Luke is a Level I Certified Whiskey Specialist with a passion for exploring and unearthing the best whiskeys around. Luke has a preference for Rye whiskeys but has tasted over 250 different whiskeys to date varying from bourbons to scotches. He continues to expand upon his whiskey knowledge by tasting dozens of bottles monthly and reviewing them here on Barrel and Brew as he pursues his Masters of Whiskey certification.
Moving back into some wine reviews, we have one of my go-to’s, 7 Moons Red Blend. I typically buy most of my wine right around the $15 range, and when I first started buying wine, I looked for two things: a cool name and/or a cool bottle. I know, very precise of me. I did…
Alright, so you’re going to a party, and you just know you’re going to be taking some shots. Or, perhaps you’re getting ready to go out and want a nice little buzz before you get there – how many shots should you take? How many shots will get you buzzed? How many will get you…
Previously, I wrote an article on all the different types of Crown Royal. People are fairly familiar with all the different flavors, at least to a degree, but I was getting a lot of outreach about the some of their other options. Specifically, whiskies in their Signature and Master Series – they were looking for…
We were walking through Total Wine and see a Total Wine Spirits Direct bourbon for $30 that won gold at the San Fran World Spirits Competition. We’ve had plenty of Spirits Direct whiskeys like First Call, Glen Fohdry, Grangestone, and more, and we have some mixed opinions on them. Well, we figured we try another…
Kentucky is the birthplace of Bourbon and has been the leading producer of Bourbon for centuries, by a long shot, too. However, the 21st century has seen a growth of craft distilleries, and an expansion of distilleries outside of the bourbon trail. Some of our favorite whiskey hails from Colorado, Texas, Maryland, Tennessee, and other…
We’ve recently written about a couple small batch and single barrel whiskeys, but now it’s time to switch it over to the blended category with Smooth Ambler Contradiction Bourbon. One thing that really caught my eye is that Smooth Ambler distills their own whiskey up in the mountains of West Virginia, and who isn’t curious…
Here at Barrel & Brew, we drink Jack Daniels quite frequently, but it’s almost always the Old No. 7 and in the form of a Jack and Coke. When it comes to drinking whiskey on the rocks or neat, we tend to reach for smaller, craft options – or just whiskey we don’t relate with…
A lot of people have distrust in colored, or brown, tequila. I know I did for awhile. That’s because my first experience was with Jose Cuervo Gold, a very cheap tequila that uses coloring to achieve the goldish brown hue. However, real brown tequila can be quite the treat as it gets its color from…
Here at Barrel and Brew, we love trying whiskey and bourbon from all over the world and the US. Now, Tennessee isn’t exactly new to the whiskey making process, nor to having distilleries; however, I don’t think we’ve touched upon a whiskey out of Chattanooga, TN yet, so here we are reviewing none other than…
Glen, a popular term in the world of scotch. Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, Glen Ness, Glen Grant, Glenmorangie, Glen Moray, Glen Fohdry, and countless others are names of various scotch whiskies. Glen is a Gaelic word for ‘valley’, and since there are many hills in Scotland, there are many valleys, too. So, Glen Fohdry comes to…
Recently, I’ve been trying new scotch whisky to expand my palate and knowledge. Mostly, I was trying Islay scotch, like Laphroaig and Ardbeg, and some blended options, too. However, I’m back to do a review on a whisky from my favorite region of Scotland, Speyside. Today, we’re discussing Shieldaig 12 Year Single Malt. In this…
We’re back with some more wine reviews, and this time we’re talking about the 2019 vintage of Apothic Inferno. Apothic is a fairly popular wine, but Inferno caught our eye for a specific reason – it is aged in whiskey barrels for 60 days before bottling. And well, we love our whiskey so we had…