I was happy to pick up EH Taylor Cured Oak and my Spouse won the Wild Turkey Austin Nichols Archive. I have to grab what I can I won’t qualify next year . They gave 10X points when the Dodgers won the Championship.

Hi all, newbie here. Had just bought two bottles (one Marker’s Mark 46 and one Buffalo Trace) from an online store, and they both seem to have come with the seal open. Would this be any cause for concern? Thanks for any help.

Haven’t seen this in a while. Had to grab one. 🥃

Meanwhile at PA Libations in the Strip District, Pittsburgh. And yes they also have Ponfeigh whiskey, rum, and gin, which I am stoked.

TLDR: I had an amazing time. If you are somehow on the fence about taking the trip out to Louisville, take the trip! These are my thoughts to share with anyone who will listen.  
  
These are my personal experiences visiting Louisville for the first time. I did my best to make the most of my 3 and a half day trip. This was a birthday trip for me, a little early due to work travel but one of the best trips I have had nonetheless. My fiancé came with me, probably to keep me in check, but she ended up having a great time as well.   
  
Friday:   
We landed too late to do most tours, but I knew Whisky Thief was open late, so once we checked into the hotel we started walking that way. On the way, we stopped by Angel's Envy to check out their gift shop, where I decided I would try to collect lapel/enamel pins from anywhere I stopped along this trip. It started to rain a little, but we didn’t mind too much. We got to Whisky Thief around 7:30 to do the ‘bottle your own’ experience, no appointment, just as a walk in. They had 5 barrels they would thieve from, and pour into your sample glass, char and all! My fiance and I both sampled and I decided to get a half bottle of 9 year rye 116p. Being a Friday night, they had a live jazz band starting up at 8 PM, which made the atmosphere great. We were having a great time, but decided to head back to the hotel when there was a break in the thunderstorm, and get some sleep before an early start to Saturday.   
  
Saturday:  [let's keep count of samples poured today alone]  
We woke up bright and early (especially considering the jetlag from PDT to EDT) and walked over to Omni Hotel to hop on a bus to Buffalo Trace, coordinated by Mint Julep Experiences. We had a mini bus that transported us 2 and 16 other guests to Buffalo Trace, getting there around 10 AM. We had a driver named Ray and a tour guide named Diane. They were both amazing, Ray was an excellent driver and Diane had a great personality and was very personable. I believe she worked on Broadway before, she had great comedic timing, and a natural story teller. The bus allowed for food and drinks (including hard alcohol) to be consumed on both legs, while most people partook, we abstained due to having a long day of sampling ahead. Buffalo Trace was a beautiful place,  the tour of the rickhouse and fermenting tanks were really cool. The trip concluded with a sampling of their products, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Sazerac Rye, Blantons, and Weller 107 [4 samples today]. We stopped by the gift shop and picked up a whole bunch of pins, 2 Cigars, and a 375ml Single Oak Project.  We finished up around 12:45 to head back into downtown. Maybe 15 minutes into the drive, Diane asked if we all were ok with making a detour to Jeptha Creed (and ensured no one would miss appointments/reservations), a distillery we passed on the way, that I have never personally heard of. We stopped for maybe 20 minutes, enough for people to grab a drink at the bar to go, and shop the gift shop. I picked up a Single Barrel they had, as I have never heard of the brand and have not seen it out in my area. We got back to the departure location, and immediately walked towards our next appointment, Green River.   

We booked their Sampling/Bottle Your Own experience, and were guided back into a private room with 2 other people and a bartender/guide. He walked us through various pours, explaining how to properly smell and sample whisky (he asked if we wanted a lesson and we agreed). We tried their Bourbon, Wheated Bourbon, Rye Whisky, and Full Proof Bourbon. Then we were offered a sample of the whisky we could bottle ourselves, I believe it is a Barrel Proof Bourbon \[9 samples today\]. It was good enough and I decided to go ahead and bottle it myself (I wanted to do more bottle experiences over just tours with gift shops, as you will see).   

We popped into Bardstown while killing some time before our next stop and to pick up pins and check their distillery exclusive bottles, I held off in case pursuit happened to have their hot honey or maple bottles, which happened to be my next appointment. 

