2025

Stoll & Wolfe Blend of American Straight Whiskeys

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review / ,

Stoll & Wolfe Blend of American Straight Whiskeys

43% ABV
$60
Website
Stoll & Wolfe Blend of American Straight Whiskeys
We would like to thank Stoll & Wolfe Distillery and The Whiskey Bard for sending us a sample to review.

What the Producer Says

Stoll & Wolfe have moved to the forefront of a crowded whiskey landscape by using recipes and methods passed down by Legendary Pennsylvania Master Distiller Dick Stoll. The distillery has been a vital part of reviving whiskey making in small-town Pennsylvania. The collection of Stoll & Wolfe spirits embodies the style and 250-year history of distilling in Lancaster County.

Both the Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey, distilled by Dick Stoll, and the Blend of American Straight Whiskeys, with casks selected and blended by Dick Stoll, have been heavily awarded. Both spirits received scores from the Ultimate Spirits Challenge indicating whiskies that are both highly recommended and excellent in quality. These two flagship bottles were each awarded a Silver Medal at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition – in the Rye Whiskey and American Whiskey categories respectively. Among the awards, both spirits finished as Chairman’s Trophy finalists in their categories with a Top 3 Finish. Stoll & Wolfe has continued to build upon the legacy of Dick Stoll and the early success of these spirits by expanding to a number of whiskey variations and other distilled offerings. Stoll & Wolfe offerings are available in both the tasting room for purchase and pickup or online for shipping nationwide. View our online shop to try one of Pennsylvania’s most authentic whiskies.

Age: 5 Year Bourbon (MGP)/2 Year Rye
Mash Bill: 80% 5 Year High Rye Bourbon (75% Corn/21% Rye/4% Malt), 20% 2 Year Straight Rye (60% Rye/30% Corn/10% Malt)
Cask Types: Zak Cooperage 2 Year air dried staves American oak (2 Year Rye)
Things to Note: Non-Chill Filtered

Tasting Notes
Nose: Warm and approachable with notes of caramel, vanilla bean, and baked apple. A soft undercurrent of toasted grain and sweet corn adds roundness, while a light hint of oak and marshmallow offers depth without heaviness.
Palate: Smooth and balanced. Opens with sweet notes of butterscotch, honey, and light stone fruit. Layers of vanilla, toasted cereal, and soft spice unfold across the mid-palate, carried by the subtle structure of Pennsylvania rye.
Mouthfeel: Silky and medium-bodied with a gently warming presence. The rye brings just enough backbone to support the softer, sweeter elements of the blend.
Finish: Warm and lingering, with brown sugar, light oak, and a fading ribbon of vanilla and marzipan.

What Gary Says

Nose: Soft, mild vanilla, light caramel, buttered corn, fall leaves and a hint of oak.
Palate: Creamy mouthfeel with honey, vanilla, bit of butterscotch and subtle wood spices.
Finish: Short to moderate in length with fading honey and vanilla.
Comments: This is a very light, smooth sipping whiskey. Not off-putting in any way, but for my taste it’s just too mild/smooth. I’m a fan of bourbon and rye blends (there’s a company out west who has made a great one for years, although a world-renowned distillery in Kentucky tried one a decade ago – and I’ll just save I’ve forgiven them that mistake).  I also really enjoyed Stoll & Wolfe’s rye whiskey! But this blend just didn’t do anything for me. Appreciate the transparency on the bourbon source (and have had some really nice MGP bourbon), but not sure if the bourbon was uninspiring, or the two just don’t work well together. If tasting blind, I might have guessed this to be a corn whiskey or a light whiskey versus a bourbon and rye blend.

Rating: Average/Stands Out

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Stoll & Wolfe Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey

/ / Review, Rye Whiskey / ,

Stoll & Wolfe Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey

45% ABV
$48
Website
Stoll & Wolfe Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey
We would like to thank Stoll & Wolfe Distillery and The Whiskey Bard for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says

Stoll & Wolfe have moved to the forefront of a crowded whiskey landscape by using recipes and methods passed down by Legendary Pennsylvania Master Distiller Dick Stoll. The distillery has been a vital part of reviving whiskey making in small-town Pennsylvania. The collection of Stoll & Wolfe spirits embodies the style and 250-year history of distilling in Lancaster County.

