Best of the Best Awarded to Garrison Brothers Distillery’s Guadalupe Whiskey December 18, 2023 (Santa Rosa, Calif.) — Winners have been announced for the 2023 Craft Distillers Spirits Competition, which took place in Santa Rosa, Calif., earlier this month. Taking the top spot this year is Guadalupe, a Texas straight bourbon whiskey finished in a port cask from Garrison Brothers Distilling in Hye, Texas. Judges described Guadalupe as “Very elegant”; “Warm finish”; “Delicious.” Garrison Brothers Master Distiller Donnis Todd says, “What sets Guadalupe apart is the unique Texas climate, with its dramatic temperature fluctuations, and our careful selection of the right wet port barrels. This combination is key to Guadalupe’s distinctiveness. Our goal was to capture and highlight the port notes, offering bourbon enthusiasts the same thrilling experience I get when discovering these exceptional barrels in our barns. “The visc

A 2020 that no one could have foreseen is drawing to a close with the bulk wine market active but less active than it was in late summer/early fall when smoke exposure concerns joined with heightened off-premise demand to stimulate a buying frenzy. The market picture is now difficult to summarize because it is so granulated: everyone – buyers and sellers alike – are tentatively trying to navigate their own way through a landscape with little forward visibility.  On the one hand, the commencement of COVID-19 vaccine rollouts in some parts of the world raises the prospect of a more ‘normal’ 2021 – at least by the second half of the year. But on the other hand, the recent reimposition of a strict stay-at-home order across most of California is a reminder that the virus is still very much with us. Once the virus is under better control, if not eliminated, the focus will turn to the economic fallout.  According to Nielsen data, off-premise domestic ta