By Richard Thomas Rating: C Some craft distilleries follow a path of focusing on one thing, such as Garrison Brothers and their Texas Bourbon or Westland and their Washington Malt. Others make many styles of whiskey and follow a course of variety. Iowa’s Cedar Ridge Distillery is one of these, and in pursuing that route they have an entry in ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C A few years ago, Will Kehler and Ian Smiley, the author of Making Pure Corn Whiskey and co-author of The Distiller’s Guide to Rum, teamed up to create and release Manhattan Moonshine. A few years is typically seen as a minimum aging period (two is the standard for the American “straight” designation; three is the ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ New Zealand Whisky Company is presently engaged in bottling the stock from what had been the country’s sole whisky distillery, Willowbank. This rather aged example is a blend drawing on a most unusual cask profile. 70% malt and 30% grain whisky, it was aged in ex-bourbon barrels for six years before being transferred to French ...

By Emma Briones Rating: C Flaming Pig is the brainchild of Irish entrepreneurs Joey Shore and Flor Prendergast. Under the name of Malone’s Whiskey Co., they’ve launched a whiskey, Flaming Pig Black Cask, and a whiskey liqueur, Flaming Pig Spiced Irish. Flaming Pig Black Cask is a small batch blend of single grain and single malt Irish whiskey aged from ...

By April Manning Rating: C The Hirsch brand roots extend back to a distillery that is a now both a ruin and a National Historical Landmark in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. “Schaefferstown Distillery,” or Bomberger’s, has roots that run deep and it claims to be the first distillery established in the United States. It operated for more than two centuries in various ...