We're catching up with Orkney's Highland Park today with a look at three expressions -- one old friend, rebranded, and two new releases that are now gracing shelves and back bars. Don't be surprised if none of this looks overly familiar; Highland Park recently rebranded its entire lineup (yet again) with new labels, new bottles, and new taglines.

The final two barrel-strength Booker's Bourbon releases for 2025 are here. We're ganging them up into this combo review. But if you missed 2025-02 and 2025-01, we've got you covered there, too! Booker's Bourbon "Jerry's Batch" 2025-03 Review The youngest whiskey in this batch is aged 7 years, 4 months, and 21 days. Unusually, it is blended in identical proportions (11.1% each) of nine different sub-batches each drawn from different warehouse.

Bourbon is often hailed as America’s native spirit. That title gained official weight in 1964, when Congress declared bourbon a “distinctive product of the United States,” placing it on the same footing as Scotch whisky and granting it formal protection in international trade. Only whiskey crafted on American soil could bear the name. Yet for all of bourbon’s present-day prestige, it was neither the nation’s first infatuation nor its second when it came to strong drink.

Well aligned with the adage about everything being bigger in Texas, Heath Family Brands doesn’t do anything half-steppin'. The operation stretches across five distinct labels, each vying for a little piece of the Lone Star spotlight. Today, we are trying three wines grouped as a holiday 3-pack, all available either in time for the holidays or at their sleek new tasting room in Fredericksburg, roughly 90 minutes west of Austin, give or take the traffic and patience for adhering to the speed limit.

As a brand, Knob Creek is now 32 years old. In that context, its release of a 21 year old expression --  by far its oldest to date -- makes perfect sense. Given how impressive Knob Creek 15 Years Old and Knob Creek 18 Years Old are, it also stands to reason that this 21 year old offering would raise the stakes even further.

Still Austin continues to make waves in the burgeoning Texas whiskey world -- its Bonded Red Corn Bourbon won all kinds of awards last year, and narrowly missed a spot on our Top 20 Whiskeys of the Year list. Now Still Austin is back with an even more tantalizing expression, its most expensive and limited release to date. The whiskey is called Tanager, a "cigar blend" bourbon made from all Texas-grown red, white, and blue corn in the mash (plus Texas rye and malted barley) and aged for five years.

Occasionally, something at the local shop manages to throw a curveball. In this instance, it was a Malbec from Mendoza priced at $20, doing the heavy lifting of wine twice the price. That shouldn’t be surprising at all, but it somehow managed to feel like a personal plot twist in a year already filled with abrupt changeups. There it was on an endcap display, sitting between impulse purchases, budget bottles of sparkling wine and seasonal novelties, practically begging to be test-driven.

In 2023 country singer Eric Church and Ari Sussman unveiled Whiskey Jypsi Legacy Batch 001. Two autumns later, in 2025, they released Legacy Batch 003, titled “The Declaration.” Shelves today brim with excellent blends of sourced whiskey, yet few bottles carry a tale that truly outlives the pour. Sussman sets aside the usual crown of master blender and simply calls himself a whiskey maker, insisting the liquid and the legend must stand equal.

You will find Herdade Aldeia de Cima in Portugal's Alentejo region, surrounded by cork forests. Here the operation farms only indigenous grapes and makes wines like Myndru, which is composed of 50% Alfrocheiro, 30% Tinta Grossa, and 20% Baga grown on "poor and skeletal soil." 70% of batch is aged for 14 months in 1000-liter cocciopesto amphorae; the other 30% spends 6 months in more typical 150-liter terracotta tinajas.

Looking for a little zip in your whiskey? Bib & Tucker's new Gold Roast Bourbon has you covered. Well, the flavor at least, maybe not the actual caffeine. For this newest addition to the Bib & Tucker lineup, a portion of their classic 6 year old Tennessee bourbon has been steeped with a custom blend of Arabica coffee beans courtesy of Muletown Coffee Roasters south of Nashville.

Recently, Rob reviewed (and enjoyed) Portugal-based Quinta Nova’s Reserva Terroir Red, which is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), and Tinto Cão. This wine has the same four grapes in it  (plus some Tinta Amarela) -- though it's from a prior vintage -- but it has a twist: It's not aged in oak. For some reason, it also appears in a Bordeaux style bottle instead of the Burgundy bottle featured in the Reserva Terroir.

The most limited Remus release is back for a fourth installment. For 2025, the latest Gatsby Reserve commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the bottling’s namesake, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless and very depressing novel, The Great Gatsby. The previous releases have all been blends of Ross & Squibb’s 21% and 26% rye bourbon recipes, but for this latest offering, Master Distiller Ian Stirsman drew solely from bourbon stocks made from the 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley mashbill.