Both the Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey, distilled by Dick Stoll, and the Blend of American Straight Whiskeys, with casks selected and blended by Dick Stoll, have been heavily awarded. Both spirits received scores from the Ultimate Spirits Challenge indicating whiskies that are both highly recommended and excellent in quality. These two flagship bottles were each awarded a Silver Medal at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition – in the Rye Whiskey and American Whiskey categories respectively. Among the awards, both spirits finished as Chairman’s Trophy finalists in their categories with a Top 3 Finish. Stoll & Wolfe has continued to build upon the legacy of Dick Stoll and the early success of these spirits by expanding to a number of whiskey variations and other distilled offerings. Stoll & Wolfe offerings are available in both the tasting room for purchase and pickup or online for shipping nationwide. View our online shop to try one of Pennsylvania’s most authentic whiskies.

Age: 3 Years
Mash Bill: 60% Rye, 30% Corn, 10% Malt
Cask Types: Zak Cooperage 2 Year air dried staves American oak
Things to Note: Non-Chill Filtered, Sweet Mash Kline Farm Grain

Tasting Notes
Nose: Bright and grain-forward with aromas of rye spice, lemon peel, dried mint, and toasted oak. Subtle notes of cinnamon and orchard fruit peek through with time in the glass.
Palate: Focused and expressive. Classic Pennsylvania rye character comes through with black pepper, clove, and dry herbal notes, rounded out by hints of honey, toasted grain, and dried fruit.
Mouthfeel: Firm and structured with a dry edge and chewy grain texture that lingers.
Finish: Long and spice-driven with lingering notes of cracked pepper, oak, and dutch cocoa.

What Gary Says

Nose: Bright rye spice – mint, thyme, dill with some lemon zest and oak.
Palate: Thick mouthfeel with honey, vanilla, cloves, tangerines, mint and pepper.
Finish: Moderately long with pepper spice followed by cloves and oak.
Comments: Rye whiskey is the only category of whiskey that I find enjoyable at under 4 years old (and not ALL rye whiskey fits that description). For a three year old rye, this punches well above it’s weight! The non-chill filtering really shines through, and the spices in this dram – I would have guessed it was more like an 80% rye (although it doesn’t have that crisp edge that a higher rye would have). This is just delightful! I would love to try this with a few more years of maturity, and a higher ABV (maybe a limited edition in the future, maybe straight, 5 year old cask strength? A guy can dream, right?)

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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Oaklore Oloroso Sherry Cask Finished Four Grain Bourbon

/ / Bourbon, Review /

Oaklore Story Series: Oloroso Sherry Cask Finished Four Grain Bourbon

47.5% ABV
$100
Website
Oaklore Oloroso Sherry Cask Finished Four Grain Bourbon
We would like to thank Oaklore Distilling Co. and Raptor Communications for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says

For this Story Series release, we start with Oaklore’s traditional four grain bourbon, which is crafted by our sister distilleries in North Carolina. Distilled on 24-inch Vendome all-copper column stills, the Four Grain Bourbon uses “the big four” American Whiskey grains (corn, wheat, barley & rye). The whiskey combines the best five- to six-year-old barrels of wheated bourbon and rye bourbon mash bills, which are aged separately, hand-selected, and then batched together – producing a final mash bill of 70% corn, 10% rye, 10% wheat, and 10% malted barley. Then, our master blender transferred the whiskey into Spanish Oloroso Sherry Barrels where it rested for 12 to 18 months – picking up the gorgeous Mediterranean flavors and influence inherent to Oloroso Sherry Casks.

