Book Review: The World’s Best Whiskies: 750 Essential Drams From Tennessee To Tokyo
Judging by the credentials listed in his author blurb on the back sleeve, Dominc Roskrow could certainly lay claim to being an “expert” in his field of study. A veteran writer and author with over two decades of published works, he’s received the Scotch industry’s highest order – Keeper of the Quaich – and was…
Review: Starr Hill Saison and Psycho Kilter
Starr Hill in Charlottesville, Virginia makes a collection of beers in a wild array of styles, mostly available on the central-eastern seaboard. The company sent us (out of the blue) two of its newer, seasonal releases for sampling and review. Thoughts follow. Starr Hill Starr Saison Belgian Style Ale – Mild nose. Fruity with orange…
Review: Drinking Hangar 24 Vinaceous and Chocolate Porter with Owner Ben Cook
We’ve covered the brews of Redlands, California-based Hangar 24 before, and recently owner Ben Cook (and his crew) descended on SF for San Francisco Beer Week to pour some beers and talk about what his growing brewery’s been up to. With 25 different beers made in 2012 (all available only in California; Las Vegas and…
Etch Your Own Flask… And Win One!
Hip flasks are a dime a dozen these days — but one you get to engrave yourself, with your favorite logo, initials, a picture of your kids, or whatnot, now that’s worth checking out. PersonalizedFlask.net may be a rather obvious name, but it’s a website that makes, well, personalized flasks. They are stainless steel items,…
Review: Jim Beam Signature Craft 12 Years Old
This past February a cadre of young, good-looking spirit scribes were assembled at Beam’s brand new Global Innovation Center, a $30 million compound with an aesthetic somewhere between a high-tech office and the Hall of Justice. Many new products were premiered for our consideration and tasting. However, the diamond in the rough which caught our…
Review: Black Velvet Toasted Caramel Canadian Whisky
A funny thing happens when I try to type “Canadian.” I always mistype “Candian” instead. Never has that been a more apropos typo than with Black Velvet’s Toasted Caramel Whisky. Flavored with a hefty dose of “natural toasted caramel flavor,” this sugar bomb is so dense with sugar it’s actually difficult to swallow it. The…
Review: Kirk and Sweeney Dominican Rum 12 Years Old
35 Maple Street — the California-based folks behind Uncle Val’s gin and Masterson’s rye whiskey — has turned its sights on yet another spirit: rum. Maple isn’t messing around with Kirk and Sweeney (the name refers to a rum-running schooner that worked the Caribbean in the Prohibition era), an intense Dominican rum with 12 years…
Review: Deerhammer Down Time Single Malt Whiskey
Take Deerhammer’s pot-distilled, 100% malted barley Whitewater whiskey and throw it in a new oak barrel (with heavy toast/light-medium char), and see what happens. This Colorado-based “hybrid” whiskey reportedly spends less than a year in half-size barrels, which creates a light-brown yet pleasant looking whiskey. The nose is intensely woody, hinting at sweetness but dominated…
