Review: Frey Ranch Single Barrel Rye Barrel #260
Frey Ranch recently launched a single barrel bourbon line. Naturally a single barrel rye was up next: “Our Straight Rye Whiskey has really been a hit for Frey Ranch, racking up awards and recognition from our fans – in fact, both our Straight Rye and our new Single Barrel Rye received Double Platinum recognition from…
Review: 2020 Aperture Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
This “soil specific” from Aperture hails from Sonoma County and is composed of a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec, 1% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine presents a somewhat jammy construction that gives time to notes of almond and a mixed baking spice note before delving back into more traditional…
Let’s Talk Turkey: An Interview With Rare Bird 101’s David Jennings
Author David Jennings is widely regarded as the most prominent Wild Turkey historian in the whiskey world. After spending years among the ranks of bourbon enthusiasts on Reddit, David’s insight on obscure laser codes and his methodical approach to identifying the characteristics of “Dusty Turkey” was rewarded with recognition in major publications. From there he…
Review: Hidden Barn Bourbon Series 2
To call Jackie Zykan‘s first release of Hidden Barn Bourbon a blunder would be a charitable understatement, as the whiskey — all seven barrels of it — proved underdeveloped and mostly uninteresting. The 4 to 5 year old whiskey, sourced from a Kentucky operation called Neeley Family Distillery in Kentucky, was “Made the Hard Way,”…
Review: 2019 Scarlet Vine Cabernet Sauvignon
This Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from Chile’s Maipo Valley and bottled by California’s Delicato Family Wines corporation, is estate-grown and aged for an average of 6 months in French Oak barrels. As the story goes, the grapes were grown halfway up a mountain at a century-old vineyard that had been forgotten for some time. Nature,…
Review: Sagamore Spirit Rye Sherry Finish
Hot on the heels of their enjoyable Rum Cask Finish, Maryland’s Sagamore Spirit Distillery is out with another addition to their Reserve Series line, and it sure sounds tailormade for the holiday season. The distillery first released a Pedro Ximenez sherry-finished rye whiskey as a much more limited Distillery Exclusive way back in 2019, and…
Review: George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey Reserve 17 Years Old (2022)
Dickel has been cranking out special edition whiskeys with double-digit ages as part of its ongoing Bottled in Bond series for a few years now. But for the holidays, the distillery has dropped an even older bottling that hits a full 17 years of age, though it’s not bonded, entering the bottle at 46% abv.…
Review: 2019 Ehlers Estate Merlot St. Helena
77% merlot, 23% cabernet sauvignon. Lush and pretty, you can definitely taste the cab influence here, making for a surprisingly deep merlot that’s lush with notes of raspberry and blackberry, layered with gentle notes of violets and a healthy slick of licorice. Chocolate hangs on to the finish, with a sharp, tart berry component on…
