bourbon
The spread of the concept of finishing bourbon in various types of casks is largely a result of the work of Woodford Reserve and Angel’s Envy. Today, the American whiskey industry is in a perpetual arms race to see who can come up with the next unique finishing cask to grab consumer intrigue. Despite their…
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Casey Jones Distillery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky is a relatively new distillery on the scene, but they put the whiskey community on notice when taking home Best in Show from the 2023 American Craft Spirits Association. The history of Casey Jones is that of illicit distilling near Golden Pond, but now very licit. Casey Jones refers…
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Since they began procuring whiskey from other producers in 2011, Smooth Ambler hasn’t been shy about labeling the resulting products as sourced. Today, the distillery categorizes its offerings across three labels: Old Scout, a brand for their sourced offerings Founders’ Series, which denotes bottlings with 100 percent in-house distillate Contradiction, with bottlings containing a blend…
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Finally catching up with the final Booker’s Bourbon release for 2023, complete with a new and increasingly “we’re out of names” moniker: “Mighty Fine Batch.” This batch is named in honor of Booker Noe’s signature phrase he’d use to compliment anything he approved of – from his namesake bourbon to his country ham. If you knew…
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Raj Bhakta‘s eponymous spirits line started out as an Armagnac purveyor, but it’s since expanded to whiskey and, now, rum — all of which are designed to showcase these spirits at the peak of their maturity. The product is a blend of two single vintages of Jamaican rum, a 25 year old column still rum…
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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…
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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…
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Booker’s first batched release for 2023 is here, dubbed Charlie’s Batch, in honor of Charlie Hutchens, the craftsman behind the signature wooden box that each Booker’s bottle comes in. (With all due respect to Charlie, as the Booker’s box is indeed awesome, but are we running out of batch name ideas?) This bottling is a…
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Since its launch in 2020, Bhakta — the namesake of multi-time spirits entrepreneur Raj Bhakta — has built its name on brandy releases with eye-popping age statements. Their Bhakta 50 releases utilized Armagnacs barreled between 1868 and 1970; more recent releases include both single barrel vintages and younger brandy blends. Now, Raj Bhakta and team…
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Based out of San Francisco, Fat Labrador Distillers is following a playbook similar to so many other American craft distillers. While their own distillate is aging, they’ve sourced stocks from other major producers to help create both brand awareness and sales. Their Whiskey Town releases cover a variety of mashbills, some of which are finished…
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