By Richard Thomas Even among whiskey enthusiasts, surprisingly few know the name “Aeneas Coffey,” the Irish inventor who could be described as the Thomas Edison of the industry. Sometimes this is even the case when Coffey’s landmark contribution is referred to under his own name, and despite the fact that most of the world’s whiskey industry is heavily dependent upon ...

By Richard Thomas Coming hand in hand with booming Irish whiskey sales is the rapid expansion of new distilleries, both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Yet amid all the new projects only one represents a true reversal of the mid-20th Century consolidation of the Irish whiskey industry, and that was the September launch of Tullamore Dew’s distillery. ...

By Richard Thomas Until word that Jim Murray had swept Scotch off the top of his rankings for Whisky Bible 2015 broke, two news stories last week had whiskey circles abuzz, and it is those two stories that will prove to have further reaching implications than anything Jim Murray could ever say or do: Diageo is going to scale back ...

By Richard Thomas In July The Whiskey Reviewer started its periodic series studying deceptive whiskey claims by looking at Templeton Rye, a company held in suspicion by many whiskey pundits for its marketing practices. The case against Templeton Rye proved a strong one, but not every claim of deception and dodgy marketing has such sound foundations, a fact the case ...

By Richard Thomas If you mention the term “fake whiskey” in American whiskey circles, more likely than not you’ll find yourself in a conversation about labeling issues and so-called “Potemkin distilleries.” Yet to a broader set of whiskey fans, the term might refer to a far more disturbing trend, that of the rise of truly questionable and in some cases ...