By Richard Thomas Rating: F Shortly after moving to Portugal, I threw my first murder party and invited a mix of my wife’s English-speaking friends and some of the teachers from the English school I was working for at the time. The boyfriend of one of my fellow teachers brought me a present, a bottle of Highland Clan scotch. I’m ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B William Grant & Sons founded the Balvenie distillery in Speyside, Scotland in 1892. The company now owns a host of distilleries, including the Glenfiddich distillery, but the best scotch distilled under the William Grant & Sons banner remains the Balvenie. For more than a century, the Balvenie has grown its own barley on a 1,000-acre ...

Editor’s Note: This review is of the original 15 year old version of this bourbon, not the current NAS version. By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Admirers of old fashioned, pre-Prohibition style bourbon love to hear two words in connection with a new bottle of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, namely “cask strength” and “small batch.” Granted, “single barrel” and “cask strength” ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Glenlivet is the best-selling malt whiskey in the United States, and the label’s Moray, Scotland distillery has been in almost continuous operation since its founding in 1824. The oldest whiskey-maker in Moray, Glenlivet closed only for the Second World War. Glenlivet’s product is generally known for it’s lightness, and it’s 15 Year scotch is no ...

Updated July 5, 2020 By Richard Thomas Average Rating: A- I was visiting my family in My Old Kentucky Home in March 2011, and while there I did what I always do when I’m in Kentucky on an unplanned visit: I visited the Liquor Barn to pick up a couple of bottles of bourbon to bring back to Portugal with ...