The Last Call

     Smoke Wagon is one of those brands that immediately draws attention, partly because of its striking bottle design with wax seals and etched glass, and partly because of the mystery surrounding its sourcing and blending philosophy. Based out of Nevada, Smoke Wagon has built a reputation around curated blends, often utilizing MGP distillate while being unusually transparent about what goes into the bottle. Unfortunately, distribution is limited, and for me that means a drive to Ohio just to pick one up, but curiosity finally got the better of me.      This release is a blend of two distinct rye mash bills. The first consists of 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% malted barley. The second is one of MGP’s newer recipes, made up of 51% rye and 49% malted barley. These components are blended together and released at a robust proof without clear indication of whether it is true cask strength. The bottle reviewed here was bottled on September 30th, 2023, and is labeled...

     It’s not every day a whiskey catches both your curiosity and your caution, but Dark Arts Blunt Blend managed to do just that. Coming from the folks at Dark Arts Whiskey House, a brand that I've fallen in love with over the past year, this bottle represents a bold, unapologetically unique approach to finished rye. This release is quite the idea on paper, being deemed the "Blunt blend." Essentially this is taking an MGP Indiana rye and finishing it in both Madeira and Armagnac casks. The idea is playing off of the more recent "cigar batch" releases being something to pair well with a cigar. I'll let you figure out why this one is deemed a "blunt blend." Also to note, this is a yearly release on April 20th.      Now the biggest worry for me is the inclusion of Madeira casks gave me pause; I’ve rarely enjoyed what that particular finish brings. Out of the times I've had it they tend to bring over too much of the over ripened fruit note, almost...

     Jefferson’s has never exactly wowed me, especially on the bourbon side of things, where the higher price tags often outpace the experience in the glass. But this bottle caught me off guard. I was out browsing in Indiana, saw it on the shelf, walked past it, then turned back. “Jefferson’s Rye? What is this?” A bit of on-the-spot research yielded almost nothing. No press, no buzz—even Jefferson’s own website had no mention of it. That made it even more interesting. It feels like one of those quiet releases just starting to trickle onto shelves. With a price tag of $25 and a 44% ABV, I figured it was a risk worth taking.      This is a blend of straight rye whiskeys sourced from both the U.S. and Canada—70% American, 30% Canadian. The label notes Tennessee, Indiana, and Canada as the distillation sources, which likely means there’s some MGP (Indiana) whiskey in the mix. Jefferson’s has dabbled in rye before, most notably with their Cognac cask-finished ex...