Review: Wilde Irish Gin
Three guesses to figure out where Wilde Irish Gin hails from — and, no, the spirit isn’t purple, only the bottle is. Made in West Cork from 100% Irish grain, the pot-distilled gin’s botanicals aren’t specified save for a couple: wild mountain purple heather and bitter orange peel. Quite aromatic, there’s a strong floral thread…
The Top 10 Gins of 2022
Spring is nearly here, and gin is in. Whether it’s gin and tonic, a stiff martini, or a fancier cocktail that’s on your mind, we’ve got you covered with a look at our 10 favorite gins to hit shelves in the last year. Need more picks? Check our top gin lists from 2019, 2020, and…
Review: Beers of Pike Brewing, 2023 Releases
Seattle’s Pike Brewing loves its IPAs. Today we look at three of them, alongside a solid pilsner. While some are seasonal, all offerings are available in cans — and all recently repackaged and rebranded. Pike Brewing Seattle Freeze Cold IPA – The cold IPA trend — IPA fermented at lower temperatures than normal — never…
Review: GlenAllachie Single Casks – Marsala Cask 12 Years Old and Languedoc 9 Years Old
The GlenAllachie continues to periodically add to its single cask collection with distillery exclusive bottlings as well as limited releases selected and bottled just for the states by ImpEx. We received a small sample of a 2021 U.S.-only release and picked up a more recent example on a trip to Scotland last year. Thoughts follow.…
Review: 2019 Scattered Peaks Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Here’s the softer side of Napa cabernet, a dry but fruity wine from producer Derek Benham. The garnet rim of the wine offers the only hint of lightness before you dive in, where notes of baking spice, milk chocolate, and maraschino cherry quickly emerge before segueing into a light touch of tannin. The finish offers…
Review: Oxley Gin (2023)
We took our first look at Oxley Gin back in 2011 when it was subtitled Classic English Dry Gin. More than a decade later, the overall packaging has been tweaked quite a bit with the most obvious label change being a new focus on Cold Distilled, this gin’s unique method of production, instead of the…
Review: Monita Tequila Blanco
Monita is a new tequila launched by Black entrepreneur Serita Braxton, and it promises a “unique, smooth taste” and a “flavor-filled profile.” It’s 100% agave, but there’s not much additional information available about agave sourcing or pina ages. While the three traditional expressions are available, we received only the blanco for review. Let’s give it…
Review: Smooth Ambler Founders’ Cask Strength Series – Bourbon 2022 and Rye 2021
Smooth Ambler is one of the OG craft distilleries, and like many it started with sourced stock while it got its own in-house production up and running. The company is one of the few that has successfully finished that transition in total, and while it still offers sourced products — they call them “procured whiskeys”…
