Review: Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Years Old (2019)
It’s been more than 10 years since we reviewed Johnnie Walker’s iconic Black Label (here) and, considering it’s one of the best-selling Scotch whiskies in the world, we thought the ubiquitous blended Scotch deserved a fresh review. We’ve considered the range of base whiskies that comprise Black Label in this piece, but today, we’re looking…
Review: WhistlePig Double Malt Rye 18 Years Old
If there’s ever an excuse to release an ultra-aged, ultra-rare, ultra-expensive whiskey, WhistlePig will take it. For its next trick, the Vermont distiller is putting out its oldest whiskey ever, an 18 year old called Double Malt rye, made from a mash bill that includes unmalted rye, malted rye, and malted barley. This is a…
Review: 2016 Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo
Marques de Casa Concha is sub-brand of Chile’s popular Concha y Toro winery, though it’s hard to tell whether the Marques label is a step up or a step down. (Methinks… a step sideways.) This 2016 cabernet blends in 5% syrah and 4% cabernet franc, all sourced from Chile’s Maipo Valley. It’s a rich and…
Review: Noble Oak Double Oak Bourbon
Noble Oak is a new brand of bourbon that takes traditional, sourced MGP whiskey, then finishes it with the addition of staves of former sherry barrels through a process called Compression Finishing. The Kentucky-based company doesn’t say much about what Compression Finishing is or how it works, but it doesn’t claim it to be an…
Review: Nosotros Tequila Blanco (2019)
How’s this for an origin story? Nosotros began as a college project by Carlos Soto and Michael Arbanas in 2015, and the duo decided to make the project a reality, officially launching in 2016. Today, Nosotros — or more formally, La Historia de Nosotros (“The Story of Us”), is winning lots of praise from the…
Review: Little Book Bourbon Chapter 3: “The Road Home” (2019)
Freddie Noe’s passion project — the rotating whiskey series bottled under the Little Book banner — has reached its third installment, “The Road Home.” For the first time in the series, Little Book isn’t a blended whiskey but is actually a bourbon — or rather, a blend of each of the four bourbon styles made…
Review: Wines of Chronic Cellars, 2019 Releases
Chronic Cellars is a hipster-friendly wine brand out of Paso Robles, California. With tongue-in-cheek brand names and eye-catching graphics (and, of course, it’s called “Chronic”), Chronic doesn’t immediately come across as a “serious” wine label. Turns out that’s not the case, as Chronic has a few impressive (and affordable) gems under its wings. That said,…
What’s the Deal with Independent Whisky Bottlers?
Recently a reader made a comment on our Debate Over Age Statements dispatch, essentially asking what the story was with independently bottled whiskies. Why would a 25 year old Bladnoch from Alexander Murray cost less than a 25 year old whisky directly from Bladnoch? What’s the difference between the independent bottling and the distillery bottling, anyway?…
