Bylines have appeared in Esquire, Playboy, GQ, New York Mag, Men's Journal, Robb Report, Car and Driver, Road and Track, Gear Patrol, Men's Health, The Drive, Conde Nast Traveler, Whisky Advocate, and more. Latest book: How to Survive Against the Odds (William Morrow, 2025)
I Drank Rare, Unopened Century-Old Whiskeys. Here’s How They Tasted.
“We’re about to drink through all the world wars and the Great Depression,” Zev Glesta says, gingerly tugging on a metal tamper proof ring adhering the cap to a bottle of 1932 Old Grand Dad 16-year bourbon. The metal seal is particularly tricky and Glesta, Sotheby’s assistant vice president of whiskey for North America, jokes about perhaps needing pliers to wrestle it off. “Who knew they did such a good job at these early seals?” he says, finally freeing the cap.
For the first time in nearly ...
What Exactly Is BuffTurkey Bourbon? And Why Is Everyone Going Wild Over It?
Blending lore, legacy distillers, and liquid gold. This frankenbourbon from Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey is turning heads, emptying wallets, and rewriting the rules of whiskey hype
BuffTurkey. Russalo Trace. Wild Buffalo. The hottest whiskey on the market—Wild Turkey bourbon distilled by Buffalo Trace—has several portmanteau monikers, and even more alleged origin stories. The leading lore? A professional sports franchise owner from the South won a national championship and commissioned these...
These Whisky Lovers Take Their Collecting to Another Level
Everyone remembers the first bottle or sip of whisky that sparked their passion. And, if you’re like most whisky lovers, that passion blossomed and burgeoned. It can be seen as a snowball effect or a rabbit hole, but the stronghold that whisky collecting exerts is undeniable. Whether that’s hunting for a beloved bottle you haven’t seen in the wild for years or searching tirelessly for the last piece needed to complete a set, there’s a feeling of elation when you tuck a new bottle into its hom...
12 Bottles Dad Actually Wants This Father's Day
From rare single malts to affordable and accessible American whiskeys—and three non-whiskies—these Father’s Day picks are guaranteed crowd-pleasers
Your dad has enough ties, novelty T-shirts, coffee mugs, and socks. Upgrade your gifting game and get him something that will replace a forced smile with a wide grin: a wonderful bottle. Whether he’s a seasoned sipper or a whisky neophyte, we’ve selected 12 standout spirits ranging from special scotch single malts to cult-favorite bourbons to acce...
William H. Macy Would Like to Pour You Some of His Woody Creek Rye
A few things you learn within minutes of video chatting with actor William H. Macy: he prefers to be called Bill, he’s extremely articulate, he's inquisitive, especially about the art in your home, and he’s positively and utterly enamored with rye.
That wasn’t always his preferential spirit, though it was his first exposure to whiskey. “My parents drank rye,” he recalls. “They kept it under the kitchen sink, for some reason, and they’d take a shot of it, followed by a shot of water. It looked...
Will This Be the Next American Whiskey Brand to Command $100,000 at Auction?
“Every day, I’m paranoid someone will open a bottle of something I’ve picked and call me a hack,” says co-founder and co-owner of Rare Character Whiskey Company Pablo Moix. The 49 year old entrepreneur still struggles to wrap his head around the exploding success of Rare Character bottles; all of which are personally selected by him. “Selling bottles at $99, knowing they’ll hit resale markets for $400 or more, and having it not drink like a $400 and the buyer is upset—that pressure is intense...
How Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley Created Brother's Bond
As more labels backed by famous faces enter our whiskey aisles, it’s easy to roll your eyes and presume they’re all cash grabs. What can this celebrity actually know about distillation, maturation, and blending? Very little, right? And that’s true for some.
Not Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, founders of Brother’s Bond whiskey.
“We’re meticulously laying barrels down in certain places of the ricks based on when they’re distilled,” Somerhalder tells us. “We’re able to pinpoint flavor profiles...
