This Old Fitzgerald is distilled by the folks at Heaven Hill and then aged for 11 years in oak barrels.  The paper seal attached to the cap and the bottle denotes that this bottle is bottled-in-bond; in accordance to the Bottle-in-Bond Act that went into law in 1901. The nose of this bourbon is […]

  I usually enjoy Bulleit Rye and when I am at a bar or having a drink at the airport – it is my go-to brand.  I was surprised to see their Bulleit 95 Rye aged 12 years.  I have seen their bourbon aged for 10 years but up until today never their rye so […]

  You may notice that the label on this bottle of Old Lewis Hunter Bourbon is wrapped in plastic wrap as it is falling apart.  This bottle, which was found in Italy, was likely bottled in the early 1970’s after being aged in a barrel for 6 years.  The distillery was in operation from 1850 […]

This particular bottle of Antique 6 year old bourbon was likely bottled in the 1970’s; maybe the late 1960’s.  It was distilled by the Frankfort Distilling Company and while the bottle was only aged for 6 years, the taste is much more mature and smooth for what is a relatively young bourbon. The nose is […]

  It is always fun to find an old, vintage bottle of bourbon.  This bottle of Jim Beam was likely bottled in the 1970’s.  The theory, much like any product, is that they made it better in the past.  It is hard to argue when you try this bottle of Jim Beam and compare it […]

  The 2017 Birthday Bourbon from the folks at Old Forester was barreled on May 25th 2005 and was bottled in 2017 after 12 years of aging in the barrel.  The 2017 Birthday Bourbon does not disappoint, it is a smooth and balanced pour. The nose has some nice burnt orange notes that mix perfectly […]

Parker’s Heritage is always a nice treat to find on your local liquor store shelf so I was excited to pick up this bottle of bourbon finished in orange curaçao barrels.  The blender takes 7 to 8 year old bourbon and finishes them for 4 months in barrels that previously held French orange curaçao liquor.  […]

  You shouldn’t have to drive all across Kentucky to find good, affordable bourbon.  Production of bourbon is at its highest levels of all time but so is the demand for bourbon.  Much of that demand growth is in the US but people all over the world now desire to get their hands on good […]

  Buffalo Trace gave their brand Weller a new look for their their Weller 12 Year, Weller Antique 107 and Weller Special Reserve.  You can see the old versions here for Weller 12 Year, Weller Antique 107 and Weller Special Reserve.  I hadn’t stumbled upon these in some time and now I am seeing them […]

  Old Forester makes some delicious bourbon.  In particular, their annual Birthday Bourbon is usually a great bottle of bourbon.  Here are the reviews for the 2014, 2015 and 2016  Birthday Bourbons, so make sure you check them out. So when I saw this bottle of Old Forester Single Barrel on the self, I had to give it […]

The Knob Creek, Cask Strength Rye is a 2018 Limited Release.  This particular bottle is 59.8% ABV and was stored in warehouse ‘A’.  Distilled and bottled by the folks at Jim Beam, this is one nice sipping rye. The nose is sweet with vanilla notes but if you breath deep you will find the spice […]

This specific bottle was bottled on 4/24/15 from barrel no 453; in Warehouse H and Rick no 24 at 93 proof.  Blanton’s is the ‘The original single barrel bourbon whiskey’; which many distillery’s are just now producing today as consumer demand for single barrel products increases. The nose on this bourbon is sweet and corny.  […]

  We love the Parker’s Heritage Collection (PHC) and this Single Barrel bottle doesn’t disappoint.  Parker Beam began working at the Heaven Hill Distillery in 1960.  These bottles support the ALS Foundation in memory of Parker Beam who was diagnosed with ALS in 2010 and passed away seven years later. This particular bottle is from barrel number […]

  This particular bottle is from barrel number 17-575 and was bottled on August 28th, 2017.  While it is a single barrel origin, it isn’t bottled at barrel proof, this bottle is 94 proof. The nose is familiar, a little fruiter and brighter than your usually bottle of Jack Daniel’s.  The taste is spicy with […]

Cooper’s Craft bourbon is made by Brown-Forman, the same people that make some of our favorite bourbons like, Old Forester.  It is the companies first new bourbon in nearly twenty years. The nose has some grassy, corn qualities with hints of toasted wood.  The taste is smooth and easy drinking with a nice mix of […]

