About Us

Castle & Cairn is a blog where you can find my ramblings across beer, wine, spirits, energy drinks, and more. Who am I?

I'm Josh. Nice to me you. You can find me on X/twitter as @Joshdebiers. I live in Georgia, am a CPA, and have worked for consulting houses like Deloitte and PwC in the areas of analytics and systems development. I am a certified Bourbon Seward and previously was a community ambassador for Anheuser Busch.

Looking to get in touch? Send me a DM on X or submit the contact us form below!

My operating costs are low, but if you'd like to support this passion project there are a number of options on our support us page (direct donations and affiliate links). I keep the ad load low and you won't find any affiliate marketing on our post pages. It means the world to me that you're reading.

A glass of whiskey sits on a stone wall overlooking a green field in the old country

Approach to Editorial Integrity

In the event a product is provided for free in exchange for a review, no preference will be given to the providing party or manufacturer (though we will be understandably over the moon about the opportunity). These circumstances will be disclosed in the relevant post. Opinions and analysis will be genuine and free from modification other than verifiable corrections of fact. I will wait a little while before reviewing it as I likely will be overly excited that someone has sent me something. For review articles, look for a verifiably authentic header photo of questionable composition (likely my living room) as a stamp that the bottle or item in question has indeed been sampled.

Scoring Guidelines

For spirits, a modified 10 point T8ke scale will be used as it is the de facto standard adopted by community reviewers and allows for more differentiation between truly remarkable products. All spirits are blinded with at least one other representative offering before score assignment (typically more), and reviews are updated throughout the course of the bottle. If only a taster or mini-bottle was sampled, this will be disclosed.

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously.
10 | Perfect | No Notes | No time, ingredients, or craftsmanship can improve this.

For beer and energy drinks, we use an abbreviated five point scale as that aligns with Untapped and reflects the tighter relative quality range within those categories. The scale used is always presented at the bottom of the review.

1 | Bad | Don't Drink it | I Wouldn't Drink it
2 | Poor | I would drink it if there was nothing else or it was free
3 | Good | Serviceable | Buy it on sale
4 | Great | A Cut Above | White Monster - Ballast Point Sculpin | Buy at full price
5 | Excellent | Standout in the Category | Pay venue prices

Approach to AI Generated Content

I believe that human generated content is critical to the future of the internet and continued functioning of society. At work, I utilize traditional machine learning models as well as generative AI to accomplish a variety of tasks. After more than three years of working with these tools, I can tell you that they are fantastic for many use cases, but still significantly prone to error. While AI tools may be used to create some of the images on this site and language models may be used as research aids, all text on Castle & Cairn will be human generated.

Behind the Name

Why Castle & Carin? Cairn is fairly straightforward as it is the back half of the now prolific Glencairn drinking glass popularized in the early 2000s for tasting and assessing whiskey. Castle comes from my natural disposition as a homebody. I do enjoy traveling but there's just something different about being at home. It's the environment most cultivated to your enjoyment. It's a place to host parties and be generous with friends. It's a hierarchy need and the single most worthwhile investment in yourself, a nice place to live. In 1644, English judge Sir Edward Coke was quoted as saying, "For a man's house is his castle".

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🥃Review #15 Costco's Kirkland Small Batch Bourbon

Costco's liquor store is a thing of beauty. While not every Kirkland edition is a hit, there are enough standouts on a fun per dollar ratio to always merit a look. Almost all of the house brands are less than $30, and I'm always excited to take a long shot when the new seasonal releases come around. 📚 Background: Distilled by Barton 1792 in Bardstown Kentucky, Kirkland Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey hits the shelves a few times a year. Mine was from batch 1124. The bottle presentation is supposed to evoke the same feel as other small batch whiskeys and there is a decorative purity seal that is reminiscent of the ever reliable bottled in bond green filigree, albeit in a meaningless red. Unlike its bonded brethren, this edition comes in under 100 proof and does not have any age statement. There's not a whole lot of additional information provided by Costco or the distiller, but we can reasonably assume that it shares a similar pedigree as the entry level 1792...

🥃Review #53: Costco's Kirkland 15YR Highland Single Malt Scotch - 2025

The 2025 release of Costco's Kirkland 15-year Highland Scotch hit shelves in late January and is a recurring installment on an annual cadence. The first pallet to hit my local store sold out almost immediately. Thankfully, we got two more shipments at one pallet each that hung around a bit longer and I was able to snag a bottle. Like in previous years, this Highland Scotch is finished in sherry casks. Alexander Murray & Co. is the bottler with MISA imports out of Texas bringing it to the States for consumption (Costco's standard sourcing pattern for Scotch). The bottle has a nice heft to it and there is an ensconced Alexander Murray Lion adding some nice texture to the front of the bottle. Steve Lipp, CEO of Alexander Murray, calls it "Perfect for after dinner drinking." All-in-all, this shows an attempt to elevate the product and presentation from the ubiquitous blends and non-age stated iterations you'll sometimes find under the Kirkland label. Neither Alex...

🍺 Definitive Light Beer Tier List: Meta-Analysis & Ranking

Trends come and go: Craft Beer, Hard Seltzer, Canned Cocktails, and more. In the world of beverage, the currents are constantly shifting, but one drink has an irrevocable grip on America: Light Beer. Good old beer flavored beer may take a hit from new competition, but brands like Miller Lite and Michelob Ultra constantly sit at the top of sales volume lists, even with the fall of Bud Light and rise of Modelo's Flagship. But which light beer is best? Let's find out. Methodology - Light Beer Ranking Taste preferences vary significantly between consumers, but across a large sample we should be able to get a somewhat representative picture of the populations preferences. For this ranking, we will combine data sourced from multiple beer rating sites with an internal Castle & Cairn house ranking to create an overall beer quality score. The starting population of beer brands will be those that are explicitly branded as "flagship light" or beers with less than 100 calor...

🍺🍷🥃 Beer, Wine, and Spirits Rebate Website Master List

If there is anything I love more than a good drink, it's saving money buying that good drink! The rules for providing discounts on alcohol differ substantially between states with some allowing outright discounts or coupons and others entirely disallowing any sort of purchase incentive. Thankfully though, in my native Georgia as well as most states, a simple reimbursement approach is permissible. Last Updated & Validated 4/17/2026 . Added a number off options for beer and multi-bev. Alcohol Rebate Site Master List The following sites are relatively stable for each manufacturer. New offers usually come out every few months. None of these are affiliate links and I provide no assurance as to the process. I have saved so much money using rebates and hope you have similar success. Best practices and general process advice will be presented at the bottom. New sites will be added as I uncover them. Beer Rebates Boston Beer Company Brands - Angry Orchard, Dogfish head, Hard Moun...

🥃 Review #40: Kirkland Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024)

Like Costco's other Scotches, the Kirkland Signature Islay Single Malt is bottled for Alexander Murray and imported by MISA Imports after being distilled and aged in Scotland (TTB.gov plant registry TX-I-1277). The isle of Islay is one of the southern most islands in Scotland and is one of the five whisky regions ensconced in law. There are only nine active distilleries on the island, and the Islay style is typified by strong peat or smoky flavors. As a single malt, we know that the juice in this bottle comes entirely from one of those nine! All of the distilleries are significantly smaller than Glenlivet and many of the mainland producers. Taste testing has people split between Caol Illa, Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte), and Bunnahabhain as being the source. Caol Illa and Laphroig both have done deals for private brand scotch without rights to name the source distillery, but Laphroig does not match the flavor profile for this bottle. Realistically, Caol Illa is the most likely cand...

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