Review: Buffalo Trace Distillery Single Oak Project Bourbon Round One
Explaining exactly what is behind the 12 bottles reviewed below would take me all night. So I’m going to let Buffalo Trace explain its Single Oak Project for itself: On Friday, April 29th, Buffalo Trace Distillery unveiled its latest endeavor to a select group of spirits writers from around the world; a line up of…
Jack Daniel’s Changes Its Label and Bottle
Heresy? The changes are bigger than you’d think. Here’s the press release, and a before & after photo. I have to say, I think JD fans are going to hate this — mainly over the new bottle design. LYNCHBURG, Tenn., May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Jack Daniel Distillery announced today that it is making…
Review: Wines of Alex Elman, 2011 Releases
Sometimes the wines we get aren’t our favorites. But we review them anyway, especially when the story behind them is so lovely. This line of inexpensive whites and reds from Argentina are created by a young, blind winemaker (Alex Elman, of course) and are produced sustainably (and affordably). The inaugural releases arrive this month on…
Review: Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal Cognac
I regret to inform the reader that Remy Martin’s new Cognac, 1738 Accord Royal, is not 273 years old. It is rather a new blend of some 240 eaux de vie, 65% Grande Champagne and 35% Petite Champagne grapes, aged between 4 and 20 years in Limousin oak barrels. The name derives from a 1731…
Tasting Report: Nicolas Feuillatte Champagnes, 2011 Releases
Nicolas Feuillatte has appeared a few times in this blog, but at a recent event I had the chance to taste through a wide range of offerings from the upstart Champagne house — it got its start in 1976 but is no the #1 Champagne merchant in France and the #3 seller in the world…
Review: iX MiXers
One way to prevent a hangover is to try any number of hangover prevention products before you go out. (I’ve reviewed dozens of them on this blog.) Another idea: Drop your poison into a hangover-stopping mixer directly, bypassing the need for a preliminary (and often nasty-tasting) pre-cure. That’s the idea with iX MiXers, a pair…
Top 10 Geek Beers
Love this story about the geekiest beers on the planet, from Bachelors Degree Online (which apparently also has a lot to say about booze). My favorite on the list is actually #10: Sapporo Space Barley: Japanese brewery Sapporo holds the honor of making the first beer with space-grown ingredients. The barley that’s used for Sapporo’s…
Review: Koval White Whiskeys, Rye, Millet Whiskey, and Ginger Liqueur
To call Koval Distillery an “artisan” operation would be the understatement of the year. Koval, based in Chicago, is a microdistillery of the bizarre: It takes organic, single grains — not just wheat and rye, but stuff like oats, millet, and spelt — and makes booze out of them. Bottled without aging (under the Koval…
