The Drinkhacker Bookshelf: Celebrating Booze Book Review Month
By happenstance, this past February became Booze Book Review month. We had a pretty generous amount of reading material on our desks, which resulted in roughly 1/4 of our book reviews for the entire 5+ years of the site’s history being published in 28 days. Here’s a quick catch up with links to each review:…
Review: Caol Ila Unpeated 14 Years Old Limited Edition 2012
In January we covered five of this year’s seven Diageo’s Classic Malts Selection. Why five? At the time, two weren’t yet upon our shores, so we’ve been waiting… and waiting… and waiting. Finally they’re here, and first up we look at this unique Caol Ila, an unpeated malt from an Islay distillery that’s synonymous with…
Review: Bell’s Hopslam Ale
Each year Bell’s Brewery releases its version of a double IPA, and luckily for everyone the Michigan-based brewery makes an aggressive effort to get its beers out to as many people as possible. Even some of Bell’s limited beers are not terribly difficult to track down. This year’s Hopslam unleashes beautiful aromas of pine, citrus,…
Review: 2009 Lasseter Family Winery Paysage
Like all good rich guys in the San Francisco Bay Area, John Lasseter, of Pixar fame, has a winery of his own. Mind you, he’s no Johnny come lately to the wine biz. Lasseter has lived in Sonoma for 20 years, and he bought his first winery/vineyard property in 2002. Now, three generations of Lasseters…
Tasting Report: Tre Bicchieri Italian Wines 2013
Man, they make so much wine in Italy. The Tre Bicchieri is one of the world’s largest wine competitions, with some 20,000 Italian wine submissions received every year. The winners of these “three glasses” awards go on a world tour after they’re selected, and the wines represent a who’s who of the great wines of…
Review: 2010 Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Mondavi is a name, and a winery, that should need no introduction, yet Mondavi has so many sub-labels you can forgiven if you can’t keep them all straight. The “Napa Valley” label is exactly what it sounds like, a mid-range blend made from 100% Napa Valley fruit. Widely available and consistent from year to…
Review: 666 Vodka
666 Vodka has a name to live up to — even invoking “pure evil” on the front of the label. Made in Tasmania, Australia, this vodka is triple pot-distilled from Tasmanian barley, blended with water sourced from the pristine region here called Cape Grim. The finished product is charcoal filtered before bottling. For all its…
Book Review: Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage
Historian Mike Veach is no stranger to bourbon history. He got his start fresh out of college at Louisville’s Filson Historical Society, archiving the papers of the famous Stitzel-Weller distillery. Over the last few decades, he has dedicated his career to preserving, documenting, and researching the stories of Kentucky’s greatest exports. He’s won numerous awards…