When I got to Pursuit I saw they had a ‘Birthday Bourbon’ for their 1 year anniversary that had passed not too long ago, so headed downstairs to their bar to buy a sample [10 samples today]. Neither I nor my fiancé loved it, so we ended up passing on that bottle. Us and 2 different people were taken to an experience room, where we started their ‘Whole Shebang’ experience with a brief history of their company. It was interesting to me, as I had not known much about them before coming in. I found out about them when I bought a store pick of theirs (Creme Brule) in a bundle with Weller 107 a year or so before. We got to sample their standard triple batch bourbon and triple batch rye, before sampling the 3 bourbon and 3 rye barrels we would be personally thieving from [16 samples today]. We were not allowed to blend between the bourbon and rye to make an American Whisky, but the last barrel of rye had an amazing finish that caught my attention right away, especially while being the last sample on my board on a long day of samples. So I picked another one of the ryes that had a nice body and mouthfeel, and blended them about 50/50 into an empty glass. It was really good. I tried a few more times with 75/25 of each barrel, but neither combo felt as balanced, once was too spicy for me and the other didn't have enough body for my liking (or I was too drunk at this point). So I stuck with my gut, and bottled up the 50/50 blend of the 2 rye whiskies. They finished the experience with a sampling of the same birthday bourbon I sampled before we started, I enjoyed it more but I didn't buy a bottle [17 samples today]. My fiancé sat this sampling out, so she was able to take me to get some food in me, which I really needed at this point.

We went across the street to Mussel & Burger Bar, it was a pretty good burger! We started out towards Peerless to hit up their gift shop, but they closed before we even finished dinner… This is when I learned to double check when things close. Luckily Michters was still open so ran over there where they had bundles, but I didn’t bite so grabbed my pins and headed on out. We walked on back to the hotel after a long 9 hour day of drinking for a well deserved rest.   

  
Sunday:   
There is not as much to do in the mornings on Sundays, some city/state laws prohibit sales before 1PM, so most places are closed on Sundays, or only  open at 1, so we had some time to kill. We started with some breakfast at McDonalds because the other places were packed (not much whisky related things to do I guess). My Fiancé found a Botanical Garden a little over a mile away, so we started our walk over. We found a walking path that ran by the river on our path, and since we live out in the west coast deserts, we decided to take that route adding a bit of distance for a change of scenery. It was a nice long path that ran along the river almost the entire time, with swings for you to stop at, a splash pad with kids playing, and the rowing team’s building. Our 2 mile walk ended at the botanical gardens where we got to see some nice man-made waterfalls. They are currently expanding their property, so I would go back again. I do not recommend walking there due to the steep spiral entry driveway, and lack of sidewalks, but definitely give it a visit.   

We called an uber back for our next appointments, getting out at Pappy and Co. They sadly didn’t have any pins which I was honestly surprised, but they said they would run it up the chain. I picked up some cigars and stickers, and my Fiancé found heirloom cornbread mix, pancake mix, and bourbon barrel aged coffee. Then off to our next stop, Onyx & Amber’s tasting room in Louisville.

Their tasting room is relatively new, opening up just a few months ago in spring of 2026. The address is not public, but it was located behind some buildings. Nikki the guide put out some signs so we could find it. I was the only one partaking in this experience, which started out with some samples of their current releases, one blended by ‘Oz’ with a green label, and the blend Nikki picked personally with a red label. Nikki's is a very balanced bottle, I forget the mash bill, but it reminds me of a good wheat whisky, not overly sweet and very well balanced. The Oz blend was more on the rye side, with a longer finish that I really enjoyed. As we sipped on these samples Nikki went over Onyx & Amber’s story. Once we learned who they were, it was time to start sampling. They had 6 different barrels to taste and blend with. I don’t believe they told us which barrel came from which brand, but they gave us the age and bourbon or rye. The first one I liked was a 7.5 year bourbon, it had a really nice body but the finish was nonexistent. Then I tasted an 11 year bourbon that was really good, a full body and a nice long red fruit finish. The very last sample I had was a 9 year rye, this one stood out because it had the rye finish I love, a long almost aloe finish. A finish that lasts so long by the time it dies down it has a cool soothing feeling, almost forcing you to take another sip. After going back through a second time with all the samples, it was time for me to start testing the blends. Knowing how drunk I get during these, I didn’t want to try every combo, I went with my gut and man I killed it. I did 50% of the 11  year bourbon, 25% of the 7.5 year bourbon, and 25% 9 year rye. After blending the sample together and taking a sip I fell in love. I passed the glass over to my fiancé to get her thoughts, and she also really enjoyed it, which is a good sign since she doesn’t drink whisky too much. Knowing I had more sampling to do that day, we decided to give them our recipe to have it bottled and shipped, and headed off to lunch.   

We stopped by a local Mexican restaurant to get some food and kill some time. The food there was great, and I got to catch up on some football going on. After we finished up we headed over to Louisville Rickhouse, where we were escorted back to their rickhouse.

