Review: Preservation Distillery – Very Olde St. Nick Immaculata and Old Man Winter
Preservation Distillery + Farm is a sourced whiskey bottler, with a twist. Based in Bardstown, Kentucky, the outfit runs a pot still and focuses on locally sourced ingredients, but all of the whiskeys you will have heard of from the outfit hail from elsewhere, with sourcing in both Kentucky and Indiana. The sourcing focus is…
Review: George Dickel Bourbon 18 Years Old
Old Dickel whiskey has become a regular occurrence in recent years, with ages of 13, 15, and 17 years old hitting the market. Now Dickel’s one-upping itself with an even older expression at 18 years old. It’s important to note that this is marketed as an extension to its Bourbon line — not its Tennessee…
Review: Lighthouse Gin
Foley Family Wines is best known — as the name would suggest — for its wine operations, a vast empire which includes Chalk Hill, Sebastiani, Chateau St. Jean, and many more brands. Recently Foley got into the spirits game, and while we’ll review its first bourbon in short order, today we’re examining its inaugural gin,…
Review: 2020 Domaine Bousquet Ameri Organic Malbec and Red Blend
We’ve enjoyed more than a fair share of vintages from Argentina’s Domaine Bousquet in the last few years, all with different price points and various nuances separating them from one another. This time around we are taking a brief look at two offerings from its higher-end Ameri line: a red blend and a 100% Malbec.…
Review: Mala Mia Mezcal – Ensamble, Cuishe, and Tepeztate
Mala Mia Mexcal launched earlier this year with four expressions: Espadín, Ensamble, Cuishe, and Tepeztate. Traditionally distilled by Saturnino Martínez Méndez in the village of Santiago Matatlán in Oaxaca, the operation uses agave aged anywhere from 6 to 26 years of age, cutting them down whole. (This is the inspiration for the name Mala Mia,…
The Top 10 Whiskeys of 2023
It was another tough year for the whisky nerds among us – which is, well, all of us – as we tried to pare down the hundreds of options we reviewed throughout 2023 and come up with a list of the ten that excited us the most. Yes, we heard your cries from last year:…
Review: Casa Dragones Blanco, Reposado, and Anejo (2023)
When we first tasted Casa Dragones over a decade ago, we were blown away by what was, at that time, a very unique joven expression, made in the lowlands on column stills from both aged and unaged tequilas by the first, and then only, female Maestro Taquilera, Bertha Gonzalez Nieves. It’s a serious understatement to…
Review: 2018 Mazzei Ser Lapo Chianto Classico DOCG
Established in 1435, the Mazzei family has long been considered one of the founding families of Chianti Classico. This wine, Ser Lapo, is aged for 12 months in small French oak barrels (50% new). A true crowd-pleaser, Ser Lapo is surprisingly light on its feet at 13.5% abv, brisk with cherry and tempered with tea…