review

Jack Daniel's Bonded Rye Whiskey

Review: Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye

By David Tao | September 17, 2023 |

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…

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The Essential Guide to Oktoberfest Beers

By Clay Tolbert | September 16, 2023 |

Perhaps the greatest informal dad holiday of the entire year, Oktoberfest stands as the king of the brewing calendar. Numerous beers styles are common at these events, with the ironically named Märzen the prevailing style and guiding light for offerings from breweries around the globe for this cereal celebration. Festbier and its variants have become…

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Holladay Soft Red Wheat Bourbon

Review: Holladay Soft Red Wheat Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon

By David Tao | September 7, 2023 |

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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Booker's Apprentice Batch

Review: Booker’s Bourbon “Apprentice Batch” 2023-02

By David Tao | August 21, 2023 |

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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Glenglassaugh 46

Review: Glenglassaugh 46 Years Old

By David Tao | June 7, 2023 |

Founded in 1875, shuttered in 1986, and reopened in 2008, Glenglassaugh has gradually released limited stocks of pre-1986 barrels in tandem with their aged new distillate. (A 50 year old expression aged in a PX sherry cask hit the market around two years ago.) Their latest limited release boasts an eye-popping 46 year age statement…

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Knob Creek Straight Rye Whiskey

Review: Knob Creek Rye 7 Years Old (2023)

By David Tao | May 5, 2023 |

It’s been over a decade since we last reviewed Knob Creek’s flagship rye whiskey, and there’s ample reason to revisit it now. As of March 2023, the previously non-age stated rye now carries a seven year age statement, the first since its national launch in 2012. That’s a noticeable change for a widely available and…

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Chattanooga Whiskey Cabernet Finish

Review: Chattanooga Whiskey Silver Oak Cabernet Cask Finished Malt Whiskey

By David Tao | April 29, 2023 |

For those following craft distilling’s growth in the United States, Chattanooga Whiskey is no stranger. As the distillery approaches their 12th anniversary — and with more of their in-house distillate coming of age — they continue to pump out releases that bend contentions on blending and cask finishes. One of their latest whiskeys is a…

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Whiskey Town 26 Year Old American Whiskey

Review: Whiskey Town American Whiskey 26 Years Old

By David Tao | April 20, 2023 |

Based in San Francisco, Fat Labrador Distillers has gradually released various sourced and wood-finished expressions under the Whiskey Town banner, including a stave-finished, 3 year old bourbon from Indiana. The other of their early sourced releases is an altogether different beast and the first in their “lost barrel” series: a 26 year old American whiskey…

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Booker's Bourbon Pinkie's Batch

Review: Booker’s Bourbon “Pinkie’s Batch” 2022-04

By David Tao | January 31, 2023 |

For Booker’s Bourbon fans, 2022 was a year of both creativity and consistency, at least for the first three releases. A lineup of “Ronnie’s Batch,” “The Lumberyard Batch,” and “Kentucky Tea” gives plenty of classic Beam notes with a couple curve ball tasting notes thrown in. (Stewed tomatoes, anyone?) And while there was a good…

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Sagamore Spirit Creator's Cask

Review: Sagamore Spirit Creator’s Cask Rye

By David Tao | December 18, 2022 |

American whiskey fans have long been stricken with single barrel fever. And for a community based around comparing and contrasting opinions on flavor, that really comes as no surprise. Barrel picks allow us to explore a single producer’s range, all while admiring the variety that can emerge when sipping otherwise identical distillate side-by-side. Some hallmark…

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