Review: 2017 Benovia Blanc de Blancs Russian River Valley
Just because it’s January doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate. Benovia’s 2017 sparkler is 100% chardonnay, a bright and lively wine that offers a substantial, fizz-focused base against which notes of honeydew melon, tangerine peel, almond, and some coconut all emerge at various points in time. The finish — again, heavy with carbonation, almost racily so…
Review: Bacardi Spiced Rum (2021)
Bacardi Spiced Rum isn’t exactly a new product: Bacardi launched it back in 2011 as Bacardi Oakheart. For whatever reason, the brand is relaunching the product, dropping “Oakheart” and revamping the packaging with a more classical, refined look. It’s still a Puerto Rico-distilled product, aged rum blended with natural flavors and spices — and priced to…
Recipe: Junior
Who doesn’t love a classic daiquiri? And I’m not talking the coconut milkshakes you get at an all-inclusive resort. I mean the original daiquiri, the simple rum, sugar, and lime juice cocktail that helped Hemingway win a Pulitzer. I, for one, really enjoy them, but only when the temperature outside is above 60 and preferably…
Review: Barrell Bourbon New Year 2021
Since 2016, Barrell has ended a long year of whiskey releases with a limited edition bourbon send-off dubbed New Year. When I first discussed this release years ago with the Barrell Team, I was told that the New Year bottling is a much-loved project among Barrell’s blenders because they’re given a little freer rein to…
Review: Westland Outpost Range – Garryana 5|1 (2020) and Colere 1 (2021)
Seattle-based Westland is evolving its limited edition Garryana oak line of single malt whiskeys, folding this line into a broader series of single malts called the Outpost Range. The Outpost Range will include Garryana and a new whiskey called Colere (which formally arrives in Spring 2021). In 2023 a third whiskey is expected to join…
Book Review: The Terroir of Whiskey
The phrase “I know it when I see it” has entered common parlance over the last half century, its origins stemming from a landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case where Justice Stewart used it as a means to categorize observations, even though the category in question could be interpreted through a lens of considerable subjectivity.…
Review: Yellowstone Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon 2020
It’s round five for Yellowstone’s special-edition bourbon releases, which always hits at the tail end of the year and offers a much different experience than the standard Yellowstone Select bottling — as well as the prior year releases. For 2020, Yellowstone Limited Edition is a seven-year old bourbon (younger than last year) that has been…
Book Review: Scotch: A Complete Introduction To Scotland’s Whiskies
With Scotch: A Complete Introduction to Scotland’s Whiskies, Margarett Waterbury has written an inclusive and comprehensive guide to Scotland’s distilling industry that is one third sharp-eyed historical narrative, one third orientation course for casual drinkers and newcomers that is welcoming, and one third directory full of reviews and listings for over 200 single malt, grain,…
