By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Whenever I am in My Old Kentucky Home visiting the family, I always buy a bottle of bourbon (or two) to bring home with me, and I favor new and unfamiliar bourbons in particular. It was with the latter sentiment in mind that I bought the last bottle of Woodford Reserve’s Maple Wood Finish bourbon ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A+ I was back in Louisville recently, and decided to try some of the new Urban Bourbon Trail (“Urbin Burbin”) there. The result was my first ever visit to the Baxter Station Tavern, with its excellent bourbon menu, and a chance to revisit Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Years Old. Rare bourbons like Pappy Van ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A+ Although Pappy Van Winkle has only a middling history as Kentucky bourbon’s go, the label is one of the most rarefied on the market today. As the story goes, Julian P. Van Winkle graduated from Centre College in Kentucky in 1892, went to work for a wholesaler, and gravitated into whiskey-making when he bought the ...