Recipe: Martinelle
If the French have any say in it, the next de rigueur cocktail ingredient will be an unusual one: Pineau des Charentes, that enigmatic liquor which is neither wine nor spirit, but somewhere in between. For those not in the know, Pineau is made from combining fresh-pressed grape juice with Cognac, then aging the blend…
Review: Yellowstone Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon 2021
One of the most unusual special edition whiskeys of the year to arrive is here in the form of Yellowstone Limited Edition 2021. This year — the 6th iteration of the Yellowstone LE — is a blend of 7-year-old and 15-year-old bourbons, with at least some of the 7-year-old barrels finished in Amarone wine casks.…
Review: Castle & Key The Untold Story of Kentucky Whiskey, Chapter 1
In recent years, whiskey brands like Uncle Nearest have helped to highlight the important role African Americans have played in the long history of American whiskey production. With its latest release, The Untold Story of Kentucky Whiskey, Chapter 1, Castle & Key Distillery is doing its part to honor that history and promote diversity and…
Review: SLO Brew Holidaze IPA
SLO — for California’s San Luis Obispo — Brew offers this appropriately named beer as a seasonal release, a west coast IPA brewed with spruce tips and orange peel, making it extra festive. The combo works, providing a touch of sweetness and fruit to temper what can otherwise be an aggressively bitter style. It’s the…
Review: Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon – Limited Edition (2021)
Angel’s Envy is a Port barrel-finished whiskey that’s impossible not to love, but its annual cask strength releases are treasures almost always worth tracking down. 2021 is no exception to the rule — though fans of this long-running series, which is now in its 10th installment — are likely to find that a (delightful) consistency…
Review: Licor 43 Horchata
Horchata is something that people appear to enjoy drinking, so leave it to Madrid-based Licor 43 to boozify it, combining a traditional horchata with its vanilla-heavy liqueur (the best-selling Spanish liqueur in the world, we’re told). The resulting cream liqueur is traditionally made with tiger nut, sugar, cinnamon, and citrus — and it’s made from…
Review: Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye (2021)
We took Alberta Premium Cask Strength for a spin last year after the Canadian rye whisky won Jim Murray’s coveted “World Whisky of the Year” for 2020. We didn’t quite agree with Mr. Murray’s assessment, but then again, the expression more widely available in the states, which we reviewed, doesn’t appear to have been the…
Review: Ballast Point Victory at Sea Imperial Porter
Ballast Point recently launched the availability of one of its flagship beers in 16 oz cans — Victory at Sea Imperial Porter, which was first brewed in 2007. (Ballast Point is in the process of shifting its entire portfolio from glass to cans at present.) Brewed with coffee and vanilla, it’s a powerhouse at 10%…
