Review: Krome Vodka
This “world’s greatest vodka” is made in Bend, Oregon, where it is distilled from locally grown corn and blended with water from the Cascades. It’s bottled in a distinct, opaque black bottle. Thoughts follow. You’ll find caramel notes on the nose, but otherwise it’s a very simple and clean spirit. The finish — driven, the…
Review: Wild Turkey Spiced
Spiced rum? Old news. Spiced whiskey is the future, bringing all the goodies of the baking cabinet to Kentucky’s finest. Wild Turkey is the latest to get into this game, bringing the traditional islandesque spices you’ll find adorning Captain Morgan and the rest of his crew to the world of Bourbon. There’s not a lot…
Review: Wines of Menage a Trois, 2013 Releases
Menage a Trois is a second, low-cost label produced by Napa-based Folie a Deux. These aren’t the world’s most challenging bottlings, but they’re by and large good enough for everyday drinking. Here’s how the current batch of releases measure up. 2012 Menage a Trois Sauvignon Blanc California – Unsurprising Sauv Blanc. Huge grapefruit and pepe…
Recipe: Fall Cocktails from Courvoisier
We’re well into the autumn months at this point, and the good folks at Courvoisier have offered us their fall collection of recipe ideas for your consideration. Of special note, the Blackberry Beret went over like wildfire at a recent football tailgating affair. Not exactly a standard offering associated with tailgating, but the supply went…
Review: Greenhook Ginsmiths Beach Plum Gin Liqueur
Who knew they grew plums on the beach? This is the first commercial “beach plum gin” liqueur, and I have to imagine the reason for that is that making a liqueur out of beach plum gins didn’t occur to anyone. The beach plums in question hail from Long Island, and their juice is blended with…
Notes on Grading
Today I received a comment on my review of the 2013 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. The commenter asked whether my B+ rating of this year’s George T. Stagg bourbon meant I would rather drink Stagg Jr., which I awarded with an A rating last month. It’s a good question, but also a bad one in…
Review: TOPO Vodka, Gin, and Carolina Whiskey (2013)
Top of the Hill Distillery, affectionately “TOPO,” promises its spirits are “100 miles from grain to glass.” That’d be more comforting if I was closer to North Carolina, where TOPO is based. Good luck finding these farther afield. Fortunately, I was able to sample the full lineup of three unaged spirits from way out here…
Review: Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2013 Edition
It’s always a glorious day when Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection annual samples arrive, letting us stick our noses and tongues in these classics of the American whiskey world. 2013 offers the quintet at ages of up to 19 years old. Here’s how the five whiskeys of the 2013 Collection stack up. (Hint: It’s one of the…
