Review: The Wines of AC/DC
For those about to drink, we salute you. AC/DC may be best known for its crowd-pleasing heavy metal riffs, but the aging rockers now have another claim to fame: Their own wine brand. Big in their Australian homeland, these wines are now coming to the U.S. Bottles are branded with an on-stage photo of the…
Review: Blue Ice “G” Vodka
Blue Ice continues to expand its line of vodkas, and for once a company is pushing not into an endless panoply of flavors. For its third unflavored vodka, Blue Ice G, the company is taking the affordable route with a vodka made from a blend of mixed grains. And what a surprise it is: This…
Review: Alchemia Czekoladowa Chocolate Infused Vodka
This new flavored vodka brand hails from Poland, is thrice distilled from 100% rye grain, and is small-batch infused (by macerating raw ingredients instead of using flavor extracts), which leaves natural color in the spirit instead of being filtered to the usual clear. The vodkas are then finished in oak barrels, giving a little twist…
Review: Campo Azul Tequila – Blanco and Extra Anejo
Campo Azul is a 100% blue agave from the Jalisco Highlands, most notable for the hologram that wraps around the neck of the bottle. We sampled both the blanco and extra anejo expressions of the spirit (sorry, reposado!) — two tequilas as wildly different in quality as they get. Both varieties are 80 proof. Campo…
Review: Kilchoman 100% Islay Second Release
Kilchoman has recently updated its 100% Islay bottling — a whisky made from barley grown, malted, distilled, aged, and bottled all at the distillery on Islay — with a slightly different variation. The difference with this 2012 Second Release is that the whisky is a blend of 3 year old and 4 year old spirit,…
Review: Prevu Sparkling Liqueur
Blackberries, currants, and raspberries, all steeped in vodka and Cognac and given a light sparkling fizz — every component organic — what could go wrong? The intriguing Prevu, made in the Cognac region, is a super-sweet concoction ready-made for the Alize set, where a touch of Cognac and a whole lot of fruit flavor rules…
Review: Parker’s Heritage Collection Master Distiller’s Blend of Mashbills Bourbon (2012)
Every year Heaven Hill puts out a limited edition — and highly sought-after — Bourbon, each with a unique spin under the Parker’s Heritage Collection label. Invariably they are awesome. This year, the 6th edition of the Parker’s Heritage Collection is a unique release called the Master Distiller’s Blend of Mashbills. As the name implies,…
Review: The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year Old
The latest whisky to enter the Balvenie core range is this number, a 17 year old version of the distillery’s classic 12 Year Old DoubleWood. Like the original DoubleWood, this expression starts in Bourbon casks (for 17 years) then spends 3 to 6 months in Oloroso sherry casks. Yeah, “DoubleWood” is just a fancy way…
