Recipe: Witch Word
Liquore Strega is a sweet herbal liqueur with a fascinating and lengthy history, and on a recent Zoom event, the brand walked a group of booze writers through the spirit’s background — with a particular eye on how to use it in cocktails. The recipe of the day is called the Witch Word — Strega…
Review: Still Austin American Gin “The Naturalist”
Still Austin is best known for its whiskey production — it’s officially called Still Austin Whiskey Co. — but the (obviously) Austin, Texas-based operation also produces a gin: American gin, as they call it. It’s infused with 12 botanicals, including juniper, coriander, orris root, elderflower, Jamaican allspice, two types of cinnamon, and three types of…
Review: 2019 Truth and Valor Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Truth and Valor is a Paso Robles winery focusing heavily on cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel. Today we look at two of those cabs, both from the 2019 vintage. 2019 Truth and Valor Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles – Big and a bit pruny, this is a classically constructed California cab, bold with currants and some light,…
Review: Clonakilty Double Oak Irish Whiskey
At the Clonakilty Distillery in southwest Ireland, they are definitely establishing terroir for their spirits. The barley for their whiskeys is grown on a 9th-generation family farm, they make a gin using whey from the farm and locally-foraged rock samphire, and their aging warehouse stands on top of 200-foot cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean just…
Review: Bently Heritage Source One Vodka Rested in Oak Sherry Casks
Oak-aged vodka has been done before, but never with much success. If you wanted whiskey, you’d drink whiskey, amirite? Vodka in barrel sits in a strange middle ground occupied by uncommon oddities such as light whiskey and tobacco-flavored vodka, stuff that sounds interesting on paper but which usually sit on the shelf untouched in favor…
Review: Buzzard’s Roost Straight Rye – Toasted Barrel and Peated Barrel
It’s been over a year since Drew reviewed our first expression from Buzzard’s Roost, a single barrel bottling from this increasingly prolific producer. (It now sports six different expressions of “sippin’ whiskey,” all rye originally sourced from MGP. Age information is available, but the bottles carry no formal age statements and no data on how…
Recipe: Sound & Vision
It’s finally cold in my part of the world, so Scotch cocktails are starting to call my name. When it comes to cocktails, I really do abide by the seasons. Which I know is ridiculous. I’m sure I’m not the only one though. Despite the onset of fall, it’s not cold enough yet for me…
Review: NV Telmont Reserve Brut Champagne
The label on this Champagne’s bottle includes gobs of information starting with the grape breakdown, which is 43% Chardonnay, 37% Pinot Meunier, and 20% Pinot Noir. Also listed are the vintages that comprise the blend, along with the percentage of each. In this case the wine includes 56% from 2017, 7% from 2016, 21% from…
