Review: King of Kentucky Straight Bourbon 16 Years Old (2023)
When declaring to be of aristocratic lineage, especially when the word “King” comprises 1/3 of your name, logic generally dictates the excessive pageantry surrounding your arrival becomes the order of the day. So, it is always a pleasant surprise when King of Kentucky lands with minimal fanfare, absent the bloated hype and trumpeting surrounding so…
Review: 2021 Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough
A very unusual expression of NZ sauvignon blanc, here we find the more overt tropical notes retreating into a slightly doughy, caramel-laced character that weighs the wine down quite a bit. This is a rare kiwi sauvi that benefits from warming up a bit, which allows some notes of coconut and, yes, actual kiwi fruit…
Review: Highland Park 54 Years Old
There are tasting invites, and then there are tasting invites that get you running to the nearest mode of transportation. A chance to taste Highland Park’s 54 year old expression — the line’s oldest to date, with 225 bottles released and valued at a cool $54,000 — is one of the latter. Recently, the brand…
Review: IPAs of Wicked Weed: Pernicious, Perni-Haze, and Freak of Nature
We’ve tasted a lot of beers from Wicked Weed Brewing, but somehow it seems we’ve avoided some of their most straightforward offerings. Today we’re taking a look at three different India Pale Ales from the brewery, all available year-round. Wicked Weed Pernicious IPA – If there was a flagship IPA among all of Wicked Weed’s…
Review: Michter’s US-1 Toasted Barrel Finish Rye 2023
Did you know: Michter’s pioneered the toasted barrel craze back in 2014, and it’s been at it ever since. This is the first expression of the distillery’s US-1 Toasted Barrel Rye we’ve seen since 2020, and again it undergoes the operation’s unique aging process, which we’ll remind you about here: Michter’s Master of Maturation Andrea…
Review: Angostura Rum – 7 Years Old and 1919 (2023)
We recently caught up with Angostura‘s rum-making operation in Trinidad & Tobago, seven years since reviewing their nearly complete lineup. This time out we’re only examining two of the rums — both in the middle of the collection — to see how things have (or haven’t) changed over time. Both are 80 proof. Angostura Caribbean…
Review: Clonakilty Irish Whiskey Finished in Garrison Brothers Casks
Take the softest style of whiskey in the world and meld it with one of the most rugged and what do you get? Clonakilty‘s bold experiment, taking a 7 year old Irish single malt and finishing it in Garrison Brothers Balmorhea whiskey barrels, attempts to answer that question. And while there are moments of greatness…
Review: Woodford Reserve Distillery Series – Toasted Oak Four Grain
The latest experimental whiskey from Woodford Reserve and its newish master distiller Elizabeth McCall (pictured) has arrived, and it’s a bit of a spin in the four-grain concept. This is actually a blend of four different whiskeys rather than one whiskey made with four grains, mixing up Woodford Reserve’s Bourbon, Rye, Wheat, and Malt whiskeys…