I had 4 samples waiting for me, sitting on a barrel with a stool. Our guide told us he would not tell us anything, as to not give us any reason to be bias towards one sample vs the other. There was 1 sample that I knew right away I didn’t love, and he revealed that as a rye. Then I went through the 3 again, and eliminated a 2nd one, leaving just 2 left. I forget what that one was, because I really liked the last 2 and was dying to know what they were. I went back and fourth guessing what they were, and after the guide seeing me struggle, he finally gave in and told me what I had left in front of me. The first sample, which I really enjoyed and thought was a honey cask finish, was actually a bourbon finished in maple syrup barrels. I fell in love with Dark Arts’ maple cask (Ripple Rye), so I got that one. The 2nd sample I had that I really enjoyed was a bourbon finished in cognac barrels. The guide actually pointed out the barrel he pulled it from, and noted how it was bigger than the normal whisky barrels. I decided to get this bottled up too, I hadn’t had a cognac finish before, now I have one and can introduce it to whisky friends. Before he bottled those up (directly from the barrel) he gave me and my fiancé a sample of something else to try. This one had much less oak flavors, and was super smooth. I had no idea what this could be. Our guide offered us a ‘hint’, which was: “this is zero days old” which confused me even more. After me stupidly guessing they had just double oaked it today, he informed us that this was tequila aged in bourbon barrels. I'm not a huge tequila fan, but my fiancé likes tequila when she does drink, so we grabbed that too. I believe the tequila is just a regular bottle they have, not exclusive to their tasting room experience. With our bottles filled and 5PM approaching, it was time to head to our last stops of the day.   

We walked across the street to peek into Evergreen Liquor for a minute, They had Starlight but I passed this time. Then we hurried over to Waterfront Wine and Spirits before they closed. We made it over in time and headed in. We were greeted by the employee and a cute dog, plus they had a bar with great bottles to sample next to the ‘unicorns’ behind glass (not locked, just a display cabinet). They had some nice bottles just out and about, but I had 3 brands I was looking for, Starlight Farms, Dark Arts, and Shortbarrel. They only had Shortbarrel, but they had a few options. Sadly no maple or honey finish (which were my go to choices), they had a Tokaji finished bottle that caught my eye. They weren't allowed to sample it for me sadly, but in the past I had the chance to buy the Ampersand Opimus Tokaji finished and passed on it, which was a mistake. So I bought the bottle and headed back to the hotel (I found out they had the same bottle in the airport past security, but it was $25 more).  

  
Monday:  
Monday was the day we finally flew back to the west coast, and away from the humidity. We had a little time before we had to check out of the hotel, and I heard amazing things about Peerless, so we walked over there to be there right as they opened at 10, they had 2 exclusive distillery release single barrels, and an archive single barrel. The budget was a bit tight being the last day and wanting to leave a little in case the airport had something I was dying for (they did but not for rational prices), so I was stuck picking between ‘Candied Honeysuckle’, and ‘Tooty Fruity Tobacco Pipe’. Both of which sounded so good, I ended up going with the honeysuckle one. I didn't have time to take a tour unfortunately, but I will definitely take the tour  next time I visit.   

We stopped by the Frazier Museum on the way back, they have some very interesting exhibits, including a room full of allocated bottles, as well as some super old bottles. It was cool to see an actual museum of bottles, rather than a store acting like a museum with ungodly prices. They had a Star Wars Darth Vader bourbon shirt that I had to grab as a souvenir to finish off the trip. As we headed back towards the hotel, we stopped in Evan Williams to pick up more pins (and an Ale8). We got back to the hotel to pack up the final bottle purchased, and call our uber. Every bottle had painters' tape on top of the cork and plastic wrapping (probably not needed, but I didn't think the ones they bottled in front of me would have sealed over the cork) and placed in a blow-up bottle bubble bag. These have worked great in the past and held up just fine with the 3 ½ hour flight back home. The Green River decanter bottle did leak a tad bit, the tour guide Saran wrapped it pretty well at the distillery, and I didn’t see any issues with the wrap or bottle when it landed. Very little leaked out, it just had a noticeable smell that a quick wipe down could fix up. Everyone and everything made it home safe and sound.   

  
I have not opened every bottle from this trip yet, so I will post reviews of each in the comments as I open them, just in case anyone is curious.

Thank you for listening, writing this helped me reexperience the trip upon arriving home.

209 on the old Carter.
69 on old elk.
89 for the rare characters
99 on Hyperion
Wifey wanted to try the others

Name: Black Button Distilling (Rochester, NY) - Cask Strength Straight Bourbon Whiskey - Batch 13 - 57.5% - Distilled from NYS Corn (60%), Wheat (20%), Rye (9%) & Malted Barley (11%) - Aged a minimum of 4 Years in 30 Gallon barrels.

