Steve Coomes

Steve Coomes is a veteran journalist and book author specializing in whiskey, tequila and restaurants. When not writing, he leads virtual and in-person food and spirits pairings.

New Brand Releases

History, Heat and High-Proof Whiskeys Mark Heaven Hill's Grain to Glass Launch

“Ten years ago, this was but a figment of our imagination, and our partners helped our imagination become actual whiskey. For somebody like me who’s been in this business for a very long time, this is really exciting.”

Tequila Reviews

Entremanos Tequila Blanco Review

The nose starts a little funky but intriguing, with warmed butter and mozzarella cheese drifting into herbal characters like spearmint and dried sage.

Get To Know

Get to Know: Aaron Harris, Green River's Head Distiller

When Harris came aboard, Green River’s annual output was 90,000 barrels a year. Under his watch, it’s increased by a solid 20 percent. Its outstanding single-barrel program has received rave reviews, and it just launched a new Full-Proof line of its standard bourbon.

American Whiskey Reviews

Old Elk Cigar Cut Island Blend Whiskey Review

You'll find Cigar Cut Island so easy to sip that its 111 proof will have you in its grasp before you know it, so watch your portions!

This Round's Mine

Alcohol’s Impact Increases With Age, So Drink Wisely, Friends

None of the researchers quoted in the article recommended swearing off alcohol given complications as one ages. One even pointed out that drinking is a social convention, and socializing is a huge part of mental health.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Still Austin Red Corn Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon Review

I love the lightly piney note that comes right out of every glass of Still Austin whiskeys. It comforts me knowing something good and unique is coming.

Get To Know

Get to Know: Glencairn's Martin Duffy

The busiest part of my year begins in February when whiskey events start. … Then things slow down some later in the year, and I work on creating distillery trails for different states. Yes, that’s for Glencairn.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Chicken Cock Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review

At 5 years, it possess aromas and flavors you'd expect from something two to three years older. I like it so much that I looked at my tasting notes from a single barrel pick of 6-year-old Chicken Cock bourbon and found them nicely aligned.

Members only

This Round's Mine

Who Has the Better Palate – Women or Men?

It’s not some battle of the sexes thing for me, it’s just a question: Upon what grounds do you base a claim that women have better palates than men?

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Michter's 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon Review – 2024 Release

What is there not to love about this almost-annual release? What bourbon fan would taste this and object to any of its qualities? Release after incredible release, it confirms what great bourbon should taste like.

Members only

This Round's Mine

Stagg Wins 'Best Bourbon'—In Other News, Water is Wet

To be fair, at least this is a great whiskey winning the top prize. However, given the number of awards won by the whiskey named after a suffer-no-fools distiller, these competitions are boring for everyone except Buffalo Trace.

Rye Whiskey Reviews

Sagamore Spirt Manhattan Finished Rye Whiskey Review

If you're expecting a ready-to-drink Manhattan, it's not quite that. Wondering if it might be, I fridge-chilled it, poured it into a chilled glass and garnished it with an expressed orange peel.

New Brand Releases

‘Honey, It’s Barrel Aged!”

If you haven’t had honey drizzled on a pizza, you're missing out. Hot honey is even better, as in spiced up rather than heated.

Interview

Q&A with Carey Bringle, Peg Leg Porker Tennessee Bourbon

Personally, I like 8-year-old whiskey, which I think is kind of a sweet spot for bourbon. But we’ve got older stuff, including a barrel from the first lot that I ever bought. It’s 16 years old and it’s 148 proof.

This Round's Mine

A Private Barrel Pick at Four Roses Bourbon Is One of a Kind

“Oh, we’ve had people argue about it for sure,” Mandy Vance, manager of the Private Barrel Selection process at Four Roses, told me a few years ago about a pick. They generally work it out, though, because they’re having fun.”

Tequila Reviews

La Pulga Tequila Blanco Review

The nose is rich with cooked agave and pleasant back notes of sour orange peel, tamarind, eucalyptus, wild honey, spring flowers and some minerality.

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This Round's Mine

Rye Isn't All That Spicy, Experts Say

Immediately, I thought of Heaven Hill’s bourbons, which have only 10 percent rye in the mashbill but come off as nicely spicy in the glass. Then Veach cited Old Fitzgerald, a wheated bourbon that has terrific spice notes despite having no rye.

Tennessee Whiskey Reviews

George Dickel Bottled-In-Bond Spring 2011 Tennessee Whisky Review

The nose is rich and complex, combining dried flowers, ripe raspberries and blackberries and whiskey-wetted oak.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Angel's Envy Cask Strength Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon Review

If you're even semi-American whiskey savvy, you recognize the phrase in this bottle's name: Cask Strength Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon. Well, it's true: no water was added to achieve 100 proof; just the mingling of sub- and above-100-proof casks to attain that essential proof for BIB.

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On The Road

Smooth Ambler's Best Whiskies Are Yet To Come

Of all the lessons Little has learned, one that seems obvious is: “We’re going to do what’s right for the whiskey, not what’s right for marketing. Do everything necessary to make the whiskey delicious.”

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Old Elk Cognac Finish Bourbon Review

There are days when I think, "I'm finished with cask finishes!" and then there are days when cask finishes redeem themselves. Old Elk Cognac Cask Finish did that recently when I tasted it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Members only

This Round's Mine

Many National Bourbon Day Cocktails in Kentucky Aren’t Worth Celebrating

Last year at a high-level Kentucky whiskey industry event I requested a Manhattan. When the genial “bartender” merely poured me bourbon on the rocks, I asked about the vermouth and bitters. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “Can you tell me what to put in?” I settled for whiskey on the rocks.

Members only

This Round's Mine

Sourcing Whiskey: Good or Homogenizing?

But after tasting hundreds of bourbon iterations in my career, the consistency of them many is becoming as concerning as comforting. Some days, I wonder if too many are just too similar, especially when I see so many parallels in my tasting notes (and others’) for reviews and barrel picks.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Maker's Mark 'Heart Release' Bourbon Review

Like every wood-finished Maker's release, The Heart Series offers up a rich and complex nose featuring oak, chocolate, cinnamon and clove. Pastries, pie crust and fruit tarts made from all three doughs emerge laced with caramel and mocha.

Are Single Barrels An Endangered Species?

So, why are these “picks” gathering dust? Are there too many on the market now? It used to be that legacy distillers, especially those with old barrels ripe for store pick harvest, supplied the bulk of those options.