By Richard Thomas Spending the night in a tent or your car so you would be first in line was the stuff of rock concerts and Star Wars movies and not much else when I was young. The phenomenon is a relative newcomer to whiskey, and still one that leaves me shaking my head. Perhaps I’m spoiled (it’s certainly not ...
Read More »American Malt
Westland Peat Week Whiskey Review (2019)
By Richard Thomas Rating: B Seattle’s Westland Distillery has staked itself out as a leader in the rising category of American Single Malts, placing a major emphasis on adapting the model to their home in the Pacific Northwest. That includes harvesting local peat for use in making their peated malts, and for five years now they put the spotlight on ...
Read More »Stranahan’s Snowflake Colorado Whiskey Review (2018)
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Only just a few limited editions from small distillers have risen to the hype that greets the titans of Kentucky’s annual autumn release season, that time when most of the hot ticket limited releases come out. Although born of far more humble origins than the big distiller stuff, Stranahan’s Snowflake has come to match them ...
Read More »Stranahan’s Sherry Cask-Finished Single Malt Whiskey Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Introduced in 2017, Stranahan’s Sherry Cask is the latest offering in regular release from the Colorado distillery, and they didn’t spare the flub-dubs in making it. They started with their four year old single malt and gave it a finish in properly seasoned (four decades) Oloroso Sherry butts. None of that “Sherry casks made for ...
Read More »Virginia Distillery Company Cider Cask Virginia-Highland Whiskey Review
By Richard Thomas Rating: B One of the signatures of the Virginia Distillery Company is blending their in-house malt whiskey with imported Scottish Highland malt whisky. Another is their reliance upon Virginia sources for finishing casks. Thus, the distillery reached out to Potter’s Craft Cider and acquired some of their used casks for a first batch of Cider Cask whiskey, ...
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