By Richard Thomas My approach to doing a review of the hot autumnal releases this year differs from previous years, and in more than just my blunt, to-the-point title. Fall is the season for those engaged in bottle-hunting for bourbon. Most of the well-established, annual, limited edition series see their new expressions come out at this time. However, I don’t ...

Corrected September 14, 2022 By Richard Thomas For many enthusiasts, summer is a sleepy time. If a whiskey hobby is being expressed, it is more often in distillery travel and chilly summer cocktails than bottle-hunting. This is because the prime release season on both sides of the Atlantic, encompassing the U.S., Canada, Ireland and Scotland, is around Autumn. Late summer ...

By Richard Thomas An inside joke in the booze writing trade is how made-in-America single malt whiskeys have been the “next big thing” for …., oh, the last several years. Don’t get me wrong: American-made malts have become a vibrant part of the national whiskey scene, and I for one applaud how it is a part dominated by small and ...

By Richard Thomas When the legendary Master Distiller Barry Crockett hatched the idea for Midleton Very Rare in 1984, I doubt he knew it would be the start of a truly seminal brand, one of the earliest examples the modern class of annual limited edition whiskeys. New Midleton Distillery had only been in operation for nine years when Crockett embarked ...

By Richard Thomas Whenever I want a short explanation for the roots of modern whisky-making, I say it originated with the Irish and Scots, and was carried by immigrants from those places to the United States and Canada. That covers four of the five major whisky-making countries.The Japanese, on the other hand, don’t fit into that neat, fairly accurate tale. ...