By Richard Thomas With the Scottish independence vote today and the polls showing the decision in a dead heat, many in the Scottish business community are jittery, foremost among them the Scotch whisky industry. Scotch-making is the region’s second-largest industry, earning £4.3 billion annually and directly employing over 35,000 people. Only the much-vaunted Scottish oil and gas industry exceeds it, ...

By Richard Thomas In July The Whiskey Reviewer started its periodic series studying deceptive whiskey claims by looking at Templeton Rye, a company held in suspicion by many whiskey pundits for its marketing practices. The case against Templeton Rye proved a strong one, but not every claim of deception and dodgy marketing has such sound foundations, a fact the case ...

By Richard Thomas The major story in the whiskey news last week was how bourbon production in Kentucky had passed its previous high water mark, set during the 1970s. Kentucky distillers filled more barrels in 2013 than they had since 1970, the previous record year, and inventory of warehoused barrels has just topped five million for the first time since ...

By Richard Thomas An idea that has been picking up steam over the last few years is that classic standard of Kentucky bourbon, Jim Beam Original (sometimes referred to as “White Label”), is an under-appreciated gem. Some pundits have championed this line to the point of claiming that America’s booming micro-distillery scene has yet to produce a bourbon of any ...

By Richard Thomas In American whiskey circles, few if any companies elicit the same level of suspicion as Templeton Rye. Take the company’s recent marketing exploit in turning their spent mash grain into hog feed to create “whiskey pigs.” The claim was met with a storm of derision in the blogosphere, with some questioning whether the grain in question was ...