiskey, which is why they call themselves a “single malt,” even though that term is most often associated with malted barley. The California distiller has been pursuing this style since the 1990s, part of a distinguished class of small distillers who were doing craft whiskey a ...

Barrell Bourbon Batch 035, which struck gold at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition, is a multi-mash bill blend of six and seven-year-old spicy and earthy, high-rye, high proof oak forward barrels. They were combined with a blend of eight-year-old softer, lower-proof barrels with concentrated notes of dark cherry and butterscotch. After mingling for two months, 13-year-old barrels with dominant ...

By Richard Thomas Some ideas die slow, hard deaths, and as recently as last year I found myself reading yet another magazine article warning consumers that their bottle of supposedly craft whiskey really came from the big distillery in Indiana, MGP. Moreover, I continue to hear this notion virtually every time I engage with enthusiasts, and read it fairly regularly ...

By Kenrick Thurston-Wilcox Rating: C+ Celebrity-endorsed spirits have become common, using the established star power to boost the status and sales of their products. With products like vodka and gin, it’s relatively easy for a distillery to roll out a product soon after conception, as they do not have to wait any time for the liquid to age. Whiskey is ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Heaven Hill was the pioneer of “urban bourbon” destinations in downtown Louisville. Although it is often forgotten, before they opened the Evan Williams Experience on Main Street, there were no destination distilleries in the city. Although Louisville was a center for the industry, what was there (in Shively) was very industrial in nature and not ...