  As the weather gets colder my thoughts of Bourbon turn more to thoughts of Rye.  Distilled much like Bourbon, except the corn is swapped out for rye, in this case 70% rye.  That rye, yes the same rye that you find in your rye bread, adds a nice warm, spicy flavor making it the […]

September 10th marks the 10th anniversary of National Bourbon Heritage Month, passed by the U.S. Senate in 2007.  Commemorate the day with your favorite pour or do what we did and try something new – I.W. Harper. The nose is rich with caramelized fruits and vanilla.  The taste is not as rich as the aroma […]

  Bulleit makes a solid bourbon so I was intrigued when I ran across their new barrel strength product.  This bottle is from Batch No. 2 and is bottled at 119 proof.  It packs some hot heat with that high alcohol level and 28% Rye mash bill but rounds itself out with a smooth taste. The […]

It is not a misspelling of coffee, it is Coffey, the still in which this whisky is distilled.  Created with a 95% corn mashbill this would be a bourbon if it were distilled in the U.S.A but labeled as a whisky as it is distilled in Japan.  This particular version from Nikka, the Nikka Coffey […]

  You will hear people say that they don’t make bourbon like they used to.  Take a few sips of this Four Roses from the 1970’s and you will not believe you are drinking a $20 bottle of bourbon.  This particular variety would have been their straight off the shelf variety, aged for 6 years, […]

For the first time Four Roses Bourbon released Elliott’s Select bourbon, a rare Single Barrel bourbon. The bourbon will be Brent Elliott’s first limited edition release as the master distiller.  Brent Elliott became master distiller in September 2015 and hand-selected the 14-year-old OESK, one of the 10 unique Four Rose’s bourbons.  Bottled at barrel strength this particular […]

The 2016 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is bottled from 93 barrels distilled on July 4th, 2004. The master distiller of Brown-Forman, Chris Morris, hand-picked the barrels with Old Forester brand representative Jackie Zykan.  Ultimately a little over 14,000 bottles were aged for 12 years and bottled at 48.5% abv. The nose is very delicate with spicy and […]

The first ever rye produced by Booker’s also comes from some of the last barrels filled by the late, great, distiller Booker Noe.  the label is a note from his son, Fred Noe, explaining how his farther always liked the challenge of rye grains and laid these barrels in his favorite rackhouse.  It is aged […]

Knob Creek 2001 is one of the last batches of bourbon barreled by the late, great Jim Beam distiller – Booker Noe.  His son, Fred Noe, discovered the barrels labeled 2001 after his father passed away.  The results is a really easy drinking bourbon that will keep you coming back for more. The tasting notes […]

David Phinney who is a part of the Splinter Group that distills Slaughter House, is also the winemaker at Orin Swift Cellars.  Orin Swift and team continue to produce some amazing wines like Abstract and Machete, needless to say we think they have great taste. Slaughter House is aged 9 years in American Oak and then […]

High West took their Double Rye product and added it to barrels that had been used to age both Vermouth and Syrah.  The creation is a blend of Rye Whiskeys that High West hopes make you say ‘Yippee Ki-Yay’, like the cowboy on the bottle. The bottle I sampled was Batch No. 2.  The nose […]

Trail’s End secures eight year old juice from Kentucky and ages the Bourbon Whiskey with Oregon Oak staves.  This particular bottle is from Batch No 002 and is 45% abv. The nose is fragrant with sweet, orange notes.  The taste is smooth and sweet up front with some spicy rye hints.  The finish is long […]

A bottle of Smooth Ambler Contradiction is exactly that, a huge contradiction.  A mix of a wheated bourbon and a spicier bourbon with a heavier rye mash bill; 27 percent of the bottle was aged 2 years while the remaining 73 percent was aged 9 years.  Despite what might look like odd pairings the end result […]

There is no question that the folks at Rogue know how to brew some of the best beers in the world.  Check out a few of the best beers by Rogue Ales & Spirits. Over the past few years they have also ramped up their production of different types of spirits.  The Oregon Rye Whiskey […]

It is always good to get a taste of an aged bottle of Michter’s.  This particular bottle of rye was aged 1o years in fire-charred, new American white oak barrels and released in 2016.  Master Distiller Willie Pratt wasn’t happy with the product in 2015 so he refused to release a product in 2015, hoping that […]

A Small Batch Bourbon distilled by the folks at Willet.  It is a surprising smooth pour for a bourbon bottled at 114.3 proof. The nose is smokey and woody with some spicy rye notes showing through.  The taste is filled with rye, yet somehow still smooth.  The finish is long and rich with some of […]

