By Richard Thomas Rating: C Despite the elevated name, Grant’s Family Reserve Blended Whiskey is the entry level scotch for William Grant and Sons, the same people who make Glenfiddich and Balvenie. The triangular bottle is a familiar sight on liquor store and supermarket shelves in Europe, and is not entirely unfamiliar to Americans and Canadians as well. From what ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C The square, brown glass bottle of Ballatine’s Finest, the entry-level scotch of the company, is a familiar sight around the world. Even in countries where you can’t find J&B or Jack Daniels, Ballantine’s is usually around. For many years, Ballantine’s was the top-selling scotch in Europe, and it continues to enjoy great popularity both there ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: C+ It used to be that there were only two choices in Irish whiskey, Catholic (Jameson’s) and Protestant (Bushmills). Yes, there were always many more labels than just those big two on the market, but these were always very hard to find just about anywhere outside of the British Isles. Clontarf changed all that, and Clontarf’s ...

Updated July 25, 2023 By Richard Thomas Average Rating: C Four Roses Kentucky bourbon traces its history back to Rufus and Origen Rose, two brothers joined with their sons to open a family distillery in 1888. The Four Roses Distillery settled in 1910 into the Spanish Mission-style building outside Lawrenceburg, Kentucky which has remained its home ever since, and is ...

by Richard Thomas Rating: C The green bottle and yellow label of Justerini and Brooks is one of the world’s most iconic mass-market scotch labels, with the big red “J&B” at least as well-known as the strolling, top-hatted gentleman of Johnny Walker. However, J&B has nothing like Johnny Walker’s high-end (albeit still blended) line of scotch, and its 15 Year ...