By Richard Thomas World whisk(e)y has three fundamental production models. The first and most familiar to the global audience is the Irish-Scots model, based making malt whiskies with pot stills and grain whiskies with column stills. These whiskies are usually, but not exclusively aged in used barrels. This is the method adopted and then adapted by the Japanese, so three ...

By Richard Thomas As a drinks writer, one of the mainstays of my news alerts, inbox and correspondence with my colleagues is the partial conversion of the distilling industry from making booze to making hand sanitizer. It’s reminiscent of the World War Two experience, when spirits-makers largely switched to producing industrial alcohol for the war effort. In the 1940s, making ...

By Richard Thomas Few brands have divided the bourbon enthusiast community quite like Michter’s, and a case study is the reaction to their annual limited edition expression, Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon. On the one hand are the growing ranks of people who will tell you Michter’s has never steered them wrong, and this well-crafted and middle-aged single ...

Comparing The Original, Kentucky-Only 6 Year Old Heaven Hill Bonded Bourbon To The New, 7 Year Old National Version By Richard Thomas When Heaven Hill announced it would discontinue its Kentucky-only, 6 Year Old Bottled in Bond (BiB) Bourbon in the summer of 2018, the howls were heard far outside the Bluegrass. The expression, esteemed as much for its modest ...

Whisky And Beer Are More Intertwined Than Ever By Richard Thomas Whisky (including Irish Whiskey and American Malt Whiskey) have a lot in common because they share similar roots. In the early stages of production, both a distillery and a brewery produce a malted barley wort. I can’t say a beer wort and a whisky wort are indistinguishable, but I ...