Review: Sunday’s Finest Gold Fashioned Craft Cocktail (2021)
Has the ready-to-drink cocktail market jumped the shark? While ultra-cheap offerings are increasingly commonplace, a Chicago outfit called Sunday’s Finest is marketing a ready-to-drink Old Fashioned — called the Gold Fashioned — that is premium in every way, “the world’s first luxury ready-to-drink cocktail.” How premium? A 750ml bottle is $150. That’s how premium. It’s…
Review: 2016 Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG
This 2016 bottling of Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Riserva, made by the Frescobaldi family, has austerity to spare. This bold bottling feels like it’s still a bit out of reach for ideal consumption, a bit tough and balsamic today, its cherry-fueled core choked by notes of blackberry brambles, dark chocolate, and a slightly weedy character…
Review: Dewar’s Japanese Smooth Mizunara Cask Finish 8 Years Old
Dewar’s “Smooth” blended Scotch whisky #4 is here, an obvious addition to the lineup which is finished in Japanese Mizunara oak casks. The whisky carries an 8 year old age statement, but the finishing time is not disclosed. Let’s give it a try. Well, I’ve had a lot of Japanese whisky and I’m hard-pressed to…
Tasting the Wines of Sicily, 2021 Releases
Today we present a collection of Sicilian wines, all part of a (Zoom-based) tasting organized by Assovini Sicilia, an association of 91 Sicilian wineries that is designed to promote the many wines of this region. A total of 10 wines were tasted, all made with indigenous grapes. Ready to dig in? Let’s go. 2020 Mandrarossa…
Review: The Balvenie Tun 1509, Batch 8
It’s been a year since we last encountered Balvenie’s Tun 1509 series, which is now back with its 8th installment — the final bottling in the long-running and impressive collection. This vatting of 18 casks selected by Malt Master David C. Stewart includes, as usual, a mix of various cask types and ages, with the…
Review: Deschutes Brewery The Dissident Peach 2021
Deschutes has made a number of special edition versions of its popular Dissident sour, including this one, fermented with Oregon peaches. The finished ale is aged in oak barrels much like the standard bottling. Rather tougher and hoarier than I was expecting, the peach character doesn’t really show up until late in the game, leaving…
Review: Dubliner Irish Whiskey and Honeycomb Liqueur
Irish whiskey continues its rise with the relaunch of Dubliner — or The Dubliner, if you like — which slaps a new logo and bottle design on its two permanent expressions plus an ongoing “beer cask series” of special editions. We didn’t get any of those to check out, but we did receive the mainline…
Review: NV Sweet Bitch Moscato Rose
Yes, you’re reading this right. A rose of moscato — from Italy — in an opaque pink bottle, called Sweet Bitch. At all of 6% abv, it’s hard to imagine a more harmless bottle of wine — despite the evil eyes staring out at you, and despite the incredible sweetness. Hey, this is moscato, after…
