Whiskey reviews and advice by Jeff Schwartz a/k/a The Whiskeyfellow. Learn, laugh and enjoy great whiskey!
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Born in 1740, John Jameson was a Scotsman through and through. At the age of 28, he married Margaret Haig . Together, they had 16 children. Jameson was the Sheriff Clerk for Clackmannanshire, the smallest Scottish county. Yet, he didn’t enjoy his work, and in 1774, he and his brood relocated to Dublin. Margaret was born into the Haig (paternal) and Stein (maternal) families. Both were established…
Copperworks Distilling Co. of Seattle, Washington, was founded by Jason Parker and Micah Nutt in 2013. Both had backgrounds in craft brewing and wondered what would happen if they distilled high-quality craft beer into spirits. While utilizing traditional, hand-hammered copper stills from Scotland, Copperworks is a leader in the American Single Malt Whiskey movement, driven by innovation,…
Let me tell you about Heaven Hill Distillery . Founded in 1935 by a group of investors, including the Shapira family and distiller Joseph L. Beam , the distillery was originally called Old Heaven Hill Springs . The Bardstown, Kentucky, distillery produced Bourbon, and its business model was that of a bulk whiskey manufacturer. In 1957, Heaven Hill introduced its flagship Bourbon called Evan…
Lewis Station Winery and Distillery was founded in 2011 by Rob Lewis in a former gas station in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Rob is a Level 2-certified sommelier, and in 2018, Lewis Station was declared Wisconsin’s first Certified Craft Winery by the Craft Winery Association. Then, in 2020, Rob opened Stable Rock Winery & Distillery at nearby Jefferson. Aside from a couple of vodkas and gin, Rob has a…
Domenico Canale ’s family emigrated from Italy to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1844. They opened a successful wholesale grocery firm that sold liquor and wine, among other things. Domenico followed his family to America in 1859, joining his uncle Abraham Vaccaro , who operated a street fruit cart. Seven years later, Domenico established his food wholesale business, called D. Canale & Co. Like his…
Nothing sells better than supporting the military (well, nothing except that one thing). There are a plethora of whiskey brands that do exactly that. Lee Greenwood is a singer who needs no introduction. His most popular song is likely God Bless the USA . He has dedicated his life to entertaining the troops; his first USO tour was with Bob Hope in 1989, and since then, he’s done more than 30 more.…
Dancing Goat Distillery is a stone’s throw from Whiskeyfellow International Headquarters . I watched this distillery get built and then expand; at the time, it had Wisconsin’s only Kentucky-style rickhouse. Nick Maas , its master distiller, is insane (in the most fantastic way possible). He has more thoughts in his head as to what can be done with whiskey and other spirits than even he can…
When I get an influx of “Hey, are you on TikTok?” questions from followers, it piques my curiosity. Yes, I have a TikTok account, but no, I am not on TikTok. As it turns out, people are impersonating me, using my real name, my business name, and my logo, to try and scam you out of your hard-earned money. I have reported this to TikTok. TikTok asked me to take a selfie with me holding my driver’s…
Is Tennessee Whiskey Bourbon or not? That’s a question that is hotly debated among whiskey enthusiasts. Folks on the Bourbon side cite how Tennessee Whiskey meets every legal definition of Bourbon. Folks on the other side will tell you the Lincoln County Process (LCP) adulterates the whiskey and disqualifies it from being called Bourbon. Whichever side you fall on, international agreements…
One of the most iconic American distilleries is Four Roses Bourbon . It has two Kentucky locations: the bottling and warehouse operation in Cox’s Creek and the main campus in Lawrenceburg. The facts of its beginnings are murky. According to the distillery, it was founded by Paul Jones, Jr. in 1888, but had been producing whiskey since the 1860s. Another theory is that Rufus Matthewson Rose , a…
