By Douglas Fraser Grade: B+ Smokehead Islay Single Malt Whisky is pure Islay whisky at its smokiest, with High Voltage as the cask strength version of the standard Smokehead. The whisky is sourced by Ian Macleod Distillers from an unnamed Islay distillery, and as a single malt, we know the source is just one distillery from that island. The Scotch ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B To a large extent, Waterford Irish Whiskey represents an entrepreneur taking his past experience in Scotland and carrying it over into a new venture in Ireland. Mark Reynier bought a shuttered Islay distillery, Bruichladdich, in 2000, and in so doing he confronted a problem that was novel at the time. The distillery had only been ...

By Alex Southgate Rating: B In the whiskey world you hear certain names and can’t help but hope for good things. This is very much the case when it comes to Glen Moray, perhaps one of the better known Speyside distilleries. We’ll be diving into one of their 15 year old offerings today and I have to say I’m rather ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Old Pogue was a trailblazer in many ways. The Pogue family is one of those Kentucky clans that had been in the bourbon business before Prohibition, but not after, and returned to it in modern times. The key distinction is the Pogues got back into bourbon before the Whiskey Boom took off. They enjoy the ...

By Douglas Fraser Rating: B Old Elk has a distillery in Fort Collins, Colorado, but at present much of their output is contract produced or sourced through MGP in Indiana. Working with Greg Metze, the former master distiller at MGP and current master distiller at Old Elk, the company arranged to produce their own made-to-order whiskeys through MGP, rather than ...