Advent Posts

Roughstock Montana Bourbon

Another day, another state and this time it's Montana! Roughstock was the first legal distillery in Montana since Prohibition, and the first to be making whiskey in the state for over 100 years. Since this review first appeared, the distillery has sadly closed. Roughstock Montana Bourbon is a blend of four different whiskies with varying ...

Smooth Ambler Contradiction

Smooth Ambler is a young distillery, only starting in 2009. Founded in West Virginia and inspired by the growing craft distillery scene, they've followed the now-common model of producing gin and vodka to support themselves until their bourbon stocks are old enough to sell. They also have a range of older bourbons called 'Old Scout', ...

Booker's 7 Year Old True Barrel Bourbon

Booker's Bourbon is a small batch bourbon brand - indeed, their website claims to have invented the term "small batch" back in 1992. That claim seems implausible - although I suppose every marketing term has to get used for the first time at some stage - and of course even before then, distilleries were ...

Evan Williams Extra Aged

I've encountered Evan Williams before. Their Single Barrel 2003 showed up in last year's Whisky Advent Calendar, and I think was probably even responsible for me starting to daydream of a dedicated Bourbon Calendar! Indeed, I think I've encountered today's dram before although back then it was simply labelled as Evan Williams Extra. That was several ...

Michter's US*1 Bourbon

Michter's is another Kentucky-based distillery, but with a curious marketing tale. Their website talks about how they're "proud to honor a historical legacy tracing back to the founding of America’s first whiskey company in 1753", but that isn't the whole story. That "first whiskey company" was started in Pennsylvania by John and Michael Shenk, passing ...

Bulleit Bourbon

Today we move to what I instinctively think of as the home of bourbon - Kentucky. Although Bulleit is a relatively young distillery - it was only founded in 1987 - its whiskey is inspired by the work of the founder's great great grandfather Augustus Bulleit, who was making bourbon throughout the middle part ...

FEW Bourbon

We start this glorious December Of Bourbon with a dram from FEW Spirits. Evanston, Illinois seems an unlikely place to find a distillery considering that it was a 'dry community' as recently as 1972. In these enlightened days there isn't a US State that doesn't have at least one distillery, however. FEW Bourbon is one of ...

Tis The (pre) Season

The clocks have gone back; the leaves are falling from the trees; the TV adverts are all pushing perfume and package holidays. Yes, it's nearly that time of year again - Christmas! The first sign is the appearance of 'seasonal' coffees, as Starbucks starts adding more and more things to my latte. But this is ...

Lost Distilleries Blend - Batch 6

I've tasted whisky from The Lost Distilleries before, and was pretty impressed by it. As the name suggests, these are blends made from whiskies made in distilleries that are no longer with us. Unsurprisingly, this results in some expensive bottles - around the £350 mark, if you can even find them. The Lost Distilleries Blend ...

Macallan Amber 1824 Series

The 1824 Series from Macallan is a range of sherry-aged whiskies. The range carries no age statement, and each whisky is named simply for its colour - from Gold through to Ruby. 1824, of course, refers to the year in which the distillery was originally founded. Macallan Amber 1824 Series is from the paler ...