Tasting Ciroc’s Red Berry and Coconut Vodkas with Master Distiller Jean-Sebastien Robicquet
Ciroc is one of the big spirits success stories in recent years, and it’s now, according to the company, the #3 ultrapremium vodka brand on the market, after Grey Goose and Belvedere. (Fun fact: The name is made up, a combination of the French words cime (summit) and roche (rock).) This week I had the…
Review: Cupcake 2008 Riesling and 2007 Petite Sirah
Readily available at your typical supermarket, the Cupcake Vineyards label is a solid value for everyday drinking. Some thoughts on two recent varietals follow. 2008 Cupcake Riesling is extremely dry for this varietal, harvested from Washington’s Yakima Valley and fragrant with aromatics. Herbal notes give way to a curious collection of fruit flavors — melon,…
Review: Absolut Boston Vodka
Absolut Boston is the third city-themed vodka from the massive spirits company, but the first of that bunch I’ve had the chance to sample. Some thoughts — before the bottle vanishes altogether. Absolut Boston is flavored with black tea and elderflower, an interesting and overall quite successful combination. Everyone loves elderflower — you can’t turn…
Original Recipe: The Lemonparty Cocktail
Whatever you do, don’t Google “lemonparty.” This drink is not inspired by what you’d find (and likely be horrified by) if you did that. Rather, it’s the name of the group several friends of mine and I have in the video game Rock Band. Of course, the band name is inspired by the aforementioned website,…
Tasting Report: Wines of Howell Mountain 2009
How’s this for a niche event: Only wineries from Howell Mountain, a small part of Napa Valley which comprises about two dozen winemakers. It’s one of the few wine events where I actually got to sample a wine from every producer in attendance. Most Howell Mountain producers focus on Cabernet Sauvignon, but a smattering of…
Review: Auchentoshan Classic, 12 Years Old, and Three Wood
Next to Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain, Auchentoshan is one of my favorite names in the Scotch whisky business. The company (a lowland distillery) also makes some fine whisky to match its name. We recently got a hand on three of its more widely available expressions. Comments on each follow. Auchentoshan Classic is the company’s entry-level whisky,…
Review: Wines of Big House, 2009 Releases
Big House operates out of Monterey County next to the Soledad State Correctional Facility. While rumor has long held that the prison produces the wine, that’s not the case — it’s just a gimmick, but a good one, for a really affordable and generally quite drinkable, venerable brand of wine. We tried the winery’s three…
Review: He’Brew Rejewvenator Harvest to Harvest Ale
The good folks at Shmaltz Brewing Company have no shortage of good humor. Brewing under the “He’Brew” label, the company’s kosher beers play up Jewish stereotypes to a hilt, and they never apologize for it along the way. The company’s latest experiment is Rejewvenator, a “half doppelbock, half Belgian style dubbel” which is brewed with…
