The Last Call

      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...

     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...

   Whiskey Jypsi is one of those brands that I had seen popping up on shelves here and there, but it took me a little while to finally dive into what they were doing. After trying a couple of their introductory bottles, including the Explorer and Tribute, I quickly found myself enjoying the direction of the brand. What I didn't realize when I first started exploring Whiskey Jypsi was that it is a celebrity-backed project from Eric Church.      Normally, celebrity-backed spirits aren't necessarily something that gets me excited on its own, but Whiskey Jypsi has done something that I really appreciate: they've been fairly transparent about what is actually in the bottle. Age statements, mash bills, sourcing information, finishes and blends are all things I like to see as a reviewer and a consumer. That transparency goes a long way.      The Finish Seeker Series is particularly interesting because it takes that base bourbon and gives it some addition...

     There are some bottles where you remember exactly what you thought the first time you tried them. This is one of those bottles.     I first came across Hugh Hamer's Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Honey Barrels at the Bottle Bar a little over a year ago. I believe this bottle was released in late 2023 or early 2024, and when I tried it at the time, I remember one thing very clearly: honey. A lot of honey.     At the time, I wasn't completely sure how I felt about honey barrel finishes, so I passed on the bottle. Eventually, I came back around and picked one up for the collection. Now, with a blind honey-finished whiskey battle on the horizon, it seemed like the perfect time to finally crack this bottle open and see what all that honey was about.     Coming in at 51.5% ABV, this is a straight bourbon whiskey with no age statement. It's part of the Hugh Hamer lineup, which sits alongside the Old Hamer series under the W...

         Joseph Magnus is probably best known these days for its Cigar Blend Bourbon, a whiskey that has become one of those bottles people either swear by or spend a lot of time comparing batch to batch. I've had a few different versions myself, and one thing I've learned is that they can vary quite a bit. Some are bottles I'd absolutely hunt down, while others aren't quite as exciting.     So when Joseph Magnus released its Cask Strength Straight Rye Whiskey, I was immediately interested. The company has talked about this being its first rye release in more than 100 years, which is certainly a fun piece of marketing. But for me, the much more interesting part is what's actually inside the bottle.     Joseph Magnus is very transparent about sourcing this whiskey from MGP, using the classic 95% rye and 5% malted barley mash bill. MGP has built quite a reputation for producing excellent rye whiskey, and I've never been shy about...

     K. Luke is one of those whiskey brands that I've been seeing more and more of lately, and for good reason. The brand has been expanding into more states and becoming easier to find both on shelves and online, while some of its more interesting barrel-strength and finished releases have started getting people’s attention. Their core lineup is particularly interesting because the company has been experimenting with some pretty unique finishes. I've had the opportunity to try several of them, including the Oloroso Sherry, Toasted, and Armagnac finishes, and they've generally been very impressive. The Oloroso Sherry has actually been my favorite of the bunch so far. This particular bottle takes a different approach.      The Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey is bottled at 100 proof and carries a minimum age of 7 years. Rather than being another barrel-strength or heavily finished release, this is meant to be a more approachable expression of what they are d...

     When you hear the name Three Floyds, chances are your mind immediately goes to beer. Zombie Dust has become one of Indiana's most recognizable craft beers, and while I'm not the biggest IPA drinker, it's one I'll happily grab from time to time. What a lot of people may not realize is that over the last several years, Three Floyds has quietly been building an impressive distilling program alongside the brewery.      They've released bourbons, rye whiskeys, malt whiskey, and now we're taking a look at one of their rums. Tonight's pour is their Blanq Reavers Rum, an unaged rum distilled from 100% evaporated cane juice.      Unaged rum can sometimes be a bit intimidating. They often lean into grassy, funky, earthy characteristics that aren't always everyone's favorite, especially if you're coming from whiskey. But when they're done well, they can be incredibly rewarding. Going into this bottle, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I w...

Copper & Cask continues to impress me with both the quality of their releases and the level of transparency they provide. While plenty of companies source whiskey, very few are willing to give consumers this much information about what's actually in the bottle. Between the detailed blending information and the QR code that lets you hear directly from the master blender, it's clear they're proud of what they're producing.      This particular release immediately caught my attention because I'm a huge fan of cigar blend bourbons. Even though I'm not a cigar smoker myself, I love the sweeter, fruit-forward profiles these blends often create. With a blend of 8-year-old MGP bourbon finished in Armagnac, Cognac, Tawny Port, and Sherry casks, this one checked all the boxes before I ever pulled the cork.      Copper & Cask created this release using a 26-barrel blend of both high-rye and low-rye MGP bourbons aged at least 8 years. The blend was then separat...

     Region 5 is one of those brands that feels rooted in passion before anything else. Born from a group of bourbon enthusiasts in Indiana, they’ve started to gain traction by focusing on transparency, solid age statements, and approachable pricing. This single barrel pick, selected by the Kokomo Whiskey Club, leans into that same philosophy while adding a layer of local collaboration that’s always great to see.      At 9 years old and bottled at 54.9% ABV, this MGP-sourced bourbon checks a lot of boxes on paper. Single barrel, cask strength, and a proven mash bill, it’s the kind of release that doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but instead aims to execute the fundamentals really well. For the full video review visit the link here:  https://youtu.be/uimN7j1Lm4Y . Age Statement: 9 years (Single barrel). ABV: 54.9% (Cask strength). Mash bill:  75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Area of Distillation:  Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Appearance: ...

       Hard Truth has been a staple in my whiskey journey for a long time, and for good reason. As an Indiana-based craft distillery, they’ve consistently shown they can stand alongside bigger names, especially with their sweet mash approach. This 7-year rye marks their oldest release to date, and with such a small batch, only around 10 barrels, it immediately feels like something special. There’s also a bit of personal anticipation here. I’ve had their younger expressions and even picked up their 6-year distillery release, but before I could get to it, this 7-year dropped.       Naturally, expectations are high, especially knowing how well their younger sweet mash ryes already perform. This is a sweet mash straight rye whiskey, which sets it apart right away. Unlike the more common sour mash process, each fermentation here starts completely fresh—no backset, no carryover. That means every batch has the potential for subtle variation, influenced b...

     Old Elk has become one of those instantly recognizable bottles on the shelf, from the unique shape to that signature antler topper. While the brand is known for sourcing and experimenting with different finishes, they’ve carved out a solid reputation for picking quality barrels. This particular bottle came as a bit of a lucky find, scored on clearance, which always makes a review a little more exciting.           Old Elk’s Straight Rye uses the well-known Indiana mash bill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley, distilled by MGP. Rather than finishing or altering the whiskey, this release leans into a more traditional approach, letting the base distillate and barrel selection do the talking. Given Old Elk’s track record, the real question becomes how well they’ve selected and blended these barrels to stand out in a crowded rye category. For the full video review visit the link here:  https://youtu.be/3_GjX985gfI . Age Statement: 5 years. ...