Review: 2007 Quivira Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley Wine Creek Ranch
I was ready to tear into Quivira for putting out a wine at 15.1 percent alcohol… but then I checked out the company’s 2006 version of the same wine: 15.5 percent. I didn’t even think that was chemically/oenologically possible. This single vineyard zin comes from Quivira’s Wine Creek Ranch vineyard, a hilly area in Sonoma’s…
Review: The Wild Geese Irish Soldiers & Heroes Irish Whiskeys
The Wild Geese Irish Soldiers & Heroes — in a million years I wouldn’t have come up with a name for a line of whiskey like this one. This collection of four new Irish whiskeys (named after soldiers forced out of Ireland during hard times) all share a common DNA, but offer some subtle differences…
Review: Go Time Hangover Relief
Go Time is a rarity in hangover relief products: You take it the morning after, rather than while you’re drinking or before you go to bed — when no one ever remembers to take these things. No, Go Time is intended for use when you’re suffering at rock bottom. It also benefits from being not…
Review: Gordon & MacPhail MacPhail’s Collection 8 Years Old – Glenrothes, Highland Park, and Tamdhu
Gordon & MacPhail is one of the most — if not the most — well-respected independent bottlers of Scotch whiskys in the world. Recently the company put out three young and inexpensive renditions of whiskys drawn from the casks of some major-name distilleries. Here’s how they stack up. All are 86 proof and, oddly, eight…
Recipe: Scotch Mist
I’ve had this recipe, ripped from Imbibe Magazine, on my fridge for the better part of the year. Finally whipped a few up in recent days — and they’re quite tasty. The original recipe is noted here, but I recommend easing up on the St. Germain, maraschino, and honey syrup by at least 25 percent…
Review: 2007 Calluna Vineyards Cuvee Chalk Hill
For such a young wine with big grapes (this Bordeaux blend is 39% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 22% cabernet franc, and 9% malbec), Calluna Vineyards’ 2007 Cuvee Chalk Hill is remarkably easygoing. This Sonoma wine spent 22 months in oak barrels, and it comes across with flavors of fresh fig, cedar, some chocolate, and light…
Review: Brugo Travel Mug
By now every urban legend fanatic knows what a deadly menace too-hot coffee can be. Between the scorched privates and scaled tongues, it’s a miracle anyone drinks this stuff at all. How do you get your coffee down to a tolerable temperature without it getting too cold? Brugo’s answer is an elaborate travel mug with…
Review: Compass Box Orangerie
The folks at Compass Box make some unusual whiskys to begin with, but Orangerie is something unlike any other Scotch you’re likely to have tried: Take a Highland single malt whisky (from Fife) and add hand-zested Navalino orange peel, Indonesian cassia (cinnamon), and Sri Lankan cloves to it. Bottle the infusion and you have Orangerie,…
