By Richard Thomas Lexington’s old Pepper Distillery is a fixture of some of my earliest childhood memories. When I was in kindergarten, the family farm was just down the road from this historic, long forgotten bourbon factory that was shuttered in 1958. My Dad would frequently drive up Old Frankfort Pike and onto Manchester Street, going past the big, abandoned ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon, sourced with Luxco stock and released through Limestone Branch Distillery, is now in its third edition. Since the brand is jockeying for a place in the annual slate of exciting autumnal American Whiskey releases, it’s worth pausing to do a recap of the series so far and the people who make ...

By Debbie Shocair Rating: B American Craft distilling’s spirit seems to come up with new twists, methods and gimmicks, so it is both fascinating and amusing that a former prison 20 minutes northeast of Charlotte, NC has been rehabilitated and reborn as the home of Southern Grace Distilleries. Thus their Conviction Bourbon is touted as “the first bourbon to ever ...

By Richard Thomas Richard Thomas, Owner-Editor Best New Whiskey, Michter’s 25 Year Old Single Barrel: Amid the slate of greatly anticipated limited edition bourbons that come out every Fall, this one was the standout. The last time Michter’s released a 25 Year Old was 2008, and this time around it eclipsed all the other ultra aged, hot button bourbons of ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: B+ Barrell Craft Spirits is a non-distiller producer (NDP), which is what we like to call independent bottlers in America, that offers cask-strength expressions of (mostly) American whiskeys. Rather than focusing on producing a consistent line of products, BCS has chosen the route of limited edition-style uniqueness, with every batch being a thing in and ...