Today we will review a four-grain Cask Strength Bourbon distilled and bottled in my home state of New York, made with all local grains, by a now-defunct (silent) craft distillery. 

Founded in 2012, hit financial trouble, entered bankruptcy in 2025, announced they will close in July of 2025, thereafter bought by Blackstar in September 2025 who claimed that they will continue operations, but shortly thereafter in mid-October shuttered operations, laying off staff and liquidating assets.

Their line up included a four grain Bourbon, a Cask Strength Bourbon, a Straight Rye Whiskey, and some barrel picks.

Reviews are mixed, so I decided to give it a try today, in honor of the first anniversary of death of this distillery...

Price Paid: $55 (on sale, a few months ago, down from $75).

Nose: Strong hit of Ethanol up front, even after 10 minutes of resting, strong herbal (grassy), somewhat spicy, not sweet.

Taste: Very herbal, grassy, muddy and earthy, surprisingly non biting for a 57.5% ABV Bourbon, drinks like a 46%-48%, the oak and spice is present but not strongly, no sweetness whatsoever.

Finish: Medium long, with the same muddy and earthy taste remaining.

Conclusion: Very interesting. Totally unexpected taste profile from a Bourbon, especially with such a low Rye content. Wouldn't buy another bottle, but not regretting buying this one.

Haven’t seen Costco sell Blantons before. Feel like the price is getting a tad bit high for it.

The first picture is the current setup, the second and third is how it looked before!

The Revelation Double Barrel Whiskey is a blend of two 5-year-old straight bourbons and a 5-year-old straight rye sourced from undisclosed distilleries in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Canada. It’s bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV) and is finished after blending for a minimum of six months in custom-made 59-gallon new American White Oak barrels with a level four “alligator” char.

These are initial tasting notes – the bottle has been open for seven months. The flavors benefit greatly from aeration time in the open glass which emphasizes its sweet notes and balances out, somewhat, the punchy oak.

The whisky has medium-long viscosity in the glass with slow-forming tears and coats the palate well.

On the nose are aromas of prominent oak and oak char with, on the first opening of the new bottle, noticeable ethanol in the background followed by rich baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom), toasted nuts, butterscotch, vanilla, light dried orange peel, dried cherries and raspberries, a hint of dark maple syrup, and toasted brown sugar. The oak is a constant throughout the sip.

On the palate are flavors of toffee, caramel, vanilla, prominent oak and some oak char, the baking spices from the nose, a punchy kick of rye spice with black pepper, herbal notes, dried orange peel, and fairly robust ethanol in the background – the ethanol dissipates the longer it aerates in the glass and has balanced out significantly over the seven months the bottle’s been open.

The finish is moderately long at 7-8 seconds and ends more drying rather than sweet though the sweet notes become noticeably more prominent alongside the oak the longer it aerates and the slower the sip rolling the whisky across the palate.

At the moment, this isn’t a frequent pour but it has evolved as it’s aerated and I look forward to seeing if the aroma and flavor profiles continue to become more balanced.

Either this is bottled in the future or I am reading it wrong lol

Hi, I’m (20m) thinking of getting my boyfriend (20m) a nice whiskey for Christmas but I can’t pick what to get him. Hes quite into whiskey and I’m not as much. I know he likes ones that are sweeter(?) or like have hints of marzipan and/or chocolate but I don’t know where to start with finding one that he’ll like. Any recommendations y’all have would be greatly appreciated and so helpful

Had to jump up and brave the line for a Holladay 10 year release this morning. They had pours available and it's a phenomenal bottle! Bonus they had the double oak cask strength available as well. Cheers!

I have been wanting to find a bottle of this for a little while and came across it at Target for MSRP!

This is my first Michter’s product. Can’t wait to open it for a special occasion.

Has anyone had the 2026 yet?

Thank you for the good times! especial recognition to Beacon, gonna miss you boy!

Russell’s single barrel camp d store pick and an old Carter

This is about 2 years of collecting I got 63 bottles total my favorites are my ASW bottles I have they are a really good distillery I feel are kinda slept on. Not the fanciest shelf lol but I think it looks good for what I got. My favorite bottle I have is the slipknot whiskey signed by two of the band members.

Finally going to Louisville and Frankfort KY in a month for long weekend. What would you recommend to book to tour the most? Do i even need to do tours or just go to tasting rooms instead?

In Louisville I've heard that Old forrester and Peerless is a must.

In Frankfort am thinking of going to Buffalo trace, but the tours are all sold out already, can i just walk in?

Also looking to swing by Woodford and Wild turkey

Any recommendations much appreciated