Review: Upshot 2018 White and 2017 Red Wine Blend
Upshot is an offshoot of Sonoma-based Rodney Strong Vineyards, a new brand focused on blending, well, all sorts of things. The results of the inaugural release of the wine — including a white and a red — show some promise to the concept. Let’s dive in. 2018 Upshot White Wine Blend California – A wild…
Review: Col. E.H. Taylor Amaranth Bourbon
Buffalo Trace’s tenth installment in the vaunted Colonel E. H. Taylor, Jr. line is here, and it’s perhaps the most unusual in the collection to date, using amaranth as a flavoring grain instead of rye. (The remainder of the mash is corn and barley, made in the same proportions as Buffalo Trace’s Mashbill #1, and…
Review: Founders Brewing Mas Agave
Drinking beer… but really wish you had a margarita? Well, the answer is here in the form of Founders’ Mas Agave, a hybrid margarita/beer if ever there was one. Allow them to describe: “We took an imperial gose brewed with agave, lime and sea salt and then aged it in tequila barrels for just the…
Review: Soggy Dollar Dark Rum and Spiced Rum
The Soggy Dollar Bar calls the British Virgin Islands its home, specifically the island of Jost Van Dyke, where the bar overlooks the picturesque White Bay. Soggy Dollar, like many a fine bar, recently decided to get into the booze business itself — what better to use with its own collection of cocktails — and…
Review: Blood Oath Bourbon Whiskey Pact No. 5 2019
Lux Row’s top-end whiskey release, Blood Oath, enters its fifth annual installment with Pact No. 5, and it’s the line’s strangest installment to date. Some back story: Pact No. 5 starts with an eight-year-old ryed bourbon rested in used dark Caribbean rum barrels for six months to add a touch of warm island spice. Once…
Review: Buffalo Trace Bourbon
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the signature, namesake whiskey of Buffalo Trace Distillery, and as such, it better taste good. Well, like Wild Turkey 101, the company behind Buffalo Trace, or BT, pays a lot of attention to the production of its eponymous bourbon. And having spent many hours with Master Distiller Harlan…
Review: Avery Brewing Anniversary Edition “Twenty Five”
Colorado’s Avery Brewing celebrated 25 years of brewing in 2018, and to commemorate the milestone, they did not release any kind of anniversary beer. Just kidding! They definitely released a celebration beer, named rather uncreatively Twenty Five. It’s a Belgian style dark ale that was oak aged with honey, dates, and raisins. According to their…
Review: Batch Signature Gin and Industrial Strength Gin
Anthem Imports brings Batch Gin, a line that includes more than a dozen different gin products, into the U.S. Batch Brew Limited is based in Lancashire, England, where at cranks out all manner of mostly-white spirits, and even offers a sort of “gin of the month” club for UK residents. We received Batch’s two most…
