We opened Conviction Double Oak 1929 during our Uncut Unfiltered livestream, and it turned out to be one of the night's more surprising pours.

Scattered Castles founder Chris Walz sent us Scattered Castles Batch 1 with a pretty simple request: try it and tell him what we actually think. No expectation of a good score. No soft landing because this was the first release.

Something is changing with Buffalo Trace. Slowly. Very slowly. Depending on where you live, you might completely disagree, but some bottles that used to feel impossible to find are starting to show up a little more often.

Shortbarrel is finally showing up here in Missouri. We have had a few of their bottles before, but until recently, this was still a brand we mostly encountered outside our normal whiskey-shopping orbit.

Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse has always been a series we pay attention to. We tend to like the Russell’s side of Wild Turkey, but the whole idea also appeals to the whiskey nerd in us: one rickhouse, specific floors, one very small part of the aging inventory.

We cracked this bottle open on a guys’ lake weekend and had to hide it so there would still be enough left to review. That was a pretty good sign.

Old Grand-Dad has never really been about chasing hype. It has built its reputation on being affordable, flavorful, and a little rough around the edges in a way that bourbon drinkers tend to appreciate.

Silver Springs Sweet Rye had our attention for a couple of reasons before we even tasted it. First, it is a cask-strength rye with a pretty unusual mashbill: 65% rye, 20% malted barley, with corn making up the rest.

Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye is one of those bottles that makes you wonder how Jack Daniel’s is still selling it for around $65.

13th Colony Distilleries has a habit of making whiskey that drinks bigger and richer than you expect. The 2026 Cask Strength Southern Rye may be one of the better examples.

Ten chapters is a long time to experiment. Since Little Book launched, Freddie Noe has blended bourbon, rye, malt whiskey, Canadian whisky, young whiskey, old whiskey, and just about everything in between.

Double oak bourbon has become one of those categories where it feels like everyone has one. And honestly, we get it.

Penelope Architects of Golf Hole 1 is a six-year bourbon finished in American oak staves. Read our tasting notes, 7/10 rating, and buy or skip verdict.

Bardstown Bourbon Company has never been afraid to make whiskey that is difficult to categorize. Lochs of Jura Barrel Finish may be one of its better examples.

Booker’s has never been a subtle bourbon. It’s big, high-proof, unapologetically Beam, and usually carries enough peanut and oak to make its family tree pretty obvious.

Bardstown Bourbon Company has spent years teaching us to recognize its Discovery releases by number. For 2026, the numbers are gone.

Thirteen years can do strange things to rye whiskey. It can soften the sharper edges, deepen the oak, and pull out flavors that simply do not exist in younger bottles.

Limited, distillery-only whiskey creates a problem for a review: we can tell you how good it is, but most people will never get the chance to buy it.