If you’ve seen some of our past Whiskey guides, you’ll know we are not ones for a bunch of fancy wine talk, note tasting nonsense, and other bullshit that is purely subjective and often means nothing to the drinker, so we’ll skip with the BS and jump right to what you want, some of the latest whiskey selections of the year….
From Texas to Islay, we are going to take you around the world and share some of our favorite Whiskey, Scotch, and Whisky related gifts – we’re also going to share a couple of things that just hit the market over the last year.
Garrison Brothers Small Batch
We featured another bottle of Garrison Brothers a couple of years ago in one of our past Whiskey Guides, and it quickly became one of our favorite new whiskeys. It’s 100% made in Texas; they grind their own grain, cook their premium sweet mash (#1 food-grade corn, soft red winter wheat from local farms, and two-row barley), and then distill, barrel and bottle.
Garrison Brothers’ Small Batch Barrel Bourbon retails for around $79.99.
Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye
Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye has one of the coolest stories out of anything we featured this year. Named for the little-known tailor, spy, and hero of the American Revolution, who changed history and secured freedom for all, Hercules Mulligan was one of the first colonists to join the Sons of Liberty.
Friend of the Founding Fathers, Hercules Mulligan, was an Irish-American tailor and spy during the American Revolutionary War. He would get British Officers drunk while taking their measurements and then pass on intelligence to the Continental Army.
Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye is based on a unique recipe from the period — Rum, Rye Whiskey, Ginger & Bitters.
Bespoken Rye Whiskey
Quick Whiskey, without barrel aging? Apparently, it’s a thing!
Bespoken Spirits uses a “proprietary ACTivation technology” that completely cuts out the aging process while infusing the taste of the barrel into the spirit. The new method of quickly making whiskey allows the company to play around with flavor profiles and use science to create unique blends in a matter of days.
The method extracts the key elements of the barrel that enhance a whiskey’s aroma, color, and taste. Bespoken Spirits says, instead of putting the spirit in the barrel, they put the barrel in the spirit.
We enjoyed it neat and in an Old Fashioned.
Smokehead Scotch
This stuff packs a punch and is intensely peaty!
We are huge fans of almost anything from Islay, so when we went in search of a new peaty powerhouse this year, we quickly fell in love with Smokehead! Smokehead is a single malt whisky by Ian MacLeod distillers that originates from an undisclosed distillery on the isle of Islay.
Our top picks were the original and the high voltage, which was incredibly smooth for a scotch coming in at 58% VOL.
Ogden’s Own Porter’s Whiskey
While we usually don’t do many flavored whiskeys, Porter’s (flavor) Whiskeys are great for parties or those who want something a little different. Utah- Distilled from a blend of Canadian whiskey and various flavors, the whiskey is excellent for the holidays!
Brother’s Bond
Brother’s Bond Straight Bourbon is a four-grain, high-rye straight bourbon whiskey with a mash bill of 65% corn, 22% rye, wheat and barley. The bourbon is aged for a minimum of 4 years in virgin American oak barrels and is a nod to founder’s Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley’s on-screen characters, their shared love for great bourbon, and a reflection of the sense of brotherhood they have formed over the years.
We love Whiskey; we also love the history of Whiskey. One of our favorite times in Whiskey History is the Whiskey Rebellion, when farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania almost started another American Revolution over an excise tax on whiskey.
This shirt commemorates the spirit of the American Whiskey Drinker and can be found over at Shirts of Liberty.
High Camp Flasks
We love the outdoors and we love our Whiskey, so two of our favorite products of the year came from High Camp Flasks.
The Firelight 750 Flask is a 3-piece bar set that is an excellent addition to any fishing or camping trip. They are tough, vacuum insulated, and fit a fifth of your favorite whiskey.
Just because you’re outdoors doesn’t mean you can’t do it with style! High Camp Flasks calls their Highball Shaker The Swiss Army Knife Of Cocktail Shakers. They are vacuum insulated and can be used as a cocktail shaker, a highball tumbler, or even a single beer cooler for 12 and 16-oz beer cans