By Richard Thomas Almost a decade ago, Four Roses released the Mariage 2008, the first in a series of what would become known as the Small Batch Limited Edition (LE). Similar to the regular Four Roses Small Batch, these bourbons draw on individual stocks of the distillery’s famous 10 recipes. These ten variations stem from two separate mash bills, one ...

By Richard Thomas Plenty is wrong with the secondary market. Provenance is unheard of, so fakes are rampant, and despite this prices are often inflated. Yet above those problems is the plain fact that selling liquor without a license is illegal. Since you can’t reform a black market, so long as that was the case none of the other problems ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- In my mind, nothing has ever quite encapsulated the hot house absurdities of the ongoing Bourbon Boom quite so much as W.L. Weller 12 Year Old. I think of it that way because of how it went from being a largely overlooked bourbon to a chimera overnight, and all because the late Josh Ozersky wrote ...

Bardstown Bourbon Company (BBCo) announced today that Castle Brands, the maker of Jefferson’s Bourbon, has joined BBCo’s Collaborative Distilling Program. Castle Brands will work together with BBCo to produce custom bourbon and whiskey for the Jefferson’s Bourbon portfolio. BBCo and Jefferson’s will begin their first distillation this year. Castle Brands has been investing millions in building up their stock of ...

Updated January 6, 2018 By Father John Rayls Average Rating: B Smooth Ambler Contradiction Straight Bourbon Whiskey was a real surprise! I wasn’t expecting much from a blend of a somewhat young 2 year old “wheater” bourbon, made in-house by Smooth Ambler in West Virginia, and a 9 year bourbon rye from MGP in Indiana.  The Smooth Ambler wheated bourbon ...