Review: Wines of Portugal’s Alentejo, 2021 Releases
We’ve ventured into Portugal’s southern Alentejo region a few times before and remarked how it’s a solid area that produces a great range of wine styles — over 250 indigenous grape varieties can be found here — invariably at affordable prices. Representatives for the region recently sent us a quartet of wines representing the state…
Review: Tamworth Garden White Mountain Gin and Apiary Gin
New Hampshire’s Tamworth Distilling produces some unusual products, including Graverobber Unholy Maple Syrup Flavored Rye and The Deerslayer Venison flavored whiskey. They also make gin and, true to spirit, their gins include uncommon ingredients and have their own distinctive character. Today we are sampling two gins, both of which draw botanicals from Tamworth Distilling’s own…
Review: 2019 Bernier Chardonnay
Bernier’s Loire Valley-sourced chardonnay continues to break with tradition by putting the varietal on the label instead of the region. In fact, chardonnay is a relatively rare but not unheard-of grape for this region, and Bernier proves that maybe more should be being done with it here. Fresh and unoaked, this wine offers a heavy…
Review: Basil Hayden Toast
So, while “toast” refers to bread, Basil Hayden’s Toast refers to… rice? This whiskey is composed of a wholly new mashbill for Basil Hayden, one which is built heavily around brown rice. To be sure, Basil Hayden Toast — the first permanent addition to the BH lineup since 2017 — is more clearly a reference…
Visiting Sonoma’s Belden Barns
Looking for a wine country experience that’s well off the beaten path? If you don’t mind getting your feet dirty — you’ll need to open and close the gate when you come and go — Belden Barns is well worth your time, not just for the wine but for a stroll through the vineyards that…
Review: Pursuit United Blended Straight Bourbon
In the spirits industry, it’s increasingly common to see releases “by” or “from” big-name celebrities and influencers. As it turns out, Emmy Awards do not always equate with fantastic pours from sourced product. But what if the influencers are endemic to the spirits space? What if their claim to fame is the content they produce…
Review: Licence IV Canned Blanc & Rose
Licence IV is making a push for its French-made white and rosé wines, packaged in two interesting formats. One-liter bottles are much appreciated, but canned wines remain off-putting to many. After all, most, like myself, simply enjoy drinking wine from a glass. Still, one can always use a great beach and boat option, so lets…
Review: Saison Rum Sherry Cask
The Saison Rum brand has been around for a few years, and our first encounter with it is this new release, an expression that is finished in both Cognac casks and sherry casks. The details are exhaustive, so here we go: The expression begins with a careful selection of distillates from two distinctive Caribbean Islands…
