By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Even as 2020 becomes a year noteworthy for its out-sized serving of sucktitude, there have been bright spots. Among them is something special for fans of Angel’s Envy: this year’s 17,400 bottles of Angel’s Envy Cask Strength, the 9th edition, will be distributed to all 50 states for the first time. The current installment clocked ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Heaven Hill raised a noticeable amount of squeaking from the dingier corner of the enthusiast community last year when Parker’s Heritage 2019 was a not quite 9 year old rye, aged in “Char 5” barrels. These heavily charred casks received 30 second of flame beyond the level of Char 4. Predictably, they focused on the ...

Corrected November 24, 2020 By Richard Thomas Rating: B- In one respect, 2020 is the year I’ve been waiting for, because it was the year that the American craft whiskey sector was finally deep enough to allow for the return of the whiskey negociant. The Scotch whisky industry emerged from the trying times of the first half of the 20th ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Barrell Craft Spirits new Private Release series is built around the concept of building 24 separate and distinct whiskeys with common roots. All the AH releases use the same blend of “Kentucky Whiskey,” the oldest constiutent of which is an 18 year old, and giving them barrel finishes before bottling at cask strength. That is ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Heretofore, Pinhook has been known for its sourced whiskeys rather than its in-house production from Castle & Key. This first batch of Bohemian represents a shift towards the latter, as this inaugural high proof expression (114.5 proof to be exact), is drawn from the first 100 barrels of their bourbon made and aged at what ...