Review Posts

Bristol Beer Factory Southville Hop

With so many beers in the world, it's sometimes easy to lose touch with an old favourite. That's especially true if it's from a different part of the country and so rarely shows up in local bars and shops; even when buying online it's too tempting to pick new and exciting beers, rather ...

Shepherd Neame Barley Wine

Quite a while ago the lovely folks at Shepherd Neame sent me a bottle of their Barley Wine. As they mentioned that it would probably age quite nicely, I stuck it in the back of the cupboard and forgot all about it. A quick search suggests that was back in summer 2014 - ...

London Brewing Samson's Riddle

I'm very lucky to have a fantastic brewery withing walking distance of my house, in the form of the London Brewing Company. I've been a fan of their beers for years, so when I started thinking about a Christmas Day beer I pretty much knew it would be a growler from them. Up ...

Jim Beam Distiller's Masterpiece

So we've reached the end of another Advent period, and another delicious calendar full of spirits from the lovely folk at Master of Malt. Although there have been one or two low scorers, overall it's been a thoroughly enjoyable collection (if a little Kentucky-heavy). I was expecting something a bit special for the 24th and, ...

Blanton's Straight From the Barrel

Another bourbon from Blanton's, having previously enjoyed their Gold Edition. It's nice to see that when it comes to their single barrel offerings, Blanton's clearly label each bottle with the barrel details - worth bearing in mind, given that the bourbon will vary from barrel to barrel. Blanton's Straight From The Barrel is the high ...

Four Roses Small Batch

Four Roses have been a regular in this year's calendar but looking at the scores from both the straight bourbon and single barrel, that's no bad thing. The big question is, can they make it three hits in a row? Four Roses Small Batch sits neatly in the middle of the previous two offerings, both ...

Jefferson's Reserve

Back to Jefferson's, which fills me with trepidation after being fairly unimpressed with their standard bourbon. Still, I was impressed with their Presidential Select a few years ago so this could go either way! Jefferson's Reserve is marketed is the "bigger brother" to their standard bourbon, bottled at a slightly higher 45.1% ABV and with a ...

Elijah Craig 12 Year Old Barrel Proof

Back to Kentucky, and back to Elijah Craig. More interestingly, back to a 12 year old bourbon but this time bottled at barrel proof (or 'cask strength', in English!) - considering how much I enjoyed the standard 12 Year Old edition, this could be a very interesting dram indeed. Elijah Craig 12 Year Old Barrel ...

Hudson Baby Bourbon

Hudson Whiskey was the first whiskey distillery to open in New York State since Prohibition, having opened their doors ten years ago. Since then they've been joined by an increasing flood of fellow producers, with some sources suggesting that the state's distilleries are up into triple figures! Baby Bourbon is a 100% corn bourbon, bottled ...

Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage 2004

After bemoaning the problem of "mass market" single barrel bourbon, it's nice to see Evan Williams taking a slightly different approach - by providing a vintage, they give themselves the flexibility to explore different flavour profiles every year, and expose some of that individuality I was muttering about yesterday. Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage 2004 ...