David Tao
It seems Jack Daniel’s is capitalizing on momentum after successful releases of their Bonded and Triple Mash whiskeys in 2022, both of which carried bottled-in-bond designations. While on a recent trip to their Lynchburg, Tennessee distillery, company reps told me both releases received better-than-expected responses from consumers and critics alike. Now, the Brown-Forman owned whiskey…
Aspiring distillers have been known to take big risks to get into the industry. For husband and wife team Marsh & Jan Mokhtari, that moment came in 2016, when they sold their house to finance Golden State Distillery and start a new gin brand. After hundreds of batches, they launched Gray Whale Gin with a…
Ben Holladay Distillery is keen on putting Missouri on the map among bourbon fans. Their Bottled-in-Bond Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey launched those efforts via their own distillate, which was then aged and bottled in Weston (population under 2,000). Now, they’re on the market with their second expression: Another bottled-in-bond bourbon, this time with soft red…
Though they’ve released a range of American whiskeys over the last few years — Lost Lantern’s Spring 2023 releases featured a variety of single malt and bourbon whiskeys — the independent bottler is focusing on bourbon for Summer 2023. As such, this season’s Blend Series, Single Distillery Series, and Single Cask Series all feature cask-strength…
The second Booker’s Bourbon release of 2023 is upon us, and this one dives deep into the Noe family archives for its naming inspiration. According to the official release notes for Booker’s “Apprentice Batch”: This batch pays homage to the beginning of Booker Noe’s distilling career when he first learned the art of making bourbon…
Alan Kennedy is a busy man these days. An experienced sommelier, chef, and bar manager, Kennedy is also a relatively new father in addition to spending much of his time on the road for spirits work. In June 2023, he was announced as Redemption’s new Master Blender, a crucial role for a brand originally built…
While sake has long been more familiar to American palates, shochu is finally ready for its moment in the sun. Unlike sake, which is a brewed rice wine, shochu is Japan’s native distilled spirit, with remarkable utility for consumption neat, on the rocks, in cocktails, and beyond. And at a proof point normally hovering between…
Whiskey is (usually) a slow business. New categories develop only sporadically as distillers explore corners of the market while introducing consumers to new flavor profiles. While emerging categories like American Single Malts and Indiana Rye are creeping into our drinking vocabularies, one relatively new category is getting its moment in the sun with a new…
The American Single Malt category is booming. And though the movement was largely spearheaded by craft producers, major distillers — including the bourbon world’s biggest producers — are hopping on the train. Actually, it’s more accurate to say they did so years ago, because that distillate has now come of age. A prime example is…
Since 2020, Raj Bhakta’s eponymous second act in spirits has built a reputation as one of the most interesting companies in alcohol. First came Bhakta’s vintage blended Armagnac, which carried a 50 year age statement and included liquid dating back to 1868. Next up were single vintages, more brandies (including calvados), a finished bourbon, and…