We’ve reviewed endless bottles of bourbon around here, so it was only a matter of time before came up with our own personal list of some of the best bourbons to drink in 2022.  Bottoms up. As Brostrick’s official bourbon taste-tester, I’ve purchased, tested, researched, and personally reviewed over 80 different bottles of some of […]

Finding a really delicious and high-quality bourbon doesn’t have to break the bank.  Check out our picks for some of the best “cheap” bourbons – most of which are $50 and under – so far this year. You shouldn’t have to drive all across Kentucky to find good, affordable bourbon.  Production of bourbon is at […]

There are a lot of bourbon brands out there and many of these unique brands are distilled by the same folks.  Check out my official list of the best bourbon brands so far in 2022! As you know, I’ve been reviewing major bourbon brands around here since 2014 and consider myself an aficionado on all […]

A hands-on review of Bulleit Bourbon Barrel Strength.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. 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 […]

A hands-on review of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. The Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is aged for 12 years and bottled without chill filtering, straight from the barrel. That unique bottling processes leads to the strong 140.2 proof and ultimately defines it as a Barrel Proof bourbon.  The tasting notes […]

A hands-on review of Michter’s US*1 Toasted Barrel Finish Bourbon.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. Michter’s took the US*1 Bourbon and added it to a second barrel assembled from 18 month air dried wood that is toasted but not charred.   The second barrel process is what creates the unique flavor in the US*1 Toasted Barrel […]

A hands-on review of Willett Family Estate 2-Year.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. Although Willett Distilling Company is in fact not a distiller at all, it has masterfully bottled some of the best bourbon and rye though its parent company, Kentucky Bourbon Distillers.  The company creates lots of amazing products under the Willett […]

A hands-on review of Parker’s Heritage Wheat Whiskey 13 Year.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. The Parker’s Heritage Collection Original Batch 2014 is made from a 51% wheat mash and aged in new, charred, oak barrels thus this is not bourbon at all but it is a wheat whiskey.  It is cask strength so […]

A hands-on review of Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. 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 […]

A hands-on review of Old Bardstown Estate Bottled.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. Old Bardstown Estate Bottled is a another solid label created by the folks at Willett.  Much like Johnny Drum it also comes with a reasonable price tag, if you can pick up a bottle. It is a well decorated product that […]

A hands-on review of Noah’s Mill Bourbon.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. 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 […]

A hands-on review of Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10.  The good, the bad, and the delicious. You get used to seeing the same bourbon bottles on the shelf of the local liquor store.  Some days, even though there are new products on the shelf, most of them are not worth buying.   But if you have […]

George T. Stagg is a part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.  The bourbon is aged in new charred oak barrels for at least 15 years.  It is a powerful product that is packs a real punch because it is uncut and unfiltered, thus it is 138.1 proof.  You can open it up with a a little […]

Jefferson’s Ocean is bourbon that is uniquely barreled at sea.  The process is thought to replicate many original types of bourbons that were shipped via boat and thus unknowingly aged at sea.  Today the folks at Jefferson take the barrels around the world to 5 different continents, crossing the equator 4 times during the journey. […]

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. […]

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 […]

  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 […]

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac is part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, BTAC.  The product is named after the New Orleans Bartender that created the Sazerac cocktail with rye whiskey.  Much like the George T. Stagg it is bottled directly from the barrel, unfiltered and uncut with water. The nose, surprisingly doesn’t ‘bark’ at you despite […]

The 2 Year Rye from Willett, reviewed here, is the perfect everyday rye.  The longer aged 8 Year Rye is cask strength and bottled at an 58.3% ABV.  This particular tasting is from the barrel labeled 01A, note that each barrel will have different flavor profiles. The nose is full of spicy rye with some underlying sweet […]

  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 […]

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 […]

Four Roses has 10 traditional recipes that they blend to create each of their bourbons.  This year’s 2014 Limited Edition Small Batch is derived from the 13-year-old Bourbon from Four Roses’ OBSV recipe, 12-year-old OESV, 11-year-old OBSF and 9-year-old OBSK. It has a wonderful sweet nose to it coupled with an orange, citrus note.  The sweet […]

Rowan’s Creek is another product made from the distinguished folks at Willett.  The bourbon is aged in charred oak barrels and bottles at 100.1 proof. The nose is sweet with peach and hints of mint.  The taste is spicy with carmel and some of the oak coming through.  A little water or even a cube […]

  I pulled out a bottle of Four Roses from last year, that is still a big winner.  Not to be confused with the Four Roses 2014 Limited Edition.  This particular bottle is from a single barrel, 47-3D; and bottled at barrel proof, 118 proof. The nose is spicy with a nice amount of orange […]

  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 […]

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 […]

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.  […]

High West is a distillery in Park City Utah that makes a lot of high quality bourbons and ryes.  You really can’t go wrong with any of their products.  Their Rendezvous Rye is one of my favorites. They recently released a limited run of the Rendezvous Rye called A Midwinter Nights Dram.  Interestingly, it is finished in […]

Eagle Rare, like George T. Stagg,  is one of five pieces of the Buffo Trace Antique collection.  This particular bottle is from the Spring 2014 collection and is bottled at 90 proof. The nose is fragrant with notes of cinnamon and cedar.  The flavor is fantastic and the proof is spot on; vanilla and tobacco […]

The Jonny Drum Private Stock is a great bourbon and for the price it is an exceptional bourbon.  Jonny Drum, distilled by Willett, also makes a more entry level Green Label bourbon that is aged for four years. The nose is spicy with woody hints, you can tell it is a youthful bourbon.  The taste is […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

Old Weller Antique is another bourbon label distilled by the good folks at Buffalo Trace but most of the chatter you hear about Old Weller is its connection to Pappy.

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 […]

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 […]

  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 […]

I have documented my love for Willett, in particular, their 2 Year Rye as an everyday product that everyone will love.  So naturally I jumped at the chance to try the once a year release of the Exploratory Cask finish, or XCF, that is their 7-Year Rye finished in Curacao casks from France for about […]

Clyde May’s is technically an Alabama style Whiskey, not a bourbon, distilled in Kentucky and bottled in Florida.  A little bit of research reveals the use of dried apples or apple flavorings is what keeps it from being labeled a bourbon. The nose is fragrant with sweet apples.  The taste is surprisingly spicy with a […]

  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 […]

  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, […]

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 […]

    You don’t see many bourbons that are bottled-in-bond these days.  The distinction was created in 1897 by the Bottled-In-Bond Act due to low quality hooch killing Americans.  The government asked that distillers age their product a minimum of four years, produce a product of 100 proof and finally it must be distilled from […]

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 […]

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 […]

Johnny Drum is a bourbon label made by Willett.  I find it to be both delicious and very reasonably priced.  It comes with a tiny booklet explaining that Johnny Drum was a drummer in the confederate army who returned home from the Civil War, to Kentucky, and distilled bourbon with his excess corn crop.  It used […]