Reviews

“Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in old clothes.” –Don Marquis This is a bottle I have been hunting for some time. I'm not sure if we've historically had distribution for Old Charter Oak available in Massachusetts, but when a bottle was sitting in the glass cabinet at one of my local stores for a hair above MSRP, I pulled the trigger without a second thought. For some reason it took me a few weeks to open this one after waiting years to finally taste it. Fr

May 26, 2026 (Bardstown, KY.) — Instead of leaving annual volume loss to the angels, Bardstown Bourbon Company has found a way to fill the empty space in its latest Distillery Reserve. Distillery Reserve Mars Single Malt Japanese Blend, a pioneering release that bridges Kentucky bourbon and Japanese whisky traditions in an entirely new way, is available in extremely limited quantities beginning May 29, 2026. Developed in collaboration with Japan’s Mars distilleries, this limi

“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” – Jackie Robinson The unconditional kindness and proclivity towards sharing that is inherent in the whiskey community is one of my favorite parts about being in this industry. It's the direct message that turns into a dear friend—when someone goes above and beyond to help you expand your palate and experience because that is simply what brings them joy. That's what I got from striking up a conversation with

“Average is always a safe choice, and it is the most dangerous choice you can make.” – Erwin Raphael McManus I'm always grateful to try new releases—to be one of the first to bring you the truth in a bottle. When my good friend Jason Kass heard I had not yet tried the 26A release, despite being known as "The Stagg Man," he swiftly brought over his bottle so we could fresh crack it together. His kindness didn't end there, though; he left me with another 2 ounces so I could pol

Jos. A. Magnus & Co is a brand perhaps most notable for this very release: The Cigar Blend. Named after the man himself, Joseph A. Magnus was a 19th-century distiller and blender in Cincinnati, who founded his whiskey business in the late 1800's and was most notable as a pre-Prohibition blender "ahead of his time." The business was shuttered by Prohibition and remained dormant until 2015, when the great-grandson of Magnus, Jimmy Bedell, ushered in the brand's revival. A shor

“What's it mean; are you determined To make modern all mankind? If so, you should be be-sermoned And brought back to healthy mind.” – Charles C. Abbott At the last quarterly tasting for the Whisky Legends, several interesting and historically significant bottles turned up on the sidebar for the weekend. Being from the Boston area and having tasted a Bixby bottled Old Crow at a previous Legends tasting, one bottle in particular caught my eye. Enter my first introduction to Old