I’d like to thanks CraftCo and their PR team for sending me this sample with no strings attached. Hey, it’s bonus review time here at the BourbonGuy house. Samples are stacking up faster than we can taste them, so I figured, “Why not just do some bonus posts?” And here we are. Fox & Oden is one of the many brands in the CraftCo portfolio, along with the CopperCraft bourbon we reviewed back in May. CraftCo, in turn, is part of the DeVos-owned Windquest Group based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Much like its portfolio-mate, this bourbon is also "Distilled in Indiana." According to the brand’s ..read more

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Ross & Squibb Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached. Went to the doctor this morning for my yearly physical with labs. So far, everything's come back clean, except I need to lose a little weight and exercise more. That last bit, I already knew. I mean, I’m a middle-aged man in the Upper Midwest who loves bourbon, BBQ, beer, and pizza—comes with the territory. But still, I guess it's important to get everything checked out. You never know what might turn up in the labs, and once a year isn’t too bad, I suppose. Unless you’re talk ..read more

This review sample was kindly provided by the PR team for Uncle Nearest Whiskey with no strings attached. Well, I’m back! I hope no one missed me too much (though, selfishly, I do hope you missed me a little). Vacation was fun. I drove to Maine and realized that the Maine coast looks a lot like Minnesota's North Shore—if Lake Superior had tides and crashing surf, which was pretty cool. I love visiting Minnesota’s North Shore. Tonight, we're looking at a whiskey sample I received before vacation: the latest release from Uncle Nearest, the 777 Anniversary Blend, nicknamed the Lost Chapter. This ..read more

I’d like to thank West Fork Whiskey in Indianapolis, IN for providing these review samples with no strings attached. Indianapolis is an easy city to drive through. Four separate Interstate Highways converge here, and with a beltway loop as part of the Interstate system, navigating through the city is quite straightforward. I know this because I’ve driven through Indianapolis on the way to other destinations more times than I can count. However, there has only been one time that I’ve actually spent any time in the city itself. As much as I might wish it was because my beloved Golden Gophers ma ..read more

I’d like to thank McMann & Tate Cocktail Co. for providing this review sample with no strings attached. A few weeks ago, a very nice person wrote to me offering a sample of their company’s cocktail bitters. As I am always in the mood to add to my bitters collection (seriously, I think I need to pare it down—three shelves full is a bit overkill), I happily accepted, as I’d never heard of the brand. When the bitters arrived, well, let’s just say that I was smitten. I love, love, love the late 1950s-1960s “space age” style design language. Give me a kidney-shaped design element, and I’m goin ..read more

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached. Here we are with the first post of the new schedule. I’m not going to lie; it felt really weird not writing for y'all last night. Instead, I did things like hang out with my wife and read a book. It was nice—strange, but nice. If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve probably heard me gush about my love of science fiction. Whether it’s TV, movies, or books, I’ve been a fan for a very long time. One of the early greats of the genre is Isaac Asimov. I just finished watching the second season of Founda ..read more

I don’t know about you, but since the pandemic hit, the ol’ dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to. One side effect of that is I buy a lot less whiskey these days than I once did. And when I do purchase a bottle, it tends to be a little more expensive because I go for “quality over quantity.” These days, I can go a couple of months between purchases—partially because prices are insane and partially because my wife and I have cut back so much on our drinking that we just don’t need to replenish as often. The unspoken downside to running a site like this is that it’s way too easy to overconsume ..read more

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Penelope Bourbon for providing this review sample with no strings attached. I've been covering Yellowstone Bourbon since 2015, and it’s safe to say my relationship with this brand has evolved. My first experience with Yellowstone Bourbon was anything but positive—I found the initial product harsh and unpalatable, leading me to pour it out after I finished my tasting notes. Of course, this was pre-Limestone Branch involvement. However, over the years, Limestone Branch Distillery has made significant strides, turning Yellowstone into a bourbon I now enjoy and look ..read more

I’d like to thank Four Roses for providing this review sample with no strings attached. Well, the Autumn Release season is finally here. When Four Roses says there's just over a month left until their annual release, you know that summer is almost over. It doesn’t matter what the calendar says or what society says. The official start of autumn is the day I get my hands on a bottle of Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch. Or at least it used to be. They got too expensive for me to even consider buying them quite a while ago. Unfortunately, I have bad news on that front. This year’s release i ..read more

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Penelope Bourbon for providing this review sample with no strings attached. It's a good day today. I think I have the anniversary trip for my wife and me planned out. Just need to run the last bit past her. Yesterday, I reached out to Delta about why I was bumped off our direct flight to one with a layover, and they responded by changing me to a flight on a different day where I wasn’t sitting by my wife. Not at all what I was asking for, and after speaking to a manager, I decided to cancel the flight and move on from Delta for a while. So now: road trip. Not as ..read more