By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ When Craft Barrell Spirits (aka Barrell Bourbon) released their inaugural batch of rye whiskey several months ago, it was a noteworthy groundbreaking for one of America’s most popular independent bottlers. Little did we realize at the time that the company had something even more noteworthy waiting around the corner. I say noteworthy because it’s novelty ...

By Elizabeth Emmons Rating: A- I had the pleasure of tasting PM Spirits’ Mic Drop at a blind whisky tasting in October. At the time I thought it was clear this mystery whiskey I was tasting was a bourbon, but what on earth could this be? Four Roses private barrel release? No. A Michter’s? No. We were all stumped. Whatever ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ In terms of its peculiarity, I don’t think there is any bourbon on the market right now that outdoes Barrell Bourbon’s New Year 2018 release. The sourcing for this blend speaks for itself: seven distilleries from five states. A decade ago, you would have been hard pressed to scrape up stock bourbon from more than ...

By Richard Thomas Richard Thomas, Owner-Editor Best New Whiskey, Michter’s 25 Year Old Single Barrel: Amid the slate of greatly anticipated limited edition bourbons that come out every Fall, this one was the standout. The last time Michter’s released a 25 Year Old was 2008, and this time around it eclipsed all the other ultra aged, hot button bourbons of ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: B+ Barrell Craft Spirits is a non-distiller producer (NDP), which is what we like to call independent bottlers in America, that offers cask-strength expressions of (mostly) American whiskeys. Rather than focusing on producing a consistent line of products, BCS has chosen the route of limited edition-style uniqueness, with every batch being a thing in and ...