Smooth Ambler is a relatively new to bourbon distilling, founded in West Virginia in 2009, but they have quickly established themselves with a solid slate of products. The Old Scout straight Bourbon Whiskey is aged at least 7 years in old barrels.  It is distilled with high rye mash bill at 36% and bottled at […]

  The 2015 Micther’s 10 Year Old Aged Bourbon or the M10 is a smooth pour.  Michter’s marks the neck of their bottles so you are able to see the year of the release; the numbering on the 2015 release starts with ’15’. The nose is a sweet with chocolate notes.  The sweet, maple flavors […]

Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon Whiskey is distilled by the folks at Buffalo Trace.  No longer considered a single barrel bourbon because an automated assembly line replaced a manual bottling process which means certain bottles could contain two barrels at the switch-over. The nose is sweet and citrusy with oak notes.  The taste is dry […]

Blade and Bow is a relatively new product from Diagio who also produces Bulleit.  Diagio has in its possession as few barrels of whiskey distilled and produced by Stitzel-Weller.  While there is not enough whiskey in the old Stizel-Weller batch to bottle on its own the Diagio team used a solera system to stretch the old […]

  The Parker’s Heritage Malt Whiskey is 65% malted barley and 35% corn, thus it doesn’t qualify to be labeled as a bourbon.  The product is aged for 8 years a bottled without chill filtration at a bold 54% abv. The nose has a funky, charred oak blast with some subtle, sweet vanilla notes.  The […]

The Thomas H. Handy Sazerac is part of the 2015 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection; unfiltered and uncut this clocks in at 63.45% ABV or 126.9 proof.  This bottling process which doesn’t add water or filter the rye helps to preserve a lot of the bold, at times, over the top flavors. The nose has a […]

This is the 14th year that Old Forester released a Birthday Bourbon for their creator, George Garvin Brown.  The bourbon is selected from a single day of production, barreled in 2003 and bottled at 50% abv.  The 2015 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is one of the better years that I have tasted. The nose has a […]

  You might recognize William Larue Weller from some favorites like the W. L. Weller 12 Year.  The William Larue Weller is a wheated bourbon and is one of five bottles that make up the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, arguably the strongest asset within the collection.  Unfiltered and bottled at barrel proof the 2015 version […]

Maybe it seems as easy as buying a bottle of bourbon, opening the bottle, pouring a glass and drinking; but there are some products that can be helpful in pouring that perfect glass of bourbon. 1.  Whiskey Stones – $9.95   The perfect product to cool down your bourbon without watering down the taste. 2. […]

  The Four Roses 2015 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon, as always, is a tough find but an exceptional product.  This will be the last release under Jim Rutledge who is retiring as the Master Distiller at Four Roses for the last 49 years.  There were 12,672 bottles distributed this year at a barrel proof ABV […]

The good people at Jefferson’s have created a barrel aged Manhattan with the help of the Editors of Esquire Magazine.  Normally I would recommend mixing your own Manhattan but this cocktail is barrel aged in bourbon barrels from the Jefferson’s distillery; therefore it is understandable that you may not have room for a bourbon barrel […]

  After aging their bourbon in new American oak barrels, the folks at Jefferson’s Reserve finish this bourbon for nine months in French oak barrels; these barrels once held Groth Cabernet Sauvignon.  You can pick up any number of cask finished bourbons but usually they are finished in barrels from a sweeter wine or even a […]

It seems like an easy enough question but there are material differences between Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, Rye and Whiskey; there are requirements that must be fulfilled before a distiller can label a product as Bourbon.  In 1964 Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson administration declared bourbon the America’s Native Spirit. In order to declare a product […]

There are a lot of bourbon brands out there, many of these unique brands are distilled by the same people.  Here are a a few of our favorite bourbon brands, their distillers and some of their best products: 1.  Pappy Van Winkle The hype has officially got out of control on all of the Pappy […]

Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, Michigan, created a rye whiskey based on the recipe George Washington distilled himself.  The product. Federalist 12, gets its name from Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Papers.  In Federalist 12, Hamilton promoted the idea of a tax on whiskey to ‘diminish the consumption of it’; it would also be ‘equally favorable to […]

  In 2012 the Reservoir Rye Whiskey won Double Gold in San Francisco at the World Spirit’s competition.  The product was intriguing and unique because it is a 100% rye mash bill. The nose is full of sweet honey and vanilla.  The taste is full of rye and the finish mellows with some of the wood […]