By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ With it’s sour mash whiskey, Michter’s harks back to its brand roots in southeastern Pennsylvania, and especially so with Shenk’s Homestead. Michter’s Sour Mash disappeared in 1989, one of the late casualties of the 1970s world whiskey bust. “New Michter’s” reintroduced it in 2012, as one of those expressions that isn’t quite bourbon or rye, ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B When it comes to California’s Redwood Empire, I’m most familiar with their in-house, bonded whiskeys. Before that, however, both I and past contributor Padre John took a crack at their American Whiskey. That expression followed the model of blending stocks of sourced, mature or old whiskey with youthful, in-house make. Some four years later, I’m ...

By Kenrick Thurston-Wilcox Rating: B- Introduced in 1997, Chivas Regal 18 Year Old is a blend of malt and grain whiskies from all around Scotland. Chivas owns the oldest continuously operated distillery in Scotland, Strathisla, which is at the heart of the Chivas Regal blends. The 12 Year Old blend, being woody and fruity, was a little weak in the ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Picadilly Distillers traces its roots to a liquor distribution company started in 1953 in pre-Independence Punjab. From there, they expanded into the restaurant and bar trade, and operated what was the only bar in Chandigarh for three and a half decades. In the 1990s, the company acquired a sugar mill and distillery, and began making ...

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B In September 2022, Michter’s Distillery released its US*1 Toasted Barrel Sour Mash Whiskey, for the second time only in U.S. and export markets.  This expression was originally released in 2019 and it had some mixed reviews because of the overwhelming marshmallow sweetness.  I personally took to it as a dessert whiskey. To make this ...