🪵 Redwood Empire Lost Monarch – Bourbon & Rye in a Redwood Forest
This ain’t your grandma’s Kentucky bourbon tale. Redwood Empire Lost Monarch is a rye-forward blend from California’s redwood country — bright, spicy, a little minty, and balanced by sweet toffee and brown sugar. Affordable, young, and dangerously sippable, it’s proof you don’t need dusty shelves to find a forest of flavor.
The Rickhouse Rant Vol X: Bib & Tucker – “Sourced, Styled, and Perfectly Fine”
Bib & Tucker isn’t a distillery — it’s a lesson in sourcing, marketing, and why we sometimes care way too much. This beautifully bottled bourbon is soft, sweet, and downright friendly, perfect for a Wednesday wind-down. But it also opens up a bigger debate: do we buy bourbon for the taste, the story, or the illusion of craftsmanship? Pull up a chair, pour a glass, and let’s rant about what makes bourbon… bourbon.
The Rickhouse Rant, Vol. 5 – Elijah Craig Small Batch: Age is Just a Number (Unless You’re a Bourbon)
This one’s for the bourbon that doesn’t need a legend to be legendary. Elijah Craig Small Batch may have lost its 12-year age statement, but it hasn’t lost its soul. A spice-sweet balance, a proper Kentucky hug, and a price that’ll make you wonder why you’re paying $60 for lesser bottles. The myth of Elijah Craig might be fiction—but the greatness in this glass is real.
Rickhouse Rant, Vol. 4 – Buffalo Trace: Soup, Cigars, and Cowboy Coats
What would a bourbon rant be without Buffalo Trace? This isn’t just a bourbon—it’s an entire lifestyle brand, bottled, labeled, and slapped on soup cans, cologne, and (checks notes)… Wrangler jackets? Urban cowboys unite. But behind all the scent-infused marketing and nostalgia-laced mystery lies a $26.99 bottle that actually delivers. Smooth, low-rye, sweet, and shockingly versatile for the price. It’s not wheated, it’s not rare, it’s not revolutionary—but damn if it isn’t reliable. Just don’t pay more than $35, and don’t call it a buffalo. They’re bison. So yeah—Bison Trace.