Review: Square One Basil Vodka
This is one of those ideas that sounded really good when I read about it… and then the sample bottles arrived and they just sat there. Basil flavored vodka? Really? What the heck is that all about? Square One makes a surprisingly good cucumber vodka, but cukes have a long tradition in cocktailing, dating back…
Review: Mount Gay Rum Eclipse Black
Barbados’s Mount Gay is rounding out its “Eclipse” rum collection — currently comprising a Silver and a medium-bodied gold rum — with Eclipse Black, a darker, bolder version of its classic aged rum. The rum is a blend of single- and double-distilled rums aged from two to seven years. The final blend is then aged…
Review: Caorunn Gin
Scotland, the legendary home of malt whisky, is also becoming a land known for gin. But leave it to the Scots to do something a bit different: Triple distilled from grain and infused with rowan berry, bog myrtle, heather, Coul blush apple, and dandelion leaf (in addition to six traditional botanicals, juniper, coriander, orange and…
Book Review: Bourbon: The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey
Those expecting a sun-dappled romp through the state of Kentucky in Sam K. Cecil’s Bourbon: The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey we be in for a bit of a surprise. Cecil, who got started in the Bourbon industry four years after Prohibition ended in 1933, has written a tome which dutifully outlines how Bourbon is made,…
Review: Hard Luck Candy Flavored Vodkas
Hard Luck Candy, from Michigan (Temperance, Michigan, actually!), doesn’t mess around with typical lemon, orange, or even coconut vodkas: It goes straight for the jugular, with four candy-inspired concoctions. All are 70 proof, distilled from grain, and, rest assured, give you more than your daily allowance of artificial coloring. Warning: These are all very sweet…
Review: Just Chill Natural Stress Relief Beverage
Will “one sip” of this “relaxation beverage” give you “instant enlightenment?” Perhaps not, but it certainly won’t hurt. The ingredients of Just Chill should be largely familiar to readers who’ve explored this nascent category: The ubiquitous L-theanine (150mg per 8.4 oz. can), vitamins B and C, magnesium, zinc, Siberian ginseng, ginkgo biloba, and (perhaps the…
Review: Drambuie 15 Liqueur
The original whiskey liqueur is as unmistakable as it is classic: Drambuie may not be a spirit for all tastes, but, like Galliano or Campari, it’s a staple you can’t help but admire, if for no other reason than sheer longevity. Now Drambuie is launching a line extension — not its first, but the first…
Book Review: The Punch Bowl: 75 Recipes Spanning Four Centuries of Wanton Revelry
I am a relative recent, but confirmed, convert to the serving of punch in a party setting. It is always a crowd-pleaser, there are plenty of tasty things you can do with it, and it makes bar service infinitely easier. Serving 20 or 30 at a time just can’t be accomplished any other way. The…
