Whisky Posts

Elijah Craig 12 Year Old

Elijah Craig is a brand owned by Heaven Hill, who also produce (among others) the Evan Williams we saw last week. The bourbon is named for Rev. Elijah Craig, who - Heaven Hill tells us - invented the bourbon we know today, after a fire in his warehouse charred the barrels that he was going ...

Old Forester

If nothing else, this month is teaching me that the bourbon industry loves a good dose of history. Old Forester goes for the big score, as it turns out to be "America’s First Bottled Bourbon ®" - although that dates from 1870, so that doesn't really beat other brands by a huge margin. They also ...

Four Roses Bourbon

For some reason, I had always got the impression that Prohibition did terrible things to the alcohol industries of the USA. It's often been held up as a major cause of what one might charitably call the "unchallenging flavours" of pre-craft American beer, because everyone forgot what real beer tasted like and the brewing ...

Blanton's Gold Edition

Blanton's Bourbon comes from the same stable as Buffalo Trace, and is produced at their distillery in Franklin, Kentucky. It was (according to their website) the first "single barrel bourbon" when released in 1984, although it also notes that Colonel Blanton (for whom they are named) used to have his favourite single barrels bottled ...

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 ...