Review: Jack Daniels Tennessee Apple
Jack Daniels Tennessee Apple was just released. Flavored whiskey sales growth has slowed since the explosive growth experienced a few years ago, but the market is still growing. Two of the top seven flavored whiskeys are apple flavored. This is not Jack Daniels first apple flavored spirit, shortly after prohibition they released an apple flavored brandy. JD Tennessee Apple should also not be confused with the previously released seasonal Jack Daniels Winter Jack. Winter Jack was made with Jack Daniels Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey, apple cider liqueur and holiday spices. It was bottled at 30 Proof. JD Tennessee Apple is made from their Tennessee whiskey base made from 80% corn, 12% barley, 8% rye, and limestone spring water sourced from a two mile deep cave. After fermenting with starter yeast from a previous batch for 6 days, the mash is distilled once in a large column still. Once distilled to 140 proof the unaged whiskey is mellowed through ten feet of handcrafted charcoal for 3-5 days, then aged in new white oak barrels hand built by Jack Daniels. The 33 separate wood staves are held together by the sheer pressure of the woods precise arrangement. Once assembled the barrels interior is toasted. The Tennessee Whiskey is then blended with apple liqueur made from real green apples, and bottled at 70 proof. Read more 
Review: The Quiet Man Traditional Irish Whiskey
The Quiet Man Traditional Irish Whiskey was launched June 2015 along with The Quiet Man 8 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey. The Quiet Man, or An Fear Ciuin in Gaelic, is named to honor brand founder Ciaran Mulgrew’s father, who spent 50 years as a barman in the pubs of Belfast. A bartender sees a lot and hears a lot of stories but his father told no tales. It was The Barman’s Code. The whiskey is currently sourced, and said to have a high malt component, while their own distilled whiskey matures. It is triple distilled and matured in first fill American oak bourbon casks for 4 years. The Quiet Man is blended and bottled in Derry Ireland. Read more
Review: Kilbrin Irish Whiskey
Kilbrin Irish Whiskey is a private label brand owned and produced by Quality Spirits International. It is imported by Saranty Imports. The brand was established in 2017. Kilbrin Irish Whiskey, and Kilbrin Single Malt 10 Year Old Irish Whiskey are sold at Total Wine and More stores. The name was inspired by the lore of treasure hidden in the parish of Kilbrin. KIlbrin is triple distilled, and made by blending rich malt whiskey, produced from malted barley, with the finest grain whiskey in Ireland. The whiskey is sourced from unknown distilleries, and no age statement appear on the bottle. Read more
Review: Kavanagh Finest Irish Whiskey
Kavanagh Finest Irish Whiskey is a blended Irish whiskey. Our contacts believe the whiskey is distilled and sourced from Kilbeggan Distillery. It is aged for 4 years in ex-bourbon barrels and is currently sold at Total Wine and More stores. If you are not familiar with Total Wine and More, they currently have over 160 stores in 23 states, with more on the way. Total Wine and More also sells Kavanagh Single Grain Irish Whiskey, Kavanagh Single Malt Irish Whiskey, and Kavanagh Irish Cream Liqueur. Read more
Review: Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey
Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey is a single grain whiskey made from corn and malted barley. The label honors and pictures St. Kevin who is said to have stood still with his arms stretched while a blackbird built its nest, laid eggs, and stood silent until those eggs hatched. The Glendalough Distillery was built by a group of five friends from Wicklow and Dublin Ireland. Currently the whiskey is sourced while their own crafted whiskey matures. The whiskey they currently source has been matured for three years in American oak bourbon barrels. Once received it is further matured for six months in 500 liter Oloroso sherry barrels sourced from the small town of Montilla Spain in once used European oak barrels to mature PX, Pedro Ximenez, grapes for two years. These barrels were build by coopers, from European oak from trees grown in forest in Northern Spain. Read more
Review: Crown Royal Peach Whisky
