Buffalo Trace distillery announced the release of their latest bourbon experiment which involved the use of infrared light waves. This is the first release in their 2016 Experimental Collection. Previous experimental collections focused on the effects of wood type, barrel toast, and mashbills.

All of the details, announced today, are included in the press release:

BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY RELEASES  BOURBON EXPERIMENT USING INFRARED LIGHT WAVES

Two Experiments Employing Short and Medium Wave Light  Make Up the First Experimental Collection Release for 2016

FRANKFORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY (maj 11, 2016) Buffalo Trace Distillery has engaged in an unconventional way to use infrared light waves for its latest bourbon...

Since 1958, the James E. Pepper distillery has been shuttered and the whiskey was out of production. In 2008, the Georgetown Trading Co. relaunched the brand. A portion of the original distillery site, located in Lexington, Ky., has recently been revitalized within Lexington’s Distillery District.

Yesterday, Georgetown Trading announced that the James E. Pepper distillery will soon be brought back to life. Distilling will take place in the original James E. Pepper distillery building. According to the press release, “Thorough historical research and the collection of historic materials over the years will play an important role in rebuilding the distillery and museum.” A grand-opening for...

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”— Charles Caleb Colton

When Colton, an English cleric, wrote this in the 1820s, bourbon was barely a blip on the radar. Kentucky distillers were placing barrels on flatboats and just beginning their rise. Nobody was interested in imitating bourbon.

Nearly 200 years later though, the word “bourbon” is plastered on everything from candles to soup. Today, bourbon is an international powerhouse with signature brand flavor profiles and U.S. geographical protection.

If foreign distillers slap a “bourbon” label on their spirit, Heaven Hill’s Max Shapira, the industry’s de facto foreign bourbon seeker, will find...

When Four Roses master distiller Jim Rutledge retired last year, he wasn’t the first master distiller to retire before his career was truly over. Woodford Reserve’s Lincoln Henderson retired from Brown-Forman and then started Angel’s Envy. Now, Rutledge joins the extremely rare crop of Kentucky blue blood master distillers to leave the corporate ranks and start his own distillery, which he announced yesterday. Read the Whisky Advocate blog story.

Fred Minnick caught up with Rutledge to discuss his past and new venture.

First, let’s discuss Four Roses. After you retired, speculation surfaced that you were pushed out as Four Roses master...

Jim Rutledge, former master distiller of Four Roses, announced today his plan to build, “… a modern, highly efficient, environmentally friendly, and sustainable distillery near Louisville, Ky.”   Jim retired from Four Roses in september 2015. According to the press release, a 30-day crowd funding campaign will commence in maj to kick off the endeavor Jim, along with two friends and business associates, have initiated. Details are available on the J.W. Rutledge distillery website. The distillery’s website offers the opportunity to vote on the first JW Rutledge-labeled bourbon’s mashbill. Plans include distillation of, “very high quality” Kentucky straight bourbons, a wheated bourbon, and to have a...

Today, Brown-Forman announced their agreement to purchase the BenRiach Distillery Company for approximately £285 million ($416 million) as reported in  Shanken News Daily . This acquisition will add three single malt scotch whisky brands to Brown-Forman’s portfolio: BenRiach, GlenDronach, and Glenglassaugh. Included in the purchase are three malt distilleries, a botttling plant, brand trademarks, and the BenRiach company headquarters located in Edinburgh, Scotland. The transaction is expected to be complete on or about juni 1st of this year.

Paul Varga, Brown-Forman chief executive officer, stated, “T he acquisition of these super premium brands will allow Brown-Forman to re-enter one of our industry’s most exciting...

I first heard of Dave Pickerell when we both worked for Allied Domecq – I was in Scotland working on Scotch whiskies and he in the U.S. with Maker’s Mark. Some years later I had the chance to visit Kentucky and one highlight of that trip was to be shown round Maker’s Mark by Dave. Getting answers to some of the more scientific and technical questions on bourbon was a treat for me. He is an expert on so many things in the production of spirits and respected worldwide for his knowledge and work.

Here he tells us a bit more about...

Brown-Forman has announced the upcoming release of Coopers’ Craft. This is the first new bourbon brand released by the company in 20 years.

According to the company-issued press release, “Coopers’ Craft is a celebration of barrel-making and a recognition of the importance of wood when it comes to crafting bourbon. In addition to being matured in barrels raised by master coopers at the Brown-Forman Cooperage, Coopers’ Craft is crafted using a special beech and birch charcoal filter finishing process, creating a smooth and flavorful bourbon.”

It will be released this summer initially in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South...

In the modern U.S. distilling boom, state legislators have passed distiller-friendly laws that created business opportunities in the likes of New York and Washington.

Lagging far behind has been, of all places, the industry’s stalwart state—Kentucky. And the reason why maj shock you.

In the digital age, Kentucky politicians still serve 1920s-era mindsets with 39 dry counties. Both the Kentucky Democratic and Republican caucuses have agreed to only vote on one alcohol bill a year to avoid potential dry voter fallout. Thus, the state’s political climate has hamstrung the distilling industry and allowed other states to earn craft distiller investments...

John Glaser started Compass Box some 15 years ago and really broke the mold of whisky blend creation and communication at the time. The names of his whiskies and their label designs were quite different from anything else. Since then he has created a host of blends, some grain-only, some malt-only, some a blend of both, and some with other flavors. He’s also ruffled some traditionalist feathers along the way which has made all of us take notice of the boundless possibilities of Scotch whisky. 

Where were you born and raised? 

I’m a Midwesterner, originally. Born in Michigan but grew up...

