By Richard Thomas Rating: B When an outfit like Iowa’s Mississippi River Distilling Co. (MRDC) announces they are releasing a whiskey that approaches big industry standards for aging, it automatically sparks more than just my interest. MRDC is not just one of the major craft distilleries in Iowa, but also in the Mid-Western region, one of the “Four Kings” of ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A For the last few years, I have thought Highland Park is the natural pairing choice for settling in for a new episode of Vikings. No, the Vikings never drank whisky, but the Orkney-based distillery loves to tie in on the Viking heritage of their island home in the extreme north of Scotland with Norse-themed releases. ...

By Father John Rayls Rating: B+ I was cruising the “bottom-shelf” at a local liquor warehouse when I discovered a nondescript bottle of bourbon listed for under 25 bucks. The bottle appeared generic and the label did nothing to draw any attention, but I had found Lazy River Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey nonetheless. I had never heard of it. Apparently, ...

By Kurt Maitland Rating: B+ There are two stories here: that of the Ben Nevis Distillery and that of Signatory. Ben Nevis is a malt whisky distillery at the foot of the Ben Nevis mountain, the highest mountain in the UK (4,411 feet). near the Victoria Bridge to the north of Fort William. Founded in 1825 by John McDonald (known ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Jack Daniel’s Distillery celebrated it’s 150th Anniversary this year. Mind you, that isn’t 150 years in continuous operation, and that famed distillery in Lynchburg suffered a longer closure than its cousins across the state line in Kentucky. Tennessee enacted Prohibition in 1909. The distillery was not reopened until after the passage of the 21st Amendment ...