By Richard Thomas Rating: B This year’s first set of experimental releases from Buffalo Trace is definitely an oddball: the distillery was presumably curious about how exposure to radiative light energy might impact on barrel wood, this on top of a brief charring. Two sets of four barrels were exposed to an infrared (IR) treatment, filled with mash bill #1 ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Buffalo Trace often displays the innovative spirit of a craft distillery, but with the budget of the big player they are. These are the people who spent roughly $1 million on their Warehouse X, a laboratory for controlling all the major climatic and setting variables that play in maturation, and keep 5,000 barrels of experimental ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Even as it backed off of a heavy commitment to expanding its Scotch footprint, British drinks colossus Diageo began a major expansion into bourbon. Part of this was investing in giving Bulleit a distillery and other infrastructure to call its own, and the other part was in taking the aged stock it had piled up ...

By Debbie Shocair Rating: B Given what I do, most whiskey fans presume I am opposed to flavored whiskey. On the contrary, I appreciate the flavored stuff as “gateway whiskey,” bringing into the fold those who still harbor reservations. Such a gateway is The Cooper Spirits Co.  Hochstadter’s Slow & Low Rock and Rye. Slow & Low has both an ...

By Kurt Maitland Rating: A- The name Yamazaki has been a hot one for the past few years (deservedly so), garnering critical acclaim, interest from whisky fans worldwide and plenty of awards for their owners at Suntory. This is one of the brands that made Japanese whisky famous, and the Sherry Cask in particular played a leading role in making ...