Review: Monkey 47 Distiller’s Cut Gin 2019
“Highly anticipated” and “gin” are terms that we rarely see together, but if ever a product merited the combination it’s this: Monkey 47 Distiller’s Cut. For those unfamiliar, Monkey 47 is a storied German gin that includes 47 ingredients in its botanical bill. (It’s also bottled at 47% alcohol.) It’s a dazzlingly complex product, and…
Review: Haus Bitter Clove Aperitif
Let’s hear it again for innovation, eh? What the heck is Haus? Haus is described as “the first direct-to-consumer alcohol brand that’s redefining the liquor industry to deliver what today’s generation of drinkers want.” Now let’s put aside the fact that wineries have been selling directly to consumers for decades. Haus is something entirely different.…
Review: Fleurette Gins and Fylleangst Aquavit
New Alchemy Distilling is a craft producer based in the El Dorado Hills of California, where, with nary a barrel in sight, it focuses on (mostly) white spirits — vodka, gin, white whiskey, and even aquavit. The company produces a collection of six different spirits, three of which we look at here. Let’s dig in!…
Review: 2015 Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre Veronese IGT
Allegrini’s Palazzo Della Torre bottling is one of its budget expressions, an IGT-denominated wine made in part using the ripasso technique, in which grapes are dried before being fermented and vinified. The wine is composed of 40% corvina Veronese, 30% corvinone, 25% rondinella, and 5% sangiovese. Somewhat soft at first, but with a tannic grip…
Review: Laphroaig 16 Years Old
Islay’s Laphroaig continues to pump out the expressions, the latest of which is a 16 year old single malt, a spiritual successor to the delightful 15 year old it released in 2015. The whisky spends its entire aging time in ex-bourbon barrels, typical for most mainline Laphroaig releases. What a surprise then that this expression…
Review: Norden Aquavit
Norden Aquavit hails not from Denmark but from Detroit, where founder Robyn Cleveland crafts this Scandinavia-inspired spirit with 10 botanicals, heavy on the caraway. We received a sample and collected some thoughts. First off, the nose is an iconic example of Scandinavian aquavit, heavy with the caraway essence of rye bread as well as a…
Review: Old Soul Blended Bourbon
Jackson, Mississippi-based Cathead Distillery doesn’t make Old Soul — at least, not all of it. But it does make some of the whiskey in this unique bourbon and blends it with bourbon sourced from MGP. Here’s the kicker: Cathead uses an identical, high-rye mashbill to the one that MGP uses (21% rye, 75% corn, 4%…
Review: 2017 Renato Ratti Nebbiolo Ochetti Langhe
Renato Ratti is a well-known Barolo wine producer, but it also produces other wines iconic to the Piedmont region, including barbera. This wine, Ochetti, is made from the same grapes as Barolo (the nebbiolo grape), but is available for less than half the price. It also tastes quite a bit different than a standard Barolo,…
