Review: Jim Beam Distillers Series Bourbon (2008 Edition)
I’m on record as being a fan of Jim Beam as a totally solid, affordable bourbon, so I had to snag a bottle of Jim Beam Distillers Series — a reserve bottling, if you will — when I heard it was being produced. This new, limited-edition bottle features a line-art representation of each of the…
Original Recipe: The Lemony Snicket
Something off the beaten path… I was inspired by lemon meringue pie. I like it quite a bit! The Lemony Snicket 3/4 oz. vodka 3/4 oz. lemon-infused vodka 1/2 oz. Navan vanilla liqueur 1/2 oz. Damiana herbal liqueur 1 oz. milk or cream Build in a rocks glass over ice. Stir and serve. Related posts:…
Review: Pure Kentucky XO Bourbon
With its big, fat bottle and giant picture of Kentucky on the label, Pure Kentucky doesn’t look from a distance like anything you’d slap an “XO” label on, even as a joke. But this is real, serious bourbon, a whiskey that sweet tooths will love and other bourbon fans can also enjoy. Aged 10 years…
Recipe: The Chichigalpo Old Fashioned
We’ve been cooking up a lot of these lately. Recipe courtesy Flor de Cana rum. Chichigalpo Old Fashioned 2 oz. Flor de Cana 18 year old rum 1 teaspoon maple syrup 2 dashes orange bitters 1 dash Fee’s Barrel Aged bitters (don’t have ’em, subbed Fee’s Old Fashion or Angostura) Stir and strain into a…
Review: Glenmorangie “The Original” 10 Years Old
Easy to find and almost as easy to drink, Glenmorangie’s entry-level whisky is a solid and affordable entree into the world of Scotch. Glenmorangie is often noted for its floral character, but here you’ll find a surprising saltiness that interplays in an intriguing way with the caramel and honey notes of from the wood in…
Review: Scapa 16 Years Old
Scapa is a relatively small outfit on Orkney Island, which is why Scapa gets to put the awesome word “Orcadian” on its label. Inside the bottle is a 16-year-old Scotch, which replaces the distillery’s 14-year single malt (which, in turn, replaced the distillery’s 12-year-old). Scapa’s just a one-whisky outfit, it seems. This is a racy…
Bar Review: The Four Seasons, Austin
Spent New Year’s Eve in Austin, Texas this year — specifically at one of the classiest joints in town, the lounge within the Four Seasons hotel, a fixture of downtown Austin and a bar which I’ve visited dozens of times. (I had martinis here before hanging out with Leaving Las Vegas director Mike Figgis, even.)…
Review: Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select (2009)
Your excitement about getting a bottle of this “single barrel” whiskey may dim somewhat when you read the lengthy alphanumeric code identifying the barrel from which it came. In my case, I’m sampling barrel number 7-4229 from rick number L-35 (warehousing information). So, yes, it’s from a single barrel… but we’re talking about thousands of…
