Jonah Flicker

1 week ago | robbreport.com | Jonah Flicker

As we’ve reported on previously, the American whiskey industry is facing some tough times. Younger people are drinking less, major drinks companies are reporting a decrease in revenue and laying off employees, and the continued unpredictability of the Trump administration’s tariff policy has created a sense of disarray. The latest victim of this challenging environment is craft distillery Westward Whiskey, which announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

1 week ago | robbreport.com | Jonah Flicker

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review. When it comes to whisky, I like being surprised (in other situations, however, it really depends on exactly what the surprise is). I taste a lot of whisky (and whiskey) for my job, but of course there are still some brands and distilleries that I’m less familiar with.

1 week ago | robbreport.com | Jonah Flicker

Midleton, the distillery where popular Irish whiskey brands Jameson, Redbreast, and Powers are made, is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. To commemorate the occasion, it’s releasing Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Chapter Six, its oldest pot still whiskey to date which is composed of the literal last drops of spirit made at the old distillery. We were able to visit Midleton this week to get a first taste of this rare 50-year-old whiskey, and it’s fantastic.

2 weeks ago | robbreport.com | Jonah Flicker

Jefferson’s is known for taking its bourbon on a journey—literally, with the Ocean Aged at Sea series that sends barrels around the world on container ships to age in different climates, or the Tropics release that ships casks to other countries where they are exposed to high heat and humidity. The brand has a few other tricks up its sleeve as well as far as cask finishing, but not much barrel-proof whiskey to speak of.

2 weeks ago | robbreport.com | Jonah Flicker

A few days ago, auction house Sotheby’s released its 2024 Wine & Spirits Market Report, and the news was not great. Overall, auction sales dropped about 30 percent to $114 million, compared to $159 million the previous year. Despite this downturn in high-end spirits auction sales, there were some bright spots: Bottles from Speyside scotch distillery the Macallan and Japanese ghost distillery Karuizawa continued to hold their value and sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.