Review: Rock Sake Junmai Ginjo and Cloud

Hailing not from Japan but from sunny Forest Grove, Oregon, Rock Sake is a contender that could bring a blush to any yakuza. Available in two varieties, we tried them both. (Both are 15% abv.) Rock Sake Junmai Ginjo is the company’s traditional, filtered sake that drinkers will be most familiar with. The sake is…

Read More about Review: Rock Sake Junmai Ginjo and Cloud

Review: James River Plantation Sweet Tea Vodka

Tea-flavored vodkas appear to be a category that’s difficult to get wrong. Small Wisconsin distillery James River Plantation (the real James River Plantation is in Virginia, by the by) may not be a household name, but its rendition of tea-infused vodka is about as good as anything else I’ve tried. The flavor is typical of…

Read More about Review: James River Plantation Sweet Tea Vodka

Review: 2007 Dievole Chianti Classico La Vendemmia

This DOCG Chianti is 80 percent Sangiovese and 20 percent “red grapes” — mystery Tuscan grapes that give La Vendemmia a “field blend” feeling. Remarkably soft and fruity for Chianti, the wine is a deep purple wine with a surprisingly light body, herbal with lavender and rosemary notes atop a core of blueberry and dark…

Read More about Review: 2007 Dievole Chianti Classico La Vendemmia

Original Recipe: Swedish Hobo Punch

Every year a holiday cocktail springs fully formed from my mind. As I did last year, for 2010 I went with a punch that could be produced in bulk, 20 servings at a time, instead of 2 or 3. Originally I wanted to use passion fruit juice in this punch, but I couldn’t find any.…

Read More about Original Recipe: Swedish Hobo Punch

Review: 42 Below Honey Vodka

The only honey-flavored vodka I’m encountered, 42 Below’s Honey Vodka is flavored with Manuka honey, which uses honey from bees that feed on New Zealand’s native Manuka bush. I don’t know what Manuka honey itself tastes like, but I can at least report on the vodka made using it. The nose on this clear vodka…

Read More about Review: 42 Below Honey Vodka

Review: Tanqueray, Tanqueray No. Ten (2010), and Tanqueray Rangpur Gin

A reader recently complained (or kvetched, perhaps) that I didn’t review enough accessible products, stuff that you’d find on the shelf of your average liquor store and didn’t cost five figures. Fair enough, so here you go. It doesn’t get much more mainstream than Tanqueray, the British gin (produced in Scotland, actually) which is one…

Read More about Review: Tanqueray, Tanqueray No. Ten (2010), and Tanqueray Rangpur Gin

Review: Bacardi Rock Coconut Flavored Rum

As it did with “Torched Cherry,” Bacardi continues its tradition of double-flavoring rums and giving the finished product one, nonsensical name. Bacardi Rock Coconut is naturally flavored with rock melon and coconut water, hence, I guess, “rock coconut.” Rock melon, by the way, is a fancy name for cantaloupe. As for the character of this…

Read More about Review: Bacardi Rock Coconut Flavored Rum

Review: 12 Noon to Midnight Sparkling Beverage – Original and Rouge

Never mind the name — which is proof perhaps that everything is taken by now — what exactly is a “culinary beverage,” as 12 Noon to Midnight claims to be. I’ve yet to figure out the nuance of the term, but here’s what I can tell you: 12 Noon to Midnight is a non-alcoholic, sparkling…

Read More about Review: 12 Noon to Midnight Sparkling Beverage – Original and Rouge