The Last Call

     Circle City Whiskey Company is one of those brands that has slowly earned more and more space on my shelves. Every time a new release drops, it feels like they push the envelope just a little further while still keeping that transparency we all want to see in modern whiskey. Tonight’s pour is their newest release for 2026, the Robusto Blend, and this one immediately caught my attention because it was designed as a cigar-style batch.      I am not a cigar smoker myself, but I have always enjoyed cigar-style bourbons because they tend to lean richer, darker, and more layered while still bringing a higher proof to the table. This one checks all of those boxes before the bottle is even opened.       The Robusto Blend is a four-barrel blend built around both transparency and creativity. Three of the barrels come from Heaven Hill, all at least eight years old, and each one was finished differently. One was placed in a toasted cask, a...

     Bourbon De Luxe is a name that once belonged to the pre-Prohibition era, a brand that built a respectable following before eventually fading out after the market shifted. That legacy was dormant until Rolling Fork, working in collaboration with Starlight Distillery, revived the trademark and began releasing small, highly limited batches under the original Bourbon De Luxe banner. I never expected to see one of these bottles in Indiana, and certainly not at nearly SRP. The moment I saw a Jamaican rum cask finish, the decision made itself. I’m a complete sucker for rum influence, especially when paired with a bold bourbon.     T he base whiskey here is at least seven years old and after blending, the whiskey spent nine months in a Jamaican rum barrel selected by Rolling Fork. If you're not familiar with that name, you should be. Rolling Fork is going out to all parts of the rum world, selecting barrels, and brining back to Indiana. Sometimes blending, finishin...

     I received this spirit as a review sample from Ole Smoky, linked here . It is important to clarify this did not impact the ratings of this review.      Popcorn Sutton is one of those names that carries some serious Appalachian weight. Whether you know him from documentaries, his infamous moonshining past, or just the legend that surrounds his name, there's a kind of gritty charm baked into anything tied to him. This bourbon, bottled under the Ole Smoky label, is meant to be a tribute, and honestly, it wears that well.      Now, they don’t give us the full play-by-play on how this blend came together, no barrel breakdowns or exact sources, but we do know it pulls from both Tennessee and North Carolina bourbons. That regional blend alone is interesting, and it keeps things grounded in the very area Popcorn himself called home. Bottled at 100 proof, it doesn’t try to dazzle you with finishes or experimental grain bills. Instead, this feels ...