Book Review: The Old Fashioned: An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey Cocktail
Given the recent onslaught of titles dedicating themselves to a single spirit or beverage, the bookshelf of the cocktail connoisseur may find itself with a little less room to spare these days. Thankfully Albert Schmid’s paean The Old Fashioned is compact enough at 110 pages to fit right in, leaving room for those massive wine…
Review: Anchor Distilling Hophead Hop Vodka
Cigarette smoke. That was the first thing that hit me when I took the sniff of Hophead Vodka, Anchor Distilling’s highly talked-about spin on the classic spirit. Hophead doesn’t smell like cigarettes, though. It just reminds me of them. The hops-infused vodka smells exactly like what it proclaims on the bottle — hops and vodka…
Review: Single Malts of That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Batch 1
That Boutique-y Whisky Company isn’t something I made up. That’s really what it’s called. This oddball label (again, I mean that literally, as the labels have comic book-style drawings on them) is being used for a new line of independent bottlings of single malt Scotch whiskys. Like most single malts, these whiskys are a blend…
President’s Day Bar Tab
In celebration of the United States holiday known as President’s Day: And you thought you knew how to party… (courtesy of our friends over at Lapham’s Quarterly) Related posts: Bar Reviews: Christina’s Shoreditch and Scarfes Bar, London Bar Review: Easy Rider, Petaluma, California Bar Review: The Bungalow Kitchen, Tiburon, California Bar Review: Peacock Room, New…
Review: Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Hot Box Toasted Barrel and #7 Heavy Char Bourbon
Buffalo Trace’s latest experimental whiskeys are here, and this time out the focus is on barrel treatments, specifically how different heat treatments can impact the resulting spirit. In BT’s own words: Both of these experiments study the effects of extreme heat on oak barrels and the flavor of the bourbon inside. The Hot Box Toasted…
Review: Van Brunt Stillhouse Whiskey, Rum, and Grappa
Van Brunt Stillhouse is a craft distillery based in Brooklyn — arguably the epicenter of microdistillery activity in America, if not the world. (The company is named after Cornelius Van Brunt, one of the founding fathers of Brooklyn.) The distillery produces whiskey, rum, and — unusually — grappa. We tasted all three spirits. All are…
The Evolution of Canned Beer: Samuel Adams Joins the Can Parade
Earlier today, Samuel Adams announced that it would start distributing beer in cans. As of now, only the flagship Boston Lager and Summer Ale are slated to hit the market in time for beach excursions, but it would not be a surprise to see Samuel Adams’ other popular offerings roll off the canning line, especially…
Review: White Pike Whiskey
White Pike is white whiskey, straight outta Finger Lakes Distilling in Burdett, New York, made from a unique recipe that includes corn, spelt, and malted wheat. The nose is traditional of most white whiskeys: Big corn notes and a maltiness to back it up. There are some indistinct forest floor notes in there, too. The…
