By Father John Rayls Rating: A When I started becoming acquainted with this English Whisky from Cotswolds Distillery, I wasn’t expecting much. This in spite of The Whisky Bible scorings of 94 points, 94 points and 95 points over the last 3 years. But I have to say this whisky is the real deal, and those scores are not exaggerated. ...

By Richard Thomas One of the few opinions I find are commonly held in world whiskeydom—common among industry types and enthusiasts, bar people and journalists—is how Scotch Whisky produces the biggest bunch of snobs around. Even the snobs themselves sometimes agree with that assertion, taking a perverse pride in what most would think of as a flaw. How is it ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- One of the late releases to come out of Islay last year was one near to my heart, at least on paper: a Kilchoman whisky matured for five years in red wine casks from the Portuguese Duoro Valley. Added to that was a high strength bottling, 50% ABV, equivalent to a Bottled in Bond American ...

By Richard Thomas BenRiach has become one of the great success stories of modern Scotch whisky. Built in the late 1890s, BenRiach has a history like that of many distilleries in Scotland, having changed hands multiple times and consequently serving the interests of many masters, ultimately leading to obscurity. By the beginning of the 21st Century, BenRiach was barely operating ...

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 ...