Review: CR&F Aguardente Vínica Velha XO
Even if you aren’t familiar with Aguardente Vinica by name, you have probably tried it before: It is the Portuguese brandy used to fortify Port wines. Not many Aguardente Vinicas make their way to the U.S., which is a shame since they can be delicious and warrant attention. They range from unaged expressions to XO,…
Review: Templeton Midnight Rye
While Iowa’s Templeton began making (and bottling) its own distillate a few years ago, it’s also — slightly unusually — still putting out sourced products, including this, Templeton Midnight Rye. Even more unusual is what’s actually in the bottle — not just a blend of sourced whiskey made from the iconic 95% rye/5% barley mash…
Review: 2023 Ferraton La Tournee Rose
A simple Languedoc rose made from grenache and cinsault, this wine is light as a feather as it evokes notes of peaches, strawberries, and red flower petals, roughly in that order. Elements of orange blossoms perk up on the finish, giving the wine an even more floral bent, though the impact is mild and never…
Review: Yellowstone Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon 2024
The 8th edition of Yellowstone Limited Edition is here — as always designed to throw a little spin our way. The 2024 expression features a blend of 7 year old and 17 year old bourbons and is double finished in French brandy and Cognac casks. I’m not sure what non-Cognac “French brandy” is being used,…
Review: Bols Ready To Drink Cocktails, Complete Lineup
Liqueur (and genever) producer Bols is one of the newer producers of ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails that have come to market in the recent past. Today we’re sampling all of the products they currently offer in fun, 200ml cocktail tubes, each of which provides 1 or 2 servings. Let’s give them a try. Bols Cocktails Red…
Review: Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Snowflake 2024 Redcloud Peak
Colorado-based Stranahan’s has been rolling out a litany of special releases over the past year, including their first ever American single malt with a 12 year age statement. But the brand’s halo release is undeniably Snowflake, an annual bottling produced in limited quantities of (usually) just a couple thousand bottles. (Though we don’t have an…
Review: Wines of San Felice, 2025 Releases
Three new offerings from our friends at San Felice in Tuscany, including some at least one unexpected expression we don’t often see on our shores. Let’s dig in! 2022 San Felice In Avane Chardonnay Toscana – A very curious wine, extremely dry at first blush, then slowly opening to reveal citrus-forward elements of mandarin orange,…
Review: Bhakta Bourbon 2005
Leave it to Bhakta Spirits to craft a complex story behind a complex dram. At nearly 20 years old, Vermont-based brand’s latest bourbon release has plenty of tales to tell. (And a lengthy aging pedigree to go with it.) Bhakta Bourbon 2005 was initially distilled in Tennessee from a mash of 84 percent corn, 8…