Cognac Ferrand's fourth installment of its Renegade Barrel collection is here. To refresh your memory, these are "anything is possible" barrels which primarily revolve around unusual finishes. Unlike the off-putting Barrel #3, Barrel #4 is not finished in a rum barrel but rather finishes its aging in a tropical climate in Barbados. Note that while Barrel #3 was not officially labeled as Cognac due to French labeling laws, Barrel #4 is, because it isn't finished in a different spirit barrel.

Armenia's Ararat brandy is out with an odd new expression, which is flavored with coffee. There's not a lot of information about what's in the bottle here -- either the age of the brandy used or any information about the coffee -- but we won't let that stop us. Let's dive in. Ararat Coffee Brandy Review The nose really does evoke a deft blend of coffee and fruity brandy, with the combination able to pass for a fruitier coffee liqueur.

Just when we thought we had a handle on the many different batches and special label releases, Barrell Craft Spirits threw another curveball at us this fall with a bourbon that, at least now, is a series unto itself. We’ve seen six different releases under the Cask Finish Series, but for reasons that elude me, this new French Oak Finish is a separate thing.

We first encountered the Chemistry value wine brand -- a partnership between the Oregon wineries Stoller and Chehalem -- with its 2019 vintages. Now we're back with a new look at two wines from the 2023 vintage and a nonvintage sparkling wine released alongside them. Note that some things have evolved in the last four years, as these wines are now mostly Oregon designated instead of hailing exclusively from Willamette.

For most whiskey fans, December marks the end of release season. For devotees of Colorado-based Stranahan’s (self-proclaimed “Strana-fans”), it’s time for Snowflake, the distillery’s most anticipated and acclaimed whiskey. Bottles go on sale following a week of branded festivities, with nearly all going to those who camped out to reserve spots in line. Whiskey, it seems, can do wonders to stave off the Denver cold.

Monkey 47's annual special edition for 2025 -- wherein a 48th ingredient is famously added to the botanical bill -- is focused on fleur de sel, salt from Camargue’s pale-pink salt marshes in the south of France. Given the connection between gin and briny olives, it's a combination that makes immediate sense, unlike some prior renditions which took a little more time to understand.

Absinthe Ordinaire is a decidedly non-traditional absinthe -- in fact, it's not a true absinthe at all but a liqueur, made with sugar and artificial color, and bottled at just 46% alcohol. The French product does claim a historic recipe dating back to 1792 and includes classic ingredients of true absinthes, including wormwood. I did have to chuckle however at the warning sign on the back label, noting that the product "is 92 proof, so please drink with extreme caution."

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof has been synonymous with bourbon since the beginning, but today the brand expands the Barrel Proof brand to a new spirit -- rye whiskey. (So not too far from home.) ECBP Rye #1, batch A925, is a 12 year, 3 month old offering, made from a mashbill of 51% rye, 35% corn, and 14% malted barley.

When the story of American whiskey gets told, Kentucky and Tennessee still claim most of the pages. Lately, though, voices from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and a handful of other places have started pushing back, reminding everyone that distillation once thrived far beyond the Bluegrass and the Volunteer State. Even with that renewed attention, North Carolina’s chapter still tends to sit quietly in the corner, waiting for someone to notice.

Sure, you can shop for hours for ingredients to put together one of those fancy meat and cheese boards for your next party, or you can hit up Boarderie, and have them do the heavy lifting for you. This artisan company, based in Florida, specializes in charcuterie trays with all the hard work taken care of. They're smartly assembled, artfully arranged, and shipped overnight in chilled boxes ready for you to unwrap and set out for your guests.

The James of James Gin is James May, that noted host of Top Gear and, it turns out, a whole bunch of cooking- and travel-related TV shows. He also owns a pub in the English countryside, and he makes gin -- with five expressions currently under his belt. I know all this because May explained it to me during a visit to Austin, Texas, to promote the release of his American Mustard expression.

Johnnie Walker Black Ruby is one of the blender's more complex products, featuring a complicated maturation that involves PX and oloroso sherry casks, "seasoned" red wine casks, and ex-bourbon casks -- and no Port at all, as the name of the whiskey might connote. It's also only available outside the U.S. or in duty free/travel retail shops, making it especially unique among JW expressions.

Never mind the Frenchified "GRIS" on the front label, this is Italian pinot grigio, hailing from Alto Adige. Florian Brigl (not a typo) offers a surprisingly soft expression of pinot grigio here, gently herbal and grassy on the nose, moving into notes of sesame, coconut, and -- especially -- white flowers. There's a lightly peppery quality evident that lifts the nose just so, giving the finish an herbaceous, spicy character that battles a bit with the more summery, creamier attack. Just a pinch of saline brightens up an otherwise flowery finish. B+ / $17