As mentioned in our review of Maker’s Mark Marshmallow Krispy Treat, Maker’s does a fairly substantial presence on the shelves as private selections (or store picks).   These picks are made up of combinations of finishing staves to impart different flavors on 5 – 7 year old Maker’s Mark Cask Strength.  The finished Maker’s Mark Cask […]

If you just want to have your Old Forester with a bit more power, then you should consider Old Forester Single Barrel – Barrel Strength Bourbon.   As the name implies, these bottles are made up of single barrels, and barreled at barrel strength. Unsurprisingly, they’re quite high in proof, and suggest that they might also […]

The Bijou was among perhaps the first cocktails created.  Showing up around 1900, this cocktail was originally made by Harry Johnson.  The original drink was served with ice, but later evolved to be served up.  Like many pre-prohibition era cocktails, this drink owes it’s revival to Dale Degroff, who rediscovered and popularized it. Bijou Bijou […]

Most people don’t look to add a banana liqueur to their bar unless they either love bananas, or are planning on using it for something really specific.  If you happen to be looking for a high quality banana liqueur, Giffard Banane du Bresil might be just the ticket.  Made from slow macerated bananas mostly from […]

Old Forester offers three different bottlings at 100 proof.  We’ve covered two of these, the Signature 100 and the 1897 Bottled-In-Bond, both of which can be found on the shelf easily.  What’s less common is the highly sought after Old Forester Single Barrel.  Barreled at 100 proof, this offering proposes flavors with less proof than […]

The Corpse Reviver #2 bursts onto the scene in 1930 with The Savoy Cocktail Book.  The naming convention here implies that there is a Corpse Reviver #1.  While this is true, it based practically no connection to the delicious 4 part cocktail mentioned below.  In fact, it’s a hangover remedy (and one that sounds fairly […]

While there’s debate about Jack Daniel’s designation as bourbon, there’s no denying amongst the bourbon community that Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof tends to be fantastic.  Similar to Wild Turkey Rare Breed, this offering appeals to both high proof hunters and those looking for an amped up flavor experience compared to their normal day […]

Teeling’s history ultimately ends up with it being the first new distillery built in Dublin in nearly 125 years.  To get to this point, you have to start back in 1782 when Walter Teeling starts his Teeling distillery.  According to From Barley to Blarney*, it went for over a century before being bought by Jameson […]

We’re almost to St. Patrick’s Day, and we wanted to squeeze in one more cocktail featuring Irish Whiskey.  There sadly aren’t a ton of cocktails that feature Irish Whiskey as their primary ingredient, so I turned to The Dead Rabbit’s From Barley to Blarney* for idea.  The book is fantastic if you’re interested in Irish […]

We started at the entry level with Redbreast 12, before slightly escalating things to their Lustau edition.  While three more years are only a quarter of the age of Redbreast 12, they represent a near 100% increase in price when going from the 12 to the Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey.  Made from exclusively […]

r/Bourbon loves to get locked into a existential argument when the topic of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 comes up.  While Jack Daniel’s is a whiskey, it isn’t bourbon mostly because of an extra step (they actually meet all the criteria to technically be bourbon), charcoal mellowing.  Once distilled, their whiskey is passed through maple […]

For this year’s original St. Patrick’s Day cocktail, I’ve chosen the name Mo Chara.  Meaning “My Friend” in Gaelic, this drink’s name is a nod to the way in which this cocktail was created.  Starting with an Old Pal (or Boulevardier if you think of bourbon whiskey first), it then took a twist through a […]