Review: 2018 Bread & Butter Rose
A rose of unknown varietal origin, but hailing from Napa. Quite strawberry-heavy up front, the wine quickly takes a right turn into thick floral notes, a veritable thicket of lilac and honeysuckle. From there, the wine develops a distinct and surprising rosemary character, a pungent herbaceous quality that evokes a light vermouth. It’s crazy out…
Review: GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 10 27 Years Old
My sample of GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 10 leaked just a bit in shipping to me, and when I opened up the box in which it had been shipped, I knew I was in for a treat. The aromas wafting out of that package were so gorgeous I cracked into the bottle on the spot. This…
Review: Winchester Extra Smooth and Straight Bourbon
Winchester is a budget bourbon brand, produced by TerrePURE Spirits (aka Terressentia) and seemingly exclusive to Total Wine. TerrePURE uses accelerated aging techniques to release younger whiskeys than usual. Let’s see how that pans out with these two whiskeys. Both are 90 proof. Winchester Extra Smooth Bourbon Whiskey – The “silver label” version of Winchester…
Review: Nine Banded Whiskey
Austin, Texas is the home of Nine Banded Whiskey (aka 9 Banded Whiskey), by way of Kentucky, anyway. This is a sourced blend of 3 year old whiskeys (not just bourbon, mind you), cut with the hill country’s famous limestone-heavy water and named in honor of the nine-banded armadillo. Nine Banded doesn’t provide any breakdown…
Review: Patagonia Provisions Long Root Pale Ale and Long Root Wit
Did you know that Patagonia — yes, the people that make expensive, puffy coats — also has a division that makes foodstuffs? Patagonia Provisions doesn’t just make the kind of stuff you’d expect, like hippie cereal bars and buffalo jerky, it also makes beer, and recently it released its second brew in its lineup. Produced…
Review: Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice Gin
Hot on the heels of Hendrick’s limited edition Orbium expression comes another seasonal gin release: Midsummer Solstice, a spirit which looks to flowers for its primary inspiration. Some details: Hendrick’s Gin has announced the release of Midsummer Solstice, a small batch, limited-edition gin by the woman who first created Hendrick’s — Master Distiller, Lesley Gracie.…
Review: American Anthem Vodka
Diageo’s latest vodka is American Anthem, and with this spirit, the company says it will donate $1 for each bottle produced to support military personnel and families. The spirit is 5-times distilled but other production details are undisclosed, including any data about the base for the distillate. All told, this is a fairly modern vodka,…
Review: W.B. Saffell Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
In 2017, Campari introduced its Whiskey Barons Collection with mountains of history and backstory in tow, no doubt in hopes of propelling these obscure Wild Turkey-made whiskeys to new heights of collectability. We found the inaugural releases, Bond & Lillard and Old Ripy, to have enough character and quality to stand on their own, but…
