WhiskyFest is celebrating its 20th anniversary in New York on november 16th, and, with over 110 tables pouring nearly 500 different whiskies, it’s going to be quite the celebration. As always, Scotch and bourbon lovers will find plenty to enjoy. Plus, craft distillers from around the United States will be sharing their unique and exciting whiskeys at WhiskyFest. Craft whiskey is incredibly diverse and constantly changing, and even longtime fans will find new drams to try. Don’t worry if you aren’t sure where to start—this guide offers tips for making the most of all of WhiskyFest’s craft whiskeys. (You can...

Whiskey distillers come from all walks of life, including the armed services. And for many veterans, making whiskey isn’t just a passion—it’s a way to use skills gained during their service, to employ their brothers and sisters in arms, and to give back to their communities. “Transitioning veterans need a good support system, especially if they are battling disability or PTSD,” explains Jason Justice, founder of Justice Label Distillery in Sinton, Texas.

A PTSD sufferer himself, Justice understands the importance of such support. He currently employs three veterans part-time. “I have had success placing these individuals into roles that they...

Few meals are as primally pleasing to prepare as steak cooked on the grill. Summer is when countless Americans get in touch with their inner Neanderthal, carefully choosing the cut, thickness, and age of steaks for a meal of flame-cooked flesh. Whisky, of course, makes a natural partner with flavors of smoke and char, but as it turns out, creating the perfect pairing of whisky and steak requires a little more inspection than you might first think.

“The provenance of the beef is more important than the cut,” says Danny McCallum, chef at Toronto’s premier steakhouse, Jacobs & Co. “While...

While there are hundreds of lost distilleries dotting the countryside north of the border, it’s rare to find whisky from any that closed before the 1980s. And if you do, it’s often more a collector’s item than something you’d open and drink. Here are some of the most popular closed distilleries whose whiskies you can still get your hands on:

Port Ellen

The Port Ellen warehouses: pretty much all that remains of the distillery today

The biggest name in the world of lost distillers. It closed in 1983 without much fanfare, its buildings demolished or repurposed as part of the...

Claret wine casks are not exactly my preferred type of casks for whisky maturation. But sometimes they deliver a very nice result. Enter this Glenburgie 1993 from Cadenhead’s .

It was distilled in september 1993, filled into a bourbon cask and transferred to a refill Claret cask in 2008 before being bottled in Autumn 2017.

Glenburgie 24 yo 1993 (53%, Cadenhead’s Cask Strength 2017, refill Claret cask, 216 btl.)

Nose: bright, aromatic and sweet. Cut apples, hints of berries and peaches. Hints of grapes as well, but other than that the wine influence is very subtle. Pineapple sweets....

Balvenie’s David Stewart was one of the first distillers to experiment with cask finishing, giving a mature whisky a second ageing period in a different cask type. In 1983 he created Balvenie Classic , which was rebranded in 1993 as Balvenie DoubleWood . Nowadays cask finishing is all over the market but it’s fairly new nonetheless.

Since 2012 the normal 12 years old version has an older sibling: Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Years . Matured in American oak ex-bourbon casks and later in European oak sherry casks.

Balvenie 17 yo DoubleWood (43%, OB +/- 2017)

Nose: very fresh and...

Last month Douglas Laing has released the last missing piece of their Remarkable Regional Malt series, The Gauldrons, representing the Campbeltown region.

The Gauldrons in Gaelic means “bay of storms” and this is the bay located west to Campbeltown. The legend says that Robert the Bruce was inspired there by a spider rebuilding his net to keep fighting, hence the golden web on the bottle label and tube.

Since there are only three distilleries in the region, I think we can quite safely assume that 99% (if not 100%) of this blend comes from Glen Scotia and Springbank due to the...

We already had a good Secret Distillery #2 15 yo from That Boutique-y Whisky Company . This is from a different undisclosed distillery though, a Speyside distillery that is “known for its independence and for its massively sherried whiskies”. Enough information.

It is 9 years old and clearly comes from sherry casks.

Secret Distillery #1 9 yo (51,7%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2017, Batch #2, 1220 btl.)

Nose: sherry all the way, on the darker side of the spectrum. Treacle, dark chocolate, soaked raisins and lots of dates. Blackberry jam. Also roasted hazelnuts and some meaty hints. Mouth:...

Rampur...

New whiskies this week truly run the gamut from Irish blends to craft rye, with ages ranging from 8 months to 18 years.

Jameson is launching The Blender’s Dog in the U.S. The whiskey is part of Jameson’s Whiskey Makers Series , which celebrates the different crafts that go into producing a finished whiskey. In Winter 2016, the Blender’s Dog was rated alongside the other two whiskeys in the line, The Cooper’s Croze and The Distiller’s Safe (all were available in Europe first)—and The Blender’s Dog outshined its siblings with a 90-point rating. It should be easy to find on...

Last week, Struan Grant Ralph, Global Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich stopped in our small country during one of his global tour for a series of events organized by the “Hacerem”, the local Glenfiddich Importer. The events focused on the Glenfiddich Experimental Series along with a bonus of rare view on the whisky making progress for Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Reserva Rum Cask Finish.

So it seemed like a good idea and timing to (finally) have an in-depth review of the Glenfiddich Project XX, so I sat down with Struan to discuss the experimental series, project XX and Glenfiddich in the...

Brunch cocktail menus are dominated by Mimosas, Bloody Marys, and Screwdrivers, with rarely a drop of whisky in sight. And that’s a shame, because whisky-based cocktails can easily make for light, refreshing companions to your eggs Benedict and French toast.

“Culturally, it’s ingrained in us to think of whisky in terms of stiff drinks that burn your throat as they go down,” says Gates Otsuji, co-founder of Swig + Swallow and regional chef de bar of New York City’s The Standard . And when it comes to drinking in the morning, it’s taken for granted that low-proof, light drinks like...

Tennessee whiskey is more or less synonymous with Jack Daniel’s . In fact, the only other major distiller of the style is George Dickel . But a new Tennessee whiskey will soon present a third option. It made an early debut at the 2017 San Francisco WhiskyFest (and will reappear at the 2017 New York WhiskyFest ). Distiller Allisa Henley of Sazerac’s as-yet-unnamed Tennessee whiskey distillery provided tastes of the whiskey she and master distiller John Lunn began putting into barrels in juni. Along with the 3 month old whiskey, Henley offered WhiskyFest attendees the opportunity to taste unaged distillate...

Start spreading the news: WhiskyFest New York on november 16th will be the premier whisky event of the year. After all, it’s WhiskyFest’s 20th anniversary, and there will be over 115 tables tables pouring more than 480 whiskies to celebrate. And scotch lovers, rejoice—WhiskyFest New York will have a truly stupendous selection of single malts, blended malts, and blends for you to explore. These highlights are just a small portion of what’s on offer, so be sure to check out the full list —and don’t miss our guide to WhiskyFest , which will help you get the most out of...

The 2017 release of the most coveted whiskeys in the world has arrived: the annual allocation of Pappy Van Winkle and Old Rip Van Winkle will be available for sale starting this month, although the exact timing will vary by state and you’ll have a tough time finding them on the shelf at most stores anyway. The 2017 lineup for Pappy and Old Rip Van Winkle, which are both made at the Buffalo Trace distillery , is as follows, with recommended retail prices noted:

Old Rip Van Winkle 10 year old bourbon 53.5% ABV, $60 Van Winkle Special Reserve 12...