Review: Mossburn Blended Malts – Speyside and Island
Established in 1992, Mossburn is a bottler of a range of whiskies, most of them sourced from other distilleries around Scotland. (It also operates Torabhaig, which is tiptoeing into its own distillates as we speak.) While Mossburn bottles a variety of single vintage whiskies from other distilleries (much like any independent bottler), what you’re more…
Review: Kooper Family Single Barrel Bourbon
The latest whiskey release from Kooper Family is a single barrel bourbon offering, Indiana/MGP-sourced spirit that is 4 to 5 years old (depending on the barrel), aged in #3 char barrels at Kooper’s place in Fayette County, Texas. Though each bottle is drawn from a single barrel, bottles are not denoted with barrel identification information,…
Review: Paul John Mithuna
Goa, India’s Paul John is back with another single malt. Mithuna, and this one swings for the fences, touting right on the box that it is “the 3rd finest whisky in the world,” which is apparently something Jim Murray has decided. It’s the second whisky in Paul John’s Zodiac series, Mithuna being the Indian equivalent…
Review: Kasama Rum 7 Years Old
Kasama Rum is a new brand being produced by Alexandra Dorda – the daughter of Tad Dorda, who co-founded Belvedere and Chopin Vodka in the early ’90s. Now the Filipino-Polish entrepreneur is here to bring a rum featuring both of her cultures to the masses. It’s distilled in the Philippines and bottled in Poland, after…
Review: Pluma Negra Mezcal, Complete Lineup
Pluma Negra is a new mezcal brand out of Oaxaca’s San Juan del Rio, where the Hernandez family has been producing mezcal for 45 years. Maestro Mezcalero Rodolfo Hernandez is “a third generation Mezcalero who uses time honored traditions to create Pluma Negra — animal drawn tahona to crush the maguey, pine barrel fermentation, and double…
Review: Pinhook Tiz Rye Time Rye Vertical Series 5 Years Old 2021
Following our reviews last fall of Pinhook’s Vertical Series bourbon and rye series releases, today we’ve got an updated look at the rye portion, dubbed Tiz Rye Time. As a refresher, this is a Kentucky rye whiskey made from a recipe of 95% rye and 5% barley and distilled at MGP. The intent of this…
Review: SelvaRey Rum – White, Chocolate, and Owner’s Reserve (2021)
Remember Selvarey, the rum company Bruno Mars has been running since 2014? It’s back, with a new (and quite heavy) bottle design, new expressions, and even a new intercapped R, turning the brand formally into SelvaRey. The gorilla is gone from the bottle. Now there’s a toucan — which seems to be a lot more…
Review: 2013 San Felice Vigorello Toscana IGT
This curious super-Tuscan blend combines cabernet sauvignon (30%), merlot (30%), petit verdot (5%), and pugnitello (35%), an ancient native Italian grape variety that was revived by San Felice. Vigorello — seen here in a somewhat older vintage, 2013 — was the very first super-Tuscan to be made in the Chianti Classico area, and one of…