Whisky Advocate brings you breaking news of the latest Scotch whisky distillery project…

Plans have been unveiled to build Burnbrae distillery in the former Rolls Royce factory in East Kilbride, just south of Glasgow. The new Lowland distillery has been commissioned by Campbell Meyer & Co. Ltd, a company of whisky blenders, bottlers, brokers, and exporters. Their intentions are to construct a new facility capable of producing up to two million liters of alcohol per annum by oktober 2017.

The head of Campbell Meyer & Co. is Colin Barclay, the nephew of Loch Lomond distillery developer Sandy Bulloch. Barclay...

It’s Valentine’s Day, 1990.  Dick Stoll, last master distiller at Michter’s distillery near Schaefferstown, Pa., protege of C. Everett Beam, and distiller of the now-vaunted A.H. Hirsch bourbon, receives a call from the bank that holds the note to the once-proud property. After years of mismanagement and financial impropriety under multiple owners, he is told to lock the doors for the last time…it’s over, for good. On that cold februari day, Dick Stoll is the last man standing at the last distillery in Pennsylvania. He is 57 years old.

With a family to provide for and not a lot to...

Nick Morgan is a very public face of Diageo as their head of whisky outreach.  He’s a roving, yet targeted, advocate of Diageo’s whiskies, not to mention new developments.

He started working life as an academic – a historian – who taught history at Glasgow University and came into whisky marketing by an unusual route: working on all the Diageo archive material. Known also for his guitar-playing talents and a fondness for jazz and blues, he always presents, debates, and responds to questions in a very considered fashion. I caught him just after a recent visit to the U.S.

You seem...

Highland Park Ice Edition 17 year old

Available at specialty whisky retailers, Highland Park’s newest release is the Ice Edition 17 year old, 53.9%. The global release is limited to 30,000 bottles and carries a suggested retail price of £190. According to the press release it was aged predominantly in bourbon casks. Highland Park’s brand director, Jason Craig, describes it as having, “…classic Highland Park flavor…soft spicy notes complement and intertwine with creamy vanilla hues, providing a balanced, long finish—a truly harmonious whisky to savor.”

The blue-tinted bottle represents, “dazzling and glittering ice.” It is presented in a mountain-shaped wooden...

Ah, I’m 30,000 feet above ground, my ear buds playing my favorite band—Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young—and the beverage cart comes rolling up to my coach seat.

“What will you have, sir?” the airline attendant asks.

I reply: “What bourbons do you have?”

“Dewar’s,” she says.

“That’s a blended scotch, ma’am,” I say.

“Okay, we have…” She pulls the cart drawers in and out, the little minis sloshing around as other passengers peek at the selection. “Canadian Club, here we go.” She twists the cap before I can tell her that good old Canadian Club isn’t bourbon. Other passengers are waiting...

Signaling the significance of the event, Diageo sent a senior whisky team to the intimate dinner in London held to celebrate the 200 ^th Anniversary of the legal founding of Lagavulin distillery.  Guests were greeted by David Gates, global head – premium core spirits along with Dr. Nick Morgan, head of whisky outreach, distillery manager Georgie Crawford, and colleagues from the Diageo archives and brand teams.

Dr. Nick Morgan

With 200 years of history to acknowledge, Morgan referenced in his remarks a number of distinguished commentators on Lagavulin, reminding us that the world’s first whisky writer Alfred Barnard found Lagavulin,...

In our occasional series of Tweet-style interviews, Caroline Dewar brings us a recent discussion with Mark Reynier of Renegade Spirits , Waterford distillery, Ireland. As always, it’s 140 characters or less (we don’t count the spaces) in the answers.

Mark Reynier was previously the CEO at Bruichladdich distillery, the man who put together the investors to buy it and reawaken it from slumbers in 2000. With a team including Jim McEwan and Duncan McGillivray, they went on to launch some great whiskies and market them in their own, rather alternative fashion.

Following the sale of Bruichladdich to Remy Cointreau in...

The Spring 2016 issue of Whisky Advocate magazine will be hitting the newsstand in early mars. Here’s a sneak preview of this issue’s Buying Guide; the 10 highest-rated whiskies.  We welcome Fred Minnick to our review team and feature 117 reviews in this issue’s Buying Guide.

#10 – Laphroaig 32 year old, 46.5%, $1,500

A (very) special anniversary bottling, this is old-style, brooding Laphroaig. Fully mature and rich, it shows that classic roiling mass of kelp, oil, and brine, always balanced by sweetness: in this case autumn berry fruits. Malt adds a crunchiness. The palate is gentle and slow with...

Wine-by-the-glass dispensing systems have been around for years. Wine bars and other establishments in the hospitality and food service industries find this method of dispensing, well, indispensable. Consistent and accurate pours keep customers happy and the establishment’s bottom line healthy.

Whisky lovers maj soon be able to enjoy this same self-serve experience at our favorite bar or restaurant. Napa Technology recently announced the launch of SpiritStation, a U.S. made dispensing system geared for spirits and batch cocktails.

Jayne Portnoy, Napa Technology’s vice president of marketing and brand development, stated in a recent press release, “We have seen a trend in...

Ian Buxton jumped at the chance for a one-on-one interview with Dr. Bill Lumsden head of distilling and whisky creation at Glenmorangie. Today, he shares their conversation with us.

Ian Buxton (IB): We’re meeting today because you’re launching Glenmorangie Private Collection VII.  Tell me a little about that. How did it come about? Dr. Bill Lumsden (BL): Glenmorangie Milsean (the Gaelic word Milsean means “sweet things”) was a whisky I created in a slightly different way. Rather than using different barrels or using different raw materials and waiting to see what the outcome was, I actually targeted a particular flavor...