By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A- Beam Suntory’s Hardin’s Creek line of whiskeys, launched just last year, is back with a new trilogy called “The Kentucky Series.” The theme is exploring the impact of very specific buildings and locales inside Kentucky on maturation. All three bourbon whiskeys were laid down with the same mashbill 17 years ago yet aged at different ...

By Richard Thomas Bruichladdich Distillery brings together two distinct threads. Although the distillery dates back to the late 19th Century, it was shuttered in 1994, and Bruichladdich as a whisky brand really dates to its reopening under entrepreneur Mark Reynier and Master Distiller Jim McEwan in 2000. Much as he did with Waterford Distillery in Ireland, Reynier put Bruichladdich on ...

By Richard Thomas Rating:  A- Isle of Skye Blended Whisky has an eye-catching title, conjuring as it does the awe-inspiring landscapes of its namesake tourist magnet of an island. However, the brand isn’t a new one, nor is the association of the Isle of Skye with tourism. Ian Macleod created the original Isle of Skye blend when he created his ...

By Andrew Graham Rating: A A joke that whisky nerds often make is that we should all band together and drink more sherry to support the Scotch industrial complex, the joke being that many popular Scotch whiskies spend time in the Sherry butts, which are quite expensive and hard to come by lately. More Sherry consumption equals more spent Sherry ...

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B Playboy Spirits’ brand launched its luxury Rare Hare collection in 2022, which included previous releases of a 17-year-old bourbon and 1961 vintage cognac. This latest release is Lucky Bastard 30 Year Old Canadian whisky, a single barrel finished in Pineau Des Charentes casks for 120 days. Pineau Des Charentes is a fortified wine-mistelle or ...