By Richard Thomas When I revisited my round-up of budget rye whiskeys from 2016 in late November, I found–much to my surprise–that it was still pretty solid, despite being seven years old. Despite time, changes in the whiskey market and the recent ravages of inflation, only Bulleit Rye isn’t still hovering near the $30 price point. That left me with ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A My first thought when I read about the Old Fitz Bonded coming out this season looked back on when the series was first launched, and how the croakers derided the series as a rip-off, complaining that one of their old favorites had been replaced by an ordinary bourbon with a heavily marked up price tag. ...

Heaven Hill Distillery announced today the release of the Fall 2022 edition of Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey at 19 years old, the oldest to date in this specific line. Comprised of barrels produced in September 2003, and bottled in October of 2022, the tenth national release ushers in the latest edition to the hallmark series which adds ...

Revised October 8, 2022 By Richard Thomas Rating: B Balcones made it’s reputation with their very first whiskey, Baby Blue. This was partly because although they weren’t the first operational whiskey distillery in Texas (that was Garrison Brothers), they were the first one to release a product. The other reason is their innovative approach in making that product; Baby Blue ...

By Richard Thomas Redwood Empire Whiskeys comes from the Sonoma-based Graton Distillery, who created and inaugurated the brand with the release of three expressions in 2019: Pipe Dream, Emerald Giant and Lost Monarch. They followed up on that  last year with the start of a bottled in bond brand extension, with two redwood forest themed whiskeys, Grizzly Bear and Rocket ...