By Emmas Briones Rating: A Wemyss Malts is an independent bottler based in Edinburgh, known for their good judgement when choosing casks of malt that are to be bottled in their single cask line. As they say, “each cask is representative of the best characteristics of its regional origins and only the best are chosen by our Nosing Panel,” which ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Bowmore is the oldest distillery on the famed Scottish island of Islay and the second oldest in Scotland, founded in 1779. Islay distilleries form a crowd of big, charismatic personalities, so it’s no easy task to stand out. That Bowmore has managed to do just this, and has a large and devoted enough fan following ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Balblair is one of a very select group of Scottish distilleries that releases their single malts as vintages rather than age statement or no age statement (NAS) expressions. It’s an odd way of going about doing things for a whisky, for while wine is very much influenced by how good the grape crop of a ...

In 2008, Glenmorangie created The Astar (Scots Gaelic for “journey”), a single malt whisky entirely matured in bespoke oak casks from the Ozark mountains of Missouri, designed to impart the wood’s maximum flavor to the spirit. Today, Glenmorangie Astar (52.5% ABV; $99.99 SRP) returns with a limited-edition release that brings a new richness and complexity to its silken depths – ...

Updated August 7, 2017 By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Iowa’s Cedar Ridge is the oldest micro-distillery in the Hawkeye State, and in one way it is a very “Craft Whiskey 1.0” operation: they chose to produce a plethora of products rather than focus on just a few. Name a major type of whiskey, and Cedar Ridge is making it. In ...