By Richard Thomas Rating: B Back when Painted Stave Distilling in Delaware first started making bourbon in late 2013, every enthusiast was most enthusiastic about wheated bourbon. They chose to buck this by committing to a high rye mash bill, and it proved to be wise to ignore what the buzz was all about at the time. Fads come and ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- As I have been working through the Broken Barrel line-up for The Whiskey Reviewer bit by bit these last months, only a brief recap of who these folks are is necessary. Drawing on sourced whiskey made in Owensboro, Kentucky, Broken Barrel then adapts stave bits from other casks (ex-bourbon barrels, new French oak and Sherry ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Five years ago, we reviewed a Port-finished single barrel bourbon from Rochester’s Black Button Distilling. That is still listed as the staple single barrel expression from Black Button, but it has since been joined by a cask strength version finished in Apple Brandy casks instead of the Port casks. The base is their four grain ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Dublin’s Teeling Whiskey Company has launches a new series, called the Wonders of Wood. Obviously built around the theme of what wood choices do in barrel aging, this first installment is aged in new Chinkapin white oak. This is a varietal from Eastern and Central North America, noted for its wide wood grain. Note this ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ The Whiskey Reviewer is 11 years old now, so it predates most of the annual limited edition bourbon series currently on the market. So, when something like Blood Oath Pact No. 8 shows up at my house and I hold the bottle in my hand, all I can do is think “Really? It’s been 8 ...