Review: Black Bull Blended Scotch 12 Years Old
Slogan: 50% malt, 50% grain, 50% abv. This whisky from the independent bottlers at Duncan Taylor and Co. is half malt whisky and half grain, and far better than that pedigree might imply. Normally blended Scotch is relegated to the second tier of the whisky world, but this is a real knockout of a whisky.…
Original Recipe: The Bull Ku Cocktail
Made this for company, to rousing applause — to take advantage of Bulldog gin, one of my new favorites, and Ty Ku liqueur. The cool, light green color didn’t come across in my photo, alas… The Bull Ku Cocktail 1 1/4 oz. Bulldog gin 1/2 oz. Ty Ku (original) liqueur Prosecco or cava Shake the…
Review: Purista Instant Mojito Mixes
Premixed cocktails are always a dicey proposition, and Purista’s two new mixers probably aren’t going to win any overnight fans. Offering two spins on a theme — a traditional Mojito and a Blackberry Mojito — these mixes promise they are “hand-crafted” creations made with premium ingredients: In the case of the former, all-natural ingredients including…
Drinkhacker’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide – Best Alcohol/Spirits for Christmas
Booze: The gift that keeps on giving, whether you like it or not. It’s now tradition at Drinkhacker to look back at the best new spirits of the year, offering our suggestions on our favorite tipples — and the stuff that’s most likely to impress your holiday giftee should he find a neatly wrapped bottle…
Review: Akvinta Vodka
Every new vodka that comes out these days has a gimmick (how could it not?), and Akvinta’s — which hails from the sunny shores of Croatia, which the company says earns it the moniker of the Mediterranean’s first luxury vodka — is this: It’s triple distilled and filtered five times, five different ways: Through charcoal,…
Review: Nadared Vodka
Nadared is, as far as I can tell, the first ever anti-communist vodka ever produced. No, seriously. It’s nada red — it’s not red. In fact, it’s made here in the U. S. of A. (in Mira Loma, California, actually), and all profits from the sale of this vodka go towards “institutions in oppressive political…
Review: Van Gogh Blue Triple Wheat Vodka
Why “triple wheat?” Because Van Gogh sources wheat for this vodka from France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Get it? Three countries. Triple wheat. Distilled in Holland, this 80-proof vodka is actually pretty amazing. Very light and smooth, it’s got a very light sweetness that plays with flowery notes on the palate. There’s no harshness or…
Herradura’s Battle of the Tequileros
I recently had the great opportunity to attend Tequila Herradura’s battle of eight Bay Area mixologists, each trying to outdo the other. Some photos of the event held at San Francisco’s Tres Agaves — including a live “harvesting” of agave plants… oh, the carnage — follow. My favorite drink of the evening — Tony Devencenzi’s…
