The Last Call

     Blue Note is one of those whiskey brands I had been wanting to try for quite some time. I had heard plenty of positive things about their releases over the years, but for whatever reason, we didn't start seeing them on Indiana shelves until mid-2026. After finally getting access to the standard lineup, I was excited to see local retailers begin exploring some of their more unique offerings. That brings us to something particularly special: the very first Indiana store pick of Blue Note Juke Joint Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, selected by Handy Spot in northern Indiana.      This bottle checks a couple of boxes for me right away. I enjoy supporting local retailers and seeing them take a chance on barrel picks, especially when they're bringing something new to the market. I'm also a big fan of trying single barrels at barrel proof because you get to experience the whiskey without proofing it down. Bottled at 61.3% ABV, or 122.6 proof, ...

      K.Luke Whiskey Company is one of those brands that has been gaining momentum in the whiskey world, and based on what I’ve tasted so far, the growing attention makes sense. Based in Mississippi, K Luke is a husband-and-wife operation named after their two children. There’s something special about building a whiskey company around your family, and it gives the brand a personal touch before you even get to the bottle.     What really interests me about K.Luke, though, is the approach to blending. Rather than distilling everything themselves, the company sources whiskey from Kentucky and Indiana, then brings those barrels to Bardstown Bourbon Company for storage and blending. Founder Jonathan draws on his background in the wine industry to approach whiskey blending much like a chef approaches a dish: finding the right ingredients and bringing them together into something greater than the individual parts.     I’ve already reviewed K.Lu...

     I honestly never expected to own a bottle of Penelope Rio, let alone a single barrel pick. I first tried this one a year and a half to two years ago when Penelope sent me a sample, and I fell in love with it. Since then, I've been hunting for a bottle, but eventually I pretty much wrote it off as a unicorn. That changed when T8ke, a curator over on r/bourbon who puts out a ton of spirits reviews, organized a single barrel pick of Rio. With only around 160 to 169 bottles available, I threw my name into the mix and was fortunate enough to get selected for the opportunity to purchase one. Needless to say, I wasn't passing that up.      Bottled at 54.5% ABV, this single barrel select also comes in a little stronger than the standard Rio, which sits at 49% ABV. I've always enjoyed what Penelope does with this particular release, and I'm a big fan of the cinnamon-sugar character that Amburana brings to a whiskey. I know that finishing style isn't for everyon...

     There is something special about finding a well-aged Indiana rye whiskey, especially one that brings together everything I enjoy about a good MGP rye while turning up the oak, spice, and complexity. Tonight, I’m checking out a 12-year-old single barrel pick from Circle City Whiskey Company, selected for Holly’s Package Store in Greentown, Indiana. Bottled at a hefty 64.5% ABV, this is a barrel-proof rye that immediately caught my attention.      I also had the opportunity to help with the bottling of this particular pick, which made the experience a little more personal. Getting to participate in that process was a lot of fun, and it gave me another reason to look forward to opening this bottle. At around $130, it isn't an inexpensive pour, but a 12-year-old, single barrel, cask-strength rye certainly isn't something I come across every day. I have some aged Indiana rye on my shelves, but very little that combines this kind of age with this much proof....

     Whiskey Jypsi has been making a pretty good impression on me lately. Their standard four- and six-year offerings have been solid pours, especially when you consider their price points, and their Double Barreled bourbon has been a particularly good value. So when I came across something a little different from the brand, I was more than happy to give it a try.      Tonight, we're looking at the first release in their Finished Seeker series: a straight bourbon whiskey finished in Mizunara oak barrels. Coming in at 55% ABV and at least six years old, this one immediately caught my attention. I'm a big fan of Mizunara finishing when it's done well, and seeing a brand specifically state that it's using actual Mizunara casks rather than staves makes this one even more interesting.      The brand is also associated with country music artist Eric Church. Celebrity-backed spirits can sometimes lean heavily on the name and packaging, but my experi...

     Indiana craft whiskey continues to be one of my favorite things to explore, especially when I get to find a distillery doing things its own way. Backroads Distilling out of Laotto, Indiana, is a great example of what makes this part of the whiskey world exciting. They're working with locally harvested grains, handling their own distilling and bottling, and building a portfolio that reflects the area they're from.      Today we're checking out something a little different from them: their first rye whiskey, Firehouse Rye. I actually got to try this one during a visit to the distillery, and it was good enough that I decided to bring a bottle home. That's always a promising start. There's also a great story behind the name. Backroads comes from a fourth-generation firefighter family, and the bottle pays homage to that background and the local firehouse that once had a field of rye growing behind it. I love seeing a bottle connect the whiskey to the people...

     Heaven Hill has been putting out some interesting bottles in its Bottled-in-Bond lineup, and while the series has had its share of mixed opinions over the years, the value proposition has become a lot more appealing as prices have settled down. Tonight, we're looking at something a little different: the Bottled-in-Bond Double Mash Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.      Coming in at 50% ABV, with a nine-year age statement and a roughly $50 price tag, this bottle certainly caught my attention. Nine-year-old bourbon at that price is not as easy to find, and Heaven Hill is giving us more transparency than we often see when it comes to what's actually going into the bottle. I managed to find this one sitting in cases at Total Wine after an earlier batch had disappeared from the shelves, so I was pretty excited to finally get one home.      First, let's talk about what makes this release different. Heaven Hill takes two separate bourbon mash ...