Review: Big Rack Premium Vodka
Get your mind out of the gutter. The big rack in question refers to deer antlers. Of course. The only spirit I know of that’s packaged in a camouflage-wrapped bottle — and is this ready to go for sipping a martini in your deer lease — Big Rack is six-times distilled from “the finest American…
Review: Judd’s Wreckin’ Ball Corn Whiskey
White whiskey is always a dicey affair. One named “Wreckin’ Ball” — complete with a picture of a wrecking ball on the label — sounds downright dangerous. Made in the back room of Montezuma Winery, in New York’s Finger Lakes region, this spirit is column distilled from 100% corn mash and bottled at 80 proof.…
Review: 2009 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignons
This Stags Leap-based winery (Lede is pronounced “lady”) produces just Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon — and fetches a pretty penny for them. The 2009 Cabernets — in two versions — are now hitting the market. Thoughts follow. 2009 Cliff Lede Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District – A bit tight on first blush,…
Review: Shock Top End of the World Midnight Wheat Beer
On December 21, 2012, the world will end. Drinkmakers are taking advantage of this by producing special tipples to get you through the apocalypse. Shock Top is wearing the End of Days right on its paper label, with its End of the World Midnight Wheat limited edition beer. This just shipped last week, and it’s…
Review: The Maltman Glenlossie 19 Years Old
The Maltman is a brand owned by Glasgow-based Meadowside Blending, a private bottler of spirits a la Chieftain’s and Murray McDavid. This new release is a 19 year old Glenlossie, a Speyside whisky with some odd character to it. The nose is, to put it lightly, on the strange side. Band-Aid, creosote, and plastic notes…
Review: “Art in the Age” Rhubarb Tea Liqueur
Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’s latest niche liqueur turns to the humblest of roots: The rhubarb. Formerly known as “Rhuby,” AitA went with a more descriptive name for this product for reasons that must sound obvious but are in fact due to legal problems with the original name. (Current bottles actually have the…
Notes from Domaine Select Wine Estates Pop-Up Tour, October 2012
Our friends at Domaine Select Wine Estates (which handles a lot more than wine) are on the road, “popping up” in a half-dozen cities to let their producers show off their wares. I recently dropped in on the San Francisco installment to experience a few wines that were new to me (1982 Borgogno Barolo, yes…
The Pisco of Chile: Control C and Espiritu de Elqui Reviewed
Chile celebrates its Independence Day on September 18, and this year the country took the opportunity to revive the battle its been locked in with Peru over who originated — or makes better — the South American spirit of Pisco. Distilled from grapes, Pisco is essentially unaged (usually) brandy, though in Chile they are more…
