By Richard Thomas Rating: A- It’s no easy task to keep track of everything that comes out in the jam packed, exciting Autumn release season of American Whiskey, the period when most of the highly prized annual limited editions and much else besides come out. Even so, Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection is one of those lines that should get more ...

By Elizabeth Emmons Rating: B Royal Brackla has a rich history dating back to 1812, when Captain William Fraser established it on the Cawdor Estate. For those of you who are not up on your knowledge of Scotland, the Cawdor Estate is a breathtaking, sprawling 80 sq. mile property located in Nairn, Scotland. The Cawdor, as it is known, has ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Luxco released the second installment of its premium Blood Oath brand six months ago, but there are still bottles of the product available. Like Pact No. 1, this second Blood Oath is a blend of bourbon stocks: an 11 year old, standard rye mashbill bourbon, an 11 year old wheated mashbill bourbon, and a 7 ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- I’ve been writing quite a bit lately about people who don’t like peated whisky and how smoke doesn’t pair well with this and that, which upon reflection is an odd coincidence, because I am actually rather fond of a smoky dram. One of those distilleries favored by peat-lovers is Islay’s Caol Ila, a key institution ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Since my first exposure to Booker’s Bourbon dates back to the middle 1990s, I have always thought of it as the original “sucker puncher” American whiskey of the modern era. By that I mean it’s the kind of whiskey that one can belly up to the bar, order a double, drink it, and not know ...