The Top Whiskeys From February 2017

Laws Whiskey House is a grain-to glass distillery in Denver, Colorado. The distillery makes a variety of whiskeys, all using heirloom grains from family-owned Colorado farms. To make their Tricticum Straight Wheat Whiskey, 100% soft white Centennial wheat grown in Colorado is used. The distillery utilizes open-air fermentation and the whiskey is double distilled in their Vendome four-plate pot/column still. Aged no less than 3 years in 53-gallon new American white oak barrels and bottled at 50% ABV.

This single cask whisky is part of a twin decanter set with Kavalan’s Manzanilla Single Cask whisky. Both decanters are twisted in such a way that they can be joined together to look like one decanter. The whisky is bottled at cask strength at 56.3%.

Released in 2016, the Jameson Deconstructed Series is intended to showcase different aspects of the production process and their contribution to the overall flavor in the brand's core range. Master Distiller Brian Nation has broken the taste of Jameson into three main components: Bold, Lively, and Round, and has selected different casks that highlight each of these aspects for each of the bottlings. The Round emphasizes the contribution of the wood casks during the maturation process. It's been triple-distilled and bottled at 40% ABV. Note: This is a Global Travel Retail exclusive.

Released in 2016, the Jameson Deconstructed Series explores different aspects of the production process and examines their contribution to the overall flavor in the core range. Brian Nation, Jameson's Master Distiller, has "deconstructed" the taste of Jameson into three main components: Bold, Lively, and Round and selected vattings to emphasize each of these aspects of the whiskey. Jameson Lively emphasizes the contribution of grain whiskey to Jameson's characteristic taste. Triple distilled it's bottled at 40% ABV. Note: This is a Global Travel Retail exclusive.

Released in 2016, the Jameson Deconstructed Series highlights different aspects of the production process for their core-range whiskies. Brian Nation, the Master Distiller, has separated Jameson's signature flavor into three main components: Bold, Lively, and Round, and, accordingly, has selected different casks that highlight each component. The Bold emphasizes the contribution of the pot-still whiskey (malted and unmalted barley) to Jameson's characteristic taste. Triple distilled it's bottled at 40% ABV. Note: This is a Global Travel Retail exclusive.

Black Velvet Whisky was first introduced in 1951 and uses water sourced from the Canadian Rockies and the finest grains (rye and corn). Instead of blending at bottling, the whiskies are blended at distillation. Black Velvet Reserve is the older expression of the distillery's flagship that has aged for 8 years in oak barrels.

Until his death in 1968, Brown-Forman president George Garvin Brown II, selected cask-strength single barrels of this bourbon bottled for an exclusive contingent of bourbon aficionados - a very rare practice at this time. A small amount of these whiskeys have been sold back to Old Forester and released with labels bearing the names of the barrel owners as well as any known details about the whiskey (how old, where stored in which warehouse, etc.), many of which date back to the 1950s. The particular sample tasted for this review bears the name of Edward Schottland on the label, and was aged for 8 years in what was Warehouse A, though exact year of bottling is unknown. NOTE: Collector's item: results will vary depending on the source. Best bet for purchasing is to go directly to the distillery or from a trusted collector.

Made from 100% Michigan-grown rye from Ann Arbor's Wing Farm, this is an unaged whiskey and is distilled and bottled in Detroit. It is bottled at 50.5% ABV.

A local brewery finishes some of their stout in used Pinckney Bend whiskey barrels. They return the favor by giving the barrels back to Pinckney who then finishes their American Rested Whiskey (80% corn, 15% barley, and 5% rye), in them. Note this bottling is only available at the distillery in 200 ml sized bottles.

Longrow is a peated range of whiskies that has been distilled at Springbank since 1973. Sprinkbank boasts a long history and pride in still conducting 100% of their production on site. Double-distilled and aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels. These bottles show that peated whiskies can be made outside of Islay. Bottled at 92 proof with no coloring.