Review: Redwood Empire Grizzly Beast and Rocket Top Bottled in Bond Batch #1
In 2019, Sonoma-based Graton Distillery revamped their offerings with three new whiskeys under the Redwood Empire label, all named for ancient Redwood trees. Last year, the distillery broadened its portfolio further with the addition of a new bottled in bond bourbon and rye, its oldest whiskey releases to date, both of which are also named…
Review: Deschutes Brewery Black Butte Porter and Non-Alcoholic Black Butte Porter
It’s a bold move for Deschutes to send us its non-alcoholic Black Butte Porter and its standard, pro-alcoholic expression side by side. Can an NA version of this beer really hold up to its big brother? Let’s find out! Deschutes Brewery Black Butte Porter – This is the year-round version of the Deschutes expression which…
Review: Foursquare Mark XI “Sagacity” Single Blended Rum
Last fall, Chris reviewed the aptly named Redoutable from Foursquare, a 14-year-old bruiser of a rum comprised of the distillery’s pot and column distillates aged in ex-bourbon and ex-Madeira casks and bottled at a very healthy cask proof. It appears that an earlier, younger version of this same rum hit our shores in late 2019,…
Review: Firestone Walker XXV Anniversary Ale
California’s Firestone Walker Brewing Co. celebrated a quarter century of beer-making last fall with the release of this brew, dubbed XXV. It’s the 16th release in what has become an annual autumn rite in which the brewery and their local winemaker friends gather for a friendly blending competition and what must be one helluva party.…
Review: Great Jones Bourbon, Four Grain Bourbon, and Rye
Opened in 2021, Great Jones Distillery is Manhattan’s first and only legal distillery since Prohibition. Being so new, they aren’t yet bottling their own whiskey. Their products are currently distilled, aged, and bottled at Black Dirt distillery in upstate New York. Today we will be trying three of their whiskeys, but only the standard bourbon…
Review: Wines of Orfila, 2022 Releases
Orfila makes wines in Argentina, but its roots trace to Italy: Spanish immigrant José Orfila founded his eponymous winery in 1905 in Mendoza on lands that were once owned by José de San Martin, Argentina’s founding father. In 2010, the Gancia family, accomplished Italian winemakers who had established themselves in Argentina decades earlier, merged their…
Review: Jean-Luc Pasquet L’Organic 04 and 10 Cognac
We recently covered Jean-Luc Pasquet’s L’Organic 07 Cognac — and now we’re back with two additional expressions, both also organic, and made from 100% ugni blanc grapes grown in Grande Champagne. The difference, as you might have sussed out, is age: L’Organic 04 is at least 4 years old, while L’Organic 10 is a decade…
Review: SelvaRey Coconut Rum
SelvaRey — best known as Bruno Mars’ rum company — is out with its newest expression: Coconut. No huge surprises await here. This is a two year old rum, filtered to clear, infused with “a velvety coconut essence.” As coconut rums go, SelvaRey doesn’t exactly raise the bar. A bit harsh on the nose, the…
