Review: Booker’s Bourbon “Shiny Barrel Batch” 2019-02
The second special Booker’s release for 2019 has arrived, “Shiny Barrel Batch,” designated by bottle code 2019-02. Per the distillery, “This newest expression is an ode to a bygone distillery “tradition” where back in the day, there were the barrels certain rackhouse workers liked to sneak a taste from, and in doing so, they rubbed…
Review: Pusser’s Rum – 15 Years Old, Gunpowder Proof, and Painkiller Mix
Pusser’s (slang for “purser’s,” as in the purser of a ship) is a surprisingly new rum brand that only dates back to 1979. The company celebrates the British Royal Navy, but it’s actually based in Charleston, SC. Its rum is currently sourced from Guyana, where it is distilled in wooden pot stills. (Previously the brand…
Review: Burwood Vodka, Gin, Honey Eau de Vie, and Medica Honey Liqueur
Alberta, Canada-based Burwood focuses on using local ingredients and “old world craftsmanship” to make white spirits — vodka and gin, mainly — and a wide range of liqueurs which it continues to expand at a rate of one new release each quarter. Today we look at four of the core products from the company, two…
Review: Watkins Select Bourbon
Watkins Select is a bottom-shelf bourbon produced by mega-scale booze company LeVecke, but it’s at least one with promise. While it’s available in a variety of flavored versions, the standard bottling is denoted as a Straight Bourbon (so at least 2 years old) and it hails from Kentucky — lending it at least an inkling…
Review: 2018 Rose All Day France IGP Pays d’Oc
Rosé All Day is a “wine project” built around — you guessed it — pink wine. The company’s offerings include sparkling rose as well as still wines, in both cans and bottles. Today we look at just one of the RAD offerings, a still rose made from French grenache grapes. Much to my surprise this…
Review: Budweiser Harvest Reserve Lager Fall 2019
On July 11th, Budweiser introduced its new limited-edition Harvest Reserve lager. While the standard Bud is a blend of malt and rice, this new offering is 100% malt roasted longer for a richer flavor. Does it compare favorably to the standard Bud? Let’s taste and find out. To start with, the beer simply looks better.…
Review: Bently Heritage Source One Vodka and Juniper Grove American Dry Gin
Bently Heritage is a new distillery in Nevada, admirably doing just about everything on site. The operation grows and harvests its own winter rye, wheat, oats, and barley, malts its grains in-house on its own malting floor — a practice you almost never hear about today — and uses its own Sierra Nevada-sourced well water…
The Top 10 Beers of 2019
Welcome to the inaugural edition of our Top 10 Beers of the Year list, an annual feature that we’ll be running every summer, assuming all goes well. How are we creating a top 10 of 2019 in the middle of July? By being a little sneaky: Our selections are drawn from beers released between June…
