Review: Merlet Creme de Poire Williams (2020)
Merlet continues to raise the bar on fruit liqueurs. Here’s a look at a rarity we last encountered in 2013: a liqueur de Poire Williams — pear liqueur, for the rest of us. Those unmistakable, lightly bitter but aromatic pear notes emerge immediately when the bottle is cracked, that vague apple-meets-camphor character rising promptly from…
Review: Milam & Greene Triple Cask Bourbon
With somewhere in the neighborhood of 150+ distilling permits issued since 2008, Texas has no shortage of craft distilleries. Provision Spirits is one of the newer additions to this crowd. Founded in 2017, the distillery kicked things off in typical fashion, bottling sourced stocks under the Ben Milam Whiskey label from the usual suspects in…
Recipe: Gold Rush Cocktail
A modern classic conceived in the early 2000s at New York’s Milk & Honey, the Gold Rush Cocktail is a simple libation that gives the whiskey sour a spin. With just three ingredients, it’s extremely simple to make with nothing but bar and kitchen standards. The Gold Rush is a forgiving cocktail that lets you…
Review: Black Tot Rum (2020)
Black Tot Day occurred on July 31, 1970, and it marks the final day when British sailors were issued a formal rum ration by the Royal Navy. The catch? The Navy still had rum that they hadn’t doled out, so they sold it off to private enterprise. Some of this stock reportedly dated back to…
Review: Oban Distillers Edition 2019 – Distilled 2005
It’s been a while since we took a look at any of Diageo’s Distillers Edition releases, so before the next crop hits the shelves this fall, I thought I would revisit a favorite of mine from Oban, a small but mighty distillery in the Highland region of Scotland. For Oban’s annual Distillers Edition, the standard…
Review: Scotch Malt Whisky Society Cask 95.35 and Beachcomber Blend
It’s been about four years since we’ve covered releases from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (full disclosure: I received a gift membership from a friend which expires at the end of August 2020). In that time they’ve had their packaging go under the scalpel for a serious touch-up and have increased the outturn rate to…
Review: Troegs Nimble Giant (2020)
It’s been four years since we’ve spent time with one of Troegs’ flagship bers, the once-a-year Nimble Giant. The double IPA, built around Mosaic, Simcoe and Azacca hops, feels less fruit-forward this year than I remember, rather brooding at times with a heavy bill of dank forest floor, piney resin, and some mushroom punch. Toasty cereal…
Review: Chicken Cock Straight Rye and Ryeteous Blonde
Two new expressions from the burgeoning Chicken Cock brand, a straightforward Kentucky rye and more unusual beer barrel-finished rye. Production details — and our thoughts — all follow. Chicken Cock Straight Rye -A Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey to follow up on Chicken Cock’s Straight Bourbon, this spirit was made in partnership with the Bardstown Bourbon…
