One of the best things about my local spirits shop is that some of the smaller whiskey producers show up every so often. In this case, I was walking through one evening after work and ran into Michelle Kooper herself offering free samples of her Sweetheart of the Rodeo whiskey, and I was immediately interested. I bought a bottle and took it home for further study.

Jack Daniels is branching out, trying new things. One of their newest creations is a rye whiskey with a distinctively light label. Today, we give it a try and see if it lives up to the Jack Daniels name.

I enjoy walking down the lesser traveled aisles of the local liquor store. There’s always some unique options, and more often than not I can find a surprisingly cheap and delicious spirit that’s a little off the beaten path. On a recent trip, I spotted Cascade Blonde American Whiskey and I knew that I needed to try it out.

I like the Evan Williams line of bourbon. It’s one of my favorite budget priced spirits, a great balance of taste and affordability. But what happens when you try to elevate a bottom-shelf whiskey? Will it be something like a single barrel bottling of hand selected vintages? That’s what we’re looking at today, asking ourselves if it’s worth the price tag.

I love whiskey. (In case you couldn’t tell from the fact that I run a whiskey blog.) So when I visit a new city and I find a bar that styles itself as a ‘whiskey bar’, I get excited and immediately make plans to visit. Sometimes I fall in love, but other times I leave confused and disappointed. So what exactly makes the difference?

Scotch whisky tends to have a specific “fingerprint”, or flavor profile that defines the genre. The presence of a smokey aroma from the peat-fueled ovens tends to be that defining feature, and yet the best selling single malt scotch whisky in Scotland doesn’t follow suit. Instead, Glenmorangie seems to be chasing its own vision of what a scotch whisky should taste like.