Grain

ASW Tire Fire

ASW Distillery was began production in 2016, helmed by Jim Chasteen, Charlie Thompson and Justin Manglitz in Atlanta, though they did release a blended offering out of Charleston, South Carolina in 2011 called American Spirit Whiskey. While a relatively new distillery, ASW looked back to their families’ Scottish, Irish and French backgrounds to guide them toward developing spirits into the modern American market. They offer a wide range of bourbons, ryes and single malts, along with newer takes on white spirits. While they distill most of their offerings themselves, they do have some sourced spirits housed under their Fiddler brand. The ASW Tire Fire is an Islay-style single malt, distilled from peated Scottish barley out of the Highlands. It goes into the barrel – char levels 3 and 4 – at 45ppm. Some versions have been finished in ex-rum casks but the one for this review was not.

By Adam | April 5, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |

Colkegan Single Barrel Apple Brandy Cask

It is always good when distilleries produce a good regular line up. What’s even more exciting is when they get to the point where single barrels start being offered, because that signals individual barrels are aging enough to be good on their own rather than being part of a larger blend to achieve some homogenous whole. Davidsons is a large and diverse liquor store in Centennial, Colorado that bought their own barrel of the Colkegan Single Malt. This store pick was a single malt finished for a year in apple brandy casks, an offering that first appeared in April 2017. These apple brandy casks were from the apple brandy made by Santa Fe Spirits, making this whiskey a complete circle.

By Adam | January 20, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |

The first Redbreast whiskey was released by W&A Gilbey, a wine merchant and importer, in 1903 under the name “John Jameson & Sons Castle JJ Liqueur Whiskey 12 Year Old” though it wasn’t known under the Redbreast name until 1912, so named due to the chairman of Gilbey’s being a bird enthusiast. While the sourcing of Redbreast has changed more than once it is currently distilled at the New Midleton Distillery after the Jameson Bow Street Distillery closed. The Redbreast line is the largest selling single pot still Irish whiskey in the world. The Redbreast 15 is comprised of malted and unmalted barley and has been matured in a mixture of both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, like all Redbreast whiskies.

By Adam | August 10, 2023 | Foreign | No Comments |