By Richard Thomas Rating:B+ The premise behind The Glenmorangie’s Cadboll Estate line of single malt whisky is simple. The distillery is taking their estate-grown barley from the lands around the distillery itself. The whisky is matured for 15 years (or more) in first-fill examples of the most common cask type used in Scotland, ex-bourbon barrels. No finishes, no peat, no ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ About a month ago, Brown-Forman brought a pair of Benriach whiskies across The Pond and to American Shores, these named for two seasonal practices of the distillery. Smoke Season is so named because Benriach sees only a single production run of peated whisky per year, a short run at that. They use malt that has ...

By Andrew Graham Rating: B The drawing on the label of a new expression from The Balvenie, dubbed The Sweet Toast of American Oak, says it all. The drawing is of a barrel, and it’s there because this whisky is all about the wood. Here’s the basic story behind this expression: It’s 12-year old Balvenie that gets a finishing in ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- I was abroad visiting my son not too long ago, and found myself looking at the contents of a quite modestly equipped hotel bar, choosing the Jack Daniel’s. Part of the reason why is because it had been years since a pour of Old No. 7 had passed my lips, and I knew a bottle ...

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B- Barrell Craft Spirits, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is an independent blender and bottler of distinctive, aged, cask-strength sourced whiskey and rum. They have become well-known for their blending proficiency. Batch 029 is 6 years old and distilled and aged in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana, Selection of 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, and 16 year ...