Review: NV Cockburn’s Tails of the Unexpected Port – Ruby Soho, Tawny Eyes, and White Heights
Can you make Port wine millennial-friendly? Cockburn’s is trying to find out, offering new expressions of three classic styles in untraditional bottles, complete with vibrantly designed labels and a catchy tagline. These are all reportedly new, “experimental” formulations that use “the highest-grade lots usually reserved for our best wines.” That said, I think most Port…
Review: 10 Barrel Brewing Classic Margarita
Made with tequila, triple sec, lemon-lime, honey, and a little salt, Oregon-based 10 Barrel continues its craft of ready-to-drink cocktails with this Classic Margarita. Aimed at the center of the bullseye for what we all think of when we think of a margarita, this RTD classic delivers a clean, though fairly sweet, citrusy sipper that’s sure…
Review: Drake’s Organic Boxtails Perfect Margarita
Margarita lovers looking for a ready-to-drink option that’s USDA organic, non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, and kosher will find a worthy candidate in Drake’s Organic Boxtails Perfect Margarita. Eschewing all things artificial, Drake’s Organic boxes up this ready-made marg with a blend of Drake’s Organic Tequila, triple sec, and fresh citrus juice. Coming in at a boozier-than-usual…
Review: Holmes Cay Single Cask Rum – Barbados 2002 and Fiji 2001
We’ve been huge fans of Holmes Cay from the beginning, and with these two new releases — “the rarest selections” — that isn’t about to change. These two new bottlings are some of the most special and prized that Holmes Cay has released to date. We were fortunate to be able to sample them both.…
Review: Bull in China Artisan Series Mixing Glass and The Highball
The bartending founders of Portland-based barware producer Bull in China are obsessed with glass. Specifically, the mixing glass, that most essential of craft bartending tools. Believing there was an absence of quality mixing vessels on the market, they set out to create a glass that could endure a 200-drink shift and still look good. But…
Review: Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Rye
Uncle Nearest has had quite a precocious start as a nascent distillery, and they kicked their output into overdrive to cap off 2022. The brand did so by introducing the world to their ’12 Weeks of Christmas’ campaign which saw the Uncle Nearest add three permanent expressions to its national portfolio: Uncle Nearest Straight Rye…
Review: Chinaco Tequila – Complete Lineup (2023)
It’s been a decade since we’ve visited with Chinaco, a truly unique tequila in a world where every tequila claims to be unique. Produced not in Jalisco but in Tamaulipas, to the east, it hails from a much different region with a different type of soil and climate. The production methods are equally unique, eschewing…
Review: 2016 Podere Scopetone Brunello di Montalcino
Scopetone is a smaller, family-run operation in the Tuscany region, with only 375 cases of Brunello produced annually. This 100% Sangiovese was aged in oak casks for 36 months followed by 12 months in glazed cement vats and an additional 4 months in bottle. Earthy upfront, the wine evokes cedar, tobacco, and leather when first…
