Updated December 25, 2018 By Emma Briones Average Rating: B+ In 2016, the Lagavulin distillery turned 200 years old. To celebrate the occasion, they launched a set of anniversary limited editions, and among them was the Lagavulin 8 year old. The Lagavulin 8 year old is a tribute to Alfred Barnard, a Victorian whisky writer. In the 19th century, Barnard ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Upon receiving an invitation to go to Le Claire, Iowa for the bottling of this year’s Four Kings Collaboration Whiskey, I had to resist joking that it was the 4×4 release, as this was the fourth time at bat for the “Four Kings” of Mississippi River Distilling, FEW Spirits, Corsair Artisan and Journeyman. Having seen ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: B- Painted Stave Distilling, a micro-distillery in Delaware, has named its whiskey line “Diamond State,” and their Diamond State Bourbon is two years old and bottled at 92 proof. I got to try the second batch from this fairly new distillery, which was just released this month and represents a four fold increase in number ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: A- Michter’s sets their founding year as 1753 in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, and their founder as John Shenk, a Swiss Mennonite farmer. Having married a Swiss Mennonite 43 years ago, I can really relate to this part of the story! It’s rumored that General George Washington stopped at the farm and purchased sufficient barrels of whiskey ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- When an independent bottler has built a distillery, it is said they have transitioned from sourcing to making in-house product. Yet it’s not simply building a plant and barreling (or perhaps bottling an unaged version of their) new make that makes that transition a success. Instead, that comes when the company’s in-house product is capable ...