NOSE: Dried Fig, Raisin, Vintage Wine
PALATE: Cherry Bark, Cocoa, Apricot
FINISH: Medium Dry Sherry Finish

What Gary Says

Nose: Caramel, sherried fruit with raisins and figs, oak, and chocolate-covered cherries.
Palate: Cherries, raisins, chocolate, honey and cinnamon.
Finish: Moderate in length, drying with honey, cherry and chocolate notes.
Comments: The sherry finish is fairly pronounced here; not what I’d call overbearing but definitely on the heavier side. Good news for me is I like sherry maturation and finishing, but the downside for me is the underlying bourbon doesn’t get to shine through. The nuance of the wheated and rye mashbill bourbons mingling, with a respectable amount of time in the barrel, is unfortunately covered up. Although if you’re a fan of sherry, this likely won’t miss.

Rating: Stands Out

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Tullibardine 25 Year Old

/ / Highland, Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Tullibardine 25 Year Old
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

43% ABV
$300
Website
Tullibardine 25 year Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Distiller Says

This whisky was matured for a minimum of 25 years in ex-sherry Hogsheads. It is beautifully aged with wonderful hues of red, orange and brown. Amazingly, no oaky notes appear at all for a whisky of this age. You’ll instead find subtle vanilla, toffee and orange chocolate. Tullibardine 25 Year Old has an incredible viscous quality that fills the mouth with baked banana, orange peel and a long, creamy, silky finish.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Soft and subtle, cereal notes, heather, peaches, grapes, apricots, kiwi, vanilla, oak and cedar.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel with butterscotch, orange marmalade, bit of cinnamon, golden raisins, and malt.
Finish:  Moderately long and damp with honey and cereal malt.
Comments:  Very subtle; in fact at first blush it reminds me a bit of a single grain whisky. A polite dram, that isn’t off-putting but honestly was a bit of a let down. I managed to pick this one up on auction for £120 (after hammer price and shipping was around $230, less than retail locally). I wasn’t familiar with the distillery, but with 20+ year single malt I had hoped for more depth and complexity than I got (although I’ve read several reviews that found a lot more of that, so this could just fall into the “apparently not my type” category).

Rating: Average/Stands Out

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State Line Coffee Liqueur

/ / Other Spirits, Review / ,

State Line Coffee Liqueur

25% ABV
$30
Website
State Line Coffee Liqueur
We would like to thank State Line Distillery and Publicity For Good for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says

Locally roasted coffee, organic grains from Wisconsin’s Driftless region, and pure cane sugar combine to form a decadent liqueur that is velvety smooth with rich notes of coffee and chocolate.

Crowned ‘Best in the World’ multiple years at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition, State Line Coffee Liqueur represents unmatched quality in every sip.

State Line Coffee Liqueur is velvety smooth with rich notes of coffee and chocolate. Produced from locally roasted Kin-Kin Coffee it’s hard not to get hyperbolic about our coffee liqueur. But man — it’s good. Crazy good.

State Line’s neutral grain spirit blends with cold brewed Kin-Kin Coffee and cane sugar for a decadent liqueur that’s not too sweet yet not too bitter, like dark chocolate. Serve it over ice or shake up an Espresso Martini. It’s always good. Too good, even. Okay we’ll stop.

Learn more here!

What Gary Says

Nose: Medium to dark roast coffee with a bit of chocolate.
Palate: Sweet coffee with a bit of caramel and dulce de leche.
Finish: Short in length with notes of coffee and sweetness.
Comments: This is a delightful and coffee-forward coffee liqueur! That might sound like a given, but trust me – it was really eye-opening to experience. After tasting, I decided to pull out the “coffee liqueur” I had in my cabinet (Kahlúa) for a side-by-side comparison, and the two really aren’t that similar. This is less syrupy and a tad lighter in the glass (because of course I tried both in Glencairns because I’m a whisk(e)y geek!) This is coffee first, with sweetness playing a supporting role – where the other is syrupy sweet and more chocolate forward, with coffee falling well behind. It was only then I noticed that the other is ‘coffee AND RUM liqueur’, which I had forgotten. All that to say, don’t think of this as a substitute for the other – it really does stand on its own, and if you’re a fan of coffee, this is a gem!

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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