How Chris Stapleton and Buffalo Trace Created Traveller Whiskey
Ask Chris Stapleton about his palate and the country icon laughs. “I’m not one of those folks who can pick out distinct flavors,” he says. “I’ve got a “Gladiator” approach: thumbs up or down. I don’t consider myself a whiskey expert—other than in consumption.”
The “Tennessee Whiskey” singer always issues a thumbs up to Buffalo Trace Distillery products, particularly E.H. Taylor. “Someone brought a bottle into the studio in 2013 and I loved it,” Stapleton tells us during a video chat from a Fl...
Luxury British Car Companies Love Whisky. These 4 Bottles Are Proof
High-end British car makers adore a whisky tipple. In recent years, there’s been a surge in luxury automakers—Bentley, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, McLaren, and Morgan—partnering with top whisky distillers to introduce special limited-run offerings. The most recent entry? The Macallan Horizon, a stunning $50,000 single malt scotch crafted in conjunction with Bentley Motors.
Meet Rob Cameron: Car Designer and Whisky Bottle Artist
Driving down the road, you pass Rob Cameron’s work every day. The 39 year old is a design manager for a major Detroit automotive manufacturer, overseeing a team of five designers and a sculpting group to develop future automobiles. While his impressive designs may be parked in your very own driveway, you’ll definitely be interested in displaying his stunning side hustle in your bar.
At the height of the pandemic, while on paternity leave for the birth of his second daughter, Cameron needed a ...
Doritos Liquor Is Now a Thing. But Is It Any Good?
Drinkable Doritos? In hard liquor form? An interesting concept from the folks at Empirical Spirits, one that raises additional questions. How does nacho cheese-flavored liquor taste? Is it worth $65 per bottle? And, of course, how the hell did they make it?
We’ll get into all that in a second, but first, a little primer on Empirical Spirits, the company behind the Doritos liquor. Founded in 2017 by Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, Empirical Spirits focuses on flavor first, and spirit ca...
Would You Camp Overnight for Whiskey?
Just after 12 a.m. on December 2nd, as temperatures dip below 25 degrees, the biting winter air hasn’t dampened the party in Stranahan’s Distillery parking lots in Denver. Dubbed “Snowflake Village,” it’s where more than 1,000 people have set up post in tents and RVs. All the revelers are here to purchase a bottle of the limited-edition 2023 Snowflake single malt release, a distillery-only offering that will go on sale first thing the next morning.
In this frigid setting, pockets of Stranahan...
The Kind Side of Facebook's Bourbon Groups
Pat Fallon’s health was rapidly deteriorating when he reached out to Francisco Melendez in 2022.
The 52 year old former Marine was in full kidney failure following a series of medical misfortunes stemming from a lung injury. With dialysis as his lifeline, “The only solution was a new kidney,” Fallon recounts, “but no one I knew was a viable donor.” To amplify his plea, Fallon tapped Melendez, founder of a Texas nonprofit and The Sinner’s Club, a whiskey group on Facebook of which Fallon was a...
Russell's Reserve 15 Just Dropped. And We Got a First Taste
Sorry, Russell’s Reserve 13 fans; there won’t be a release of that acclaimed expression this year. That’s because master distiller Eddie Russell and the Wild Turkey crew are instead giving you Russell’s Reserve 15 year old. (Spoiler: we got a taste and it’s quite good.)
For the uninitiated, Russell had been blending some 13 year old Russell’s Reserve into its 10 year old expression.
We Tried the First Whiskey Made to Pair With Marijuana
It started as a warehouse joke. “Everyone does a cigar batch or a cigar blend,” says Macaulay Minton, president and chief alchemist at Dark Arts Whiskey House in Lexington, Kentucky. “I’m a cannabis consumer, so I said, ‘Let’s make a blunt blend.’” Minton’s crew chuckled, then got serious, yanking some barrels for a blend of straight rye whiskeys that would be ideal to pair with marijuana.