By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Two things set Chivas Regal apart from the rest of the blended scotch sector: their illustrious history and their line, which consists entirely of middle-aged and old whiskey. The brand traces its roots, like so many blended scotch brands, to a grocery store blender. Chivas Regal’s grocery blend is somewhat older than the norm, however, ...

By S.D. Peters Rating: B+ The second American Rye whiskey in Buffalo Trace’s 2012 Antique Collection, Sazerac 18-year Old Rye Whiskey is a pleasant improvement on their standard Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey.  The latter is fine for mixing, but a bit too sweet for sipping neat.  The former reveals itself as an enjoyable neat whiskey, one suited in particular for ...

By S.D. Peters Rating: A+ Thomas Handy, one-time proprietor of the Sazerac House in New Orleans, was the man who altered the Sazerac cocktail in 1870 by replacing cognac with rye whiskey.  It may have been the only positive outcome of the period’s phylloxeria outbreak that caused a shortage in the supply of cognac.  Today, the Sazerac is probably the ...

By S.D. Peters Average Rating: A- Col. E.H. Taylor Straight Rye Whiskey is the latest Rye from Buffalo Trace Distillery, which has already contributed to the “Rye Resurgence” with it’s pair of Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskeys. These are fine examples of American Rye, but the E.H. Taylor expression is something else again.  By comparison, the 6-year old Sazerac Straight Rye is the ...

Updated December 6, 2020 By Richard Thomas Average Rating: B The Sherrywood Single Malt is the third expression of Penderyn’s regular line of Welsh whiskey. Like the distillery’s Madeira Finish whiskey and many Sherry-finished whiskeys, the Sherrywood uses a two-cask maturation method. In keeping with Penderyn’s practice, aging starts in used bourbon barrels, mostly coming from Buffalo Trace and Evan ...