Drew Beard

Drew Beard is assistant editor for Drinkhacker and winner of several booze-related merit badges, including Certified Specialist in Spirits and Executive Bourbon Steward. A former federal employee turned hotelier and spirits journalist, he looks forward to his next midlife crisis.

Review: One Eight Distilling District Made Straight Bourbon

By Drew Beard | June 4, 2018 |

We reviewed a handful of products from Washington, D.C.-based One Eight Distilling late last year, including Rock Creek Rye, which was the first whiskey to be distilled, aged, and bottled in the District since Prohibition. But the distillery hasn’t let off the gas, delivering D.C.’s first straight bourbon not long after those reviews. Now with…

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Review: The Street Pumas Blended Scotch Whisky

By Drew Beard | May 15, 2018 |

Back in March, we introduced you to three spirits from The Street Pumas line with a promise of a blended Scotch whisky that was still on its way over from Scotland at the time. Well, it finally made it stateside, complete with the same unique comic strip label as the rum, vodka, and gin. The…

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Top 10 Bourbons Under $20

By Drew Beard | May 10, 2018 |

The popularity of bourbon in recent years has not surprisingly coincided with an upward trend in prices. It’s now not uncommon to stare at a liquor store shelf full of bottles priced over fifty dollars, with a growing number twice that expensive. This obviously wasn’t always the case. In fact, for much of its post-WWII…

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Review: Old Parr Blended Scotch Whisky 12 Years Old

By Drew Beard | May 7, 2018 |

At Drinkhacker, we strive to bring you reviews of the latest and the greatest in the spirits world, as well as the tried and true classics, but sometimes there’s a bottle out there that gets lost on our shelves. Old Parr Blended Scotch Whisky 12 Years Old has been one of those bottles. Old Parr…

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Tasting Report: Jack Rose Dining Saloon’s Premier Drams 2018

By Drew Beard | April 26, 2018 |

Not many bars can throw their own whiskey festival, but when a bar happens to have the largest selection of whiskey in the Western Hemisphere, it becomes an ideal setting. Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, DC held its inaugural and appropriately named Premier Drams festival on March 25, and we were invited. The bar…

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Review: Jefferson’s Presidential Select Twin Oak 16 Years Old

By Drew Beard | April 21, 2018 |

It’s been a few years since Jefferson’s released a new addition in their Presidential Select line. While Jefferson’s has a considerable lineup of bourbon and rye, the Presidential Select bottlings have always been the most glamorous, owing to the fact that the first releases, like the now legendary Jefferson’s Presidential Select 17 Years Old, included…

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Tasting Report: Rhone Valley Wines at Mondovino, 2018

By Drew Beard | April 14, 2018 |

I recently had the opportunity to attend Mondovino, an annual tasting event in Northern Virginia hosted by Kysela Pere et Fils wine distributors. The company was founded by a Master Sommelier whose own father is one of the larger wine collectors in America, so it was no surprise that the event showcased an exceptionally well-curated…

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Review: Spreewood Distillers Stork Club Straight Rye Whiskey

By Drew Beard | April 5, 2018 |

Although it may seem like it, the explosion in craft whiskey distilling over the last decade hasn’t been confined to America alone. Even countries without a tradition of whiskey-making have started to get in on the game. Germany’s Spreewood Distillers is a great example of this trend. In a country better known for schnapps and…

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Review: Los Amantes Mezcal Reposado

By Drew Beard | April 2, 2018 |

We reviewed Los Amantes Mezcal Joven way back in 2013 when mezcal wasn’t nearly as popular as it has become today. We were impressed then, so we were excited to sample the reposado offering. Like the joven, this Oaxacan mezcal is made by hand with the most traditional of methods. It’s crafted from 100% Espadin…

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Review: Weller 12 Years Old (2018)

By Drew Beard | March 23, 2018 |

Van Winkle bourbons have become essentially inaccessible to the vast majority of bourbon drinkers, so naturally the hysteria has trickled down to other brands in the Buffalo Trace portfolio. The Weller line, which shares the same wheated mashbill as the highly coveted Van Winkles, has been the recipient of the majority of this secondhand enthusiasm.…

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