By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Pushing forward off their outstanding start last year, Lost Lantern has been combining the function of a European negociant — buying casks from distillers for either single barrel bottlings or in-house crafty blends — with the unique scene of American craft distilling. That is where this particular whiskey comes from: Lost Lantern picked up several ...

By Michael Cervin Rating: A In 2013, Barrell Craft Spirits launched in Louisville, Kentucky, and it was somewhat unconventional in American spirits circles at the time. Instead of building their own distillery, the decision was made to blend what they felt were “exceptional” casks from established producers, then bottle those whiskeys at cask strength. To that point, there are no ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Although the list of small distillers that have produced bonded and fully mature whiskeys is now a long one and keeps growing, not all of them lean heavily or have moved entirely into that category. Whenever I am asked for a short list of small producers who have gone in that direction, Colorado’s Laws Whiskey ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ It is a hard thing to picture today, but once upon a time there was only one working distiller on Louisville’s Whiskey Row: the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. It was very much a trailblazer, the first destination, tourist-oriented distillery in downtown Louisville. Many have followed since. When I made my first visit in Spring 2014, ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ The crafty duo of Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski have established quite a name for their enterprise, Lost Lantern, in a short space of time as folks to watch in the small, but growing category of American negociants. For those not familiar with the term, it refers to folks who buy casks of (in this ...