Crown Royal Peach Whisky was just released. Peach is a limited edition flavor, which translates to, if it sells well, it will become at worst a seasonal flavor, at best, a full time member of the Crown family. Flavors now account for 10% of all North American whisky sales, so it is no surprise Crown has created another flavor. The signature Crown Royal Whisky was first created in 1939 as a gift for the visiting King and Queen of England. Over 600 blends were produced before selecting the perfect blend that is still produced today. The Crown Royal base is made from pure water sourced from Lake Winnipeg naturally filtered through the limestone beneath and a grain blend of rye, corn, and barley. Roughly 80% of the grains used are sourced from Manitoba and surrounding provinces. Twelve distillation columns produce the fifty whiskies that comprise Crown Royal. Peaches are harvested at their flavor peak. Once picked the peaches are de-stoned, pressed and strained to preserve their bright, aromatic flavor. The peaches and natural flavors are infused with Crown Royal Whisky before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: The Tyrconnell Irish Whiskey
The Tyrconnell Irish Whiskey is named for the horse who won the National Produce Stakes Horse Race in 1876. Local Distiller A.A. Watts witnessed the race and created a limited edition small batch whiskey to honor the winning horse. Watt intended to make The Tyrconnell just once, but it soon became his most popular whiskey. Before Prohibition The Tyrconnell was claimed to be the best selling Irish Whiskey. Because of Prohibition, The Watts Distillery closed in 1925. Today the brand is maintained by the Kilbeggan Distilling Company. It is double distilled from malted barley in a pot still at the Cooley Distillery. No age statement is given on the bottle or their website. Read more
Review: Stillhouse Apple Crisp Whiskey
Stillhouse Apple Crisp Whiskey is made from a 100% clear corn whiskey base. The corn is estate grown in Culpepper Virginia, distilled four times in traditional copper whiskey stills and charcoal filtered. Natural apple crisp liqueur is infused before packaging in a 100% stainless steel can that bares a strong resemblance to a can of lighter fluid. The Stillhouse brand was first launched in 2010 and was initially sold as a moonshine. While the recipe has not changed, the packaging, name, and marketing has. Rapper G-Eazy joined Stillhouse as an investment partner and Co-Creative Director in 2017. Read more
Review: Writers Tears Copper Pot Irish Whiskey
Writers Tears Copper Pot Irish Whiskey was launched in 2009 by the husband and wife team of Bernard and Rosemary Walsh. Some may know this as Writers Tears, or Writers Tears Original Irish Whiskey. It is made from a blend of single malt and pure pot still whiskey that is triple distilled and aged in American bourbon barrels. I believe the blend is 60% pure pot still and 40% single malt, but some sites have described the blend to be 40% pot still and 60% single malt. Two things for sure, no grain whiskey is used, and the whiskey is sourced from another distillery. Writers Tears is named for the Irish writers of the 19th and early 20th century who imbibed in Irish whiskey as a cure for writers block. During that period Ireland was the worlds leading producer of whiskey and also home to some of the worlds best writers including George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, WB Yeats, and Samuel Beckett. Read more
Review: Lambay Small Batch Blend Irish Whiskey
Lambay Small Batch Blend Irish Whiskey was released early 2018. Lambay takes its name from the Lambay Island located three miles off the coast of Dublin. Lambay Island is a wildlife sanctuary owned by the Baring family since 1904. This island is known for the puffins who make the island their home. I guess that explains the tuxedo waring puffin on the bottles label. Lambay whiskey is a joint venture between the Baring family which owns the island and the Camus family which supplies the cognac casks. Cognac has been produced by five generations of the Camus family since 1863. Camus is the fifth biggest producer of cognac, and the largest independent producer. Alexander Baring and Cyril Camus also bottle a single malt Irish whiskey. Lambay Small batch whiskey is distilled at West Cork Distillers from malted and grain whiskey. The whiskey is non-chill filtered, matured for a minimum four years in first fill bourbon barrels, and finished in Cognac casks. Read more