Review: Glenmorangie The Cadboll Estate 15 Years Old 2021
In 2020 Glenmorangie dropped a curious limited edition expression called the Cadboll Estate, the first single estate whisky created by Glenmo, made entirely onsite “from grain to glass.” A 15 year old expression, it was aged exclusively in first-fill bourbon barrels — no funky wine cask work here. Now Cadboll is back for a…
Review: 2018 Kukkula Aatto and Pas de Deux
Finnish for “the hill,” Kukkula hails not from Scandinavia but from California’s Paso Robles region, where owner/winemaker Kevin Jussila has been organically dry-farming his estate for 16 years. Today we look at two Rhone-inspired reds from the 2018 vintage. 2018 Kukkula Aatto Red Wine Adelaida District – Aatto is Finish for “eye.” A blend of 45%…
Review: Highland Park Viking Heart 15 Years Old (2022) and Cask Strength Release No. 2
Highland Park continues to refresh its venerable whisky lineup, its most recent update being the introduction of Viking Heart, which replaces its old 15 year old. This is entirely new liquid — bottled in a ceramic decanter from Wade Ceramics, no less — and includes a “high percentage” of first-fill sherry casked whisky. Today we…
Review: Wines and Cider of Dutton Estate, Early 2022 Releases
Dutton Estate is one of the more unsung, high-quality wineries in California’s Russian River area, and recently the operation made a bold move that’s highly unusual in these parts: They launched a cider, born from 200 acres of organic apple orchards in the region. Today we look at a collection of five newly released wines…
Review: The Old Man of the Mountain Bourbon 4 Years Old
Tamworth Distilling doesn’t just make weird stuff like venison-flavored and turkey-flavored whiskey. It also makes regular old whiskey too, including this bonded bourbon, a four year old made on site in its pot still in New Hampshire. The mashbill includes 82.4% organic yellow corn, 11% organic rye, and 6.6% malted barley. Let’s dive in. The nose…
Book Review: Spirit of the North
As a guy who runs a website about alcohol and who’s married to a Swede, I read “spirit of the north” literally: The spirit of the north is of course aquavit, or maybe vodka, depending on the season. Of course, Selma Slabiak’s book isn’t intended to be so literal: For her, the spirit of the…
Review: Whiskey Del Bac Classic (2022) and Winter Release 2021
Hamilton Distillers has been making and marketing their distinctive, Arizona based single malt Whiskey Del Bac since 2013, and we had a chance to try three varieties in 2018. Today we revisit the Whiskey Del Bac Classic, which is the only whiskey in their core line that does not use mesquite to roast its barley.…
Book Review: Fever-Tree Easy Mixing
Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to sample some of the best of the best mixers and of those, the name Fever-Tree consistently appears at the top of the list. Whether it’s ginger ale, ginger beer, lemon mixers, club soda, or just plain tonic water, the outcome is always an enjoyable one and improves…
