Review: Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select
Many contemporary drinkers are surprised to hear that Frank Sinatra was a Jack Daniel’s man — through and through, that’s really all the legendary singer drank. But in the revised Sinatra mythos, many now think of Ol’ Blue Eyes as holding a martini, with Jack Daniel’s seen as a commoners’ drink. Back then, that…
Drinkhacker’s 2013 Holiday Gift Guide – Best Alcohol/Spirits for Christmas
Back again by popular demand, it’s the Drinkhacker holiday gift guide — or our “best stuff of the year awards” if you want to go that route. As usual, this list is filtered through the lens of the holidays, designed to help you decide what you might buy for the loved ones on your shopping…
Review: 2013 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau
Hey guys, it’s turkey day! But the end of November also means one thing for wine fans: The release of Beaujolais Nouveau, the first wines to come from the just-finished 2013 harvest. As usual, Duboeuf is first out of the gate, and these bottlings should be on store shelves right now if you need a…
Review: Batch 206 Vodka, Mint Vodka, Gin, and Moonshine
Seattle-based Batch 206 is a craft distillery focused on hyperlocal raw materials — just about all of its source materials are from the Pacific Northwest. The company cooks up its goodies in a variety of stills, including a unique hybrid pot/column still, and most are filtered heavily through coconut husk charcoal before bottling. Thoughts on…
Recipes: Last Minute Thanksgiving Cocktails, 2013
Running around the house panicked with no idea what to serve the more discriminating drinkers in your clan? Here are some quick and easy cocktail fixes to serve before or after that giant meal tomorrow. Ellinge Autumn Sky 3 ounces Purity Vodka .5 ounce honey Barspoon roasted pumpkin Handful fresh cranberries Add pumpkin, cranberry, and…
Review: Firefly White Lightning Moonshine and Apple Pie Moonshine
I’m a big fan of Firefly’s tea-flavored vodka, probably the best on the market. Recently the distillery, based in Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina, branched out into moonshine — unaged “raw corn whiskey,” available unflavored or in one of five different flavored versions. We got both the pure stuff and one of the flavors. Thoughts —…
Review: Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve (2013)
Earlier this fall I wrote (and spoke on video at length) about the end of Johnnie Walker Gold Label and the rise of its replacement, Platinum Label. What was a bit murky at the time was where Gold Label Reserve might fit in with all of this. Formerly a non-U.S., limited release product, Gold Label…
Review: BarSol Pisco – Quebranta & Italia
Pisco is a spirit on the rise, and Peru’s BarSol makes a huge range of them — seven varieties at present. Below we look at two single-grape varieties, a quebranta and an italia, which are probably the two most common pisco grapes grown. Thoughts on each follow. Both are 80 proof. BarSol Primero Quebranta Pisco…
