Review: Beefeater 24 Gin
Tanqueray has its 10. Beefeater kicks that up to 24. Premium gins — and expansions of big-name brands — are becoming quite the rage, and “24” from England’s Beefeater is the latest in this trend. 24 is an extension of the venerable Beefeater brand, drawing its name from the 24-hour period its botanicals steep in…
What Web Users Want to Drink…
Today I did a fun comparison, checking out historical Google search trends for the terms gin, vodka, whiskey, tequila, and rum. While vodka‘s win (based on average search volume since 2004) is no surprise, the fact that tequila was right behind — and has led search volume since late 2007 — was quite a shock.…
Review: 2005 Snows Lake One and Two
Snows Lake certainly isn’t going to run out of names for its wines. Named simply “One” and “Two,” what Snows Lake lacks in complexity it makes up for with generally high quality. Snows Lake is in California’s Lake County, an area north of Sonoma which generally gets little respect as a winemaking region. There’s a…
Review: Clear Creek Pear Brandy (2009)
Pear brandy certainly doesn’t get a whole lot of play in the spirits business. But I guess pears don’t get a lot of play in the produce department, either. Tis a pity. Clear Creek (which makes a stellar Oregon whiskey) offers this classic Poire William, made from crushed whole Bartlett pears from its own orchards,…
Review: Grey Goose L’Orange Vodka
For some reason, this brief review of Grey Goose vodka is regularly the most-visited page on this website. Why is that? I have no idea, except that it seems that a lot of people really like to drink France’s wheat-based Grey Goose, and I guess they want to read all they can about what they’re…
Review: 3 Williams & Humbert Sherries – Don Guido, Dos Cortados, and Jalifa
I’ve said before that I am not much of a sherry drinker, but seriously, Harvey’s Bristol Cream is about the only sherry that America knows: You even see it on the dessert wine list at some of the finest restaurants… despite the fact that you can nab a bottle for about 12 bucks. Following up…
Review: Maker’s Mark Bourbon
I’ve written a lot about Maker’s Mark — hell, I spent like half a day with one of the “Makers,” Rob Samuels — but somehow I never got around to actually writing about the bourbon they make. I’m not going to rehash the distillery’s history, but I will talk a bit about this phenomenally popular…
Review: Tanteo Flavored Tequilas (2009)
Thanks to new Mexican legislation, flavored tequilas continue to arrive, and Tanteo has two of the most intriguing concoctions we’ve seen yet (plus one already-familiar infusion). All 100% agave, these three tequilas add natural flavors to an 80 proof base, with curious results. All appear to use unaged blanco tequila as the starting point: Though…
