Review: Mackmyra Svensk Ek and Intelligens AI:02 Swedish Whisky
Many smaller scale whisky distilleries (and plenty of bigger ones, too) are struggling around the world in the wake of the post-pandemic boom, but it has been a particularly tumultuous run of late for Sweden’s Mackmyra Distillery. Since last we tasted some of their offerings in 2022, the distillery announced plans to file for bankruptcy,…
Review: Peroni 0.0% and Nastro Azzurro (2024)
Italy’s Peroni is the latest brewer to enter the non-alcoholic fray, and the approach here is decidedly unsurprising: Peroni 0.0% is meant to recreate classic Peroni Nastro Azzurro, just without the alcohol. Now Peroni is exactly no one’s idea of a flavor-forward beer, so it’s worth asking yourself if a zero-alc version of Peroni even…
Review: Paul John Classic Select Cask (2024) and Christmas Edition 2023
India’s Paul John has graced our pages several times in the past. With this post we look at a pair of releases — a fresh bottling of its iconic Classic Select Cask, and the most recent release of its seasonal Christmas Edition single malt. No standing on ceremony, let’s get going. Paul John Classic Select…
Review: WhistlePig “The Boss Hog XI: The Juggernaut” Rye Whiskey 2024
We’re now into double digits when it comes to WhistlePig‘s Boss Hog releases, each of which is more abjectly insane than the last. (The last was inspired by the Bible and the Ten Commandments, featuring milk and honey, frankincense and myrrh.) How much further can the mad geniuses of Vermont take this concept of finishing…
Review: Karbach Karbachtoberfest Marzen
We’re in the thick of Oktoberfest season, which means everybody but everybody is dropping special releases for the month. Houston-based Karbach’s Oktoberfest expression is on point for the style, if a little mild, offering a rounded Marzen with notes of coriander and lots of malt that gives the beer an appropriately bready, chewy texture. Lightly hopped…
Review: Amethyst Non-Alcoholic Botanical Spirit Watermelon Lime
Producers have a range of tricks to draw from to attempt to mimic the bite and body of alcohol. Still wine producers often lean on an acidic, vinegar-like quality to give NA wines a kick. Beer and sparkling wine can hide alcohollessness in heavy carbonation. Using cannabinoids is yet another way to add a booze-like…
Review: Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye
It’s lately become fashionable to take bourbon and rye and blend them into a new product. And hell, why not? Two great tastes that go great together has been an American mantra since the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ad campaigns of the 1970s and beyond. With the appropriately named Bourbon x Rye, Knob Creek is…
Review: 2021 Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling Seneca Lake New York
Paul Hobbs is a globetrotting, California-based winemaking bigshot, so naturally you’ll find his most expensive and ambitious winery project to date… in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Hillick & Hobbs is a riesling (and only riesling) producer on the southeastern banks of Seneca Lake, where this grape thrives. We don’t get much New York wine…
