Review: Virginia Distillery Brewers Batch Virginia-Highland Whisky (Batch 2)
Last year, we reviewed Virginia Distillery Co.’s first release of Brewers Batch, a limited edition release that showcases finishing casks sourced from local breweries. That inaugural batch featured a cask from Virginia’s Three Notch’d Brewing that had been used to finish a scotch ale, and while enjoyable, I felt like there was almost too much…
Review: Kavalan Distillery Select
Highball culture is making its way from Japan to Taiwan, as Kavalan has introduced its first expression intended for mixing, Kavalan Distillery Select. Some info: “Kavalan Distillery Select is matured in select malt neutral casks to showcase the fruitiness and sub-tropical characteristic of Taiwan’s climate without too much influence from the wood,” says Master Blender,…
Mexican-Style Lager Roundup: Tecate, Modelo, and Calidad
The Mexican lager is a style more associated with slices of lime and dashes of salt than ample flavor. Chances are you’re not buying a 30-pack of Tecate to impress, you’re looking for something ice-cold to occupy red solo cups while you put in some hard training for the World Series of Beer Pong. Very…
Review: GlenDronach Revival 15 Years Old (2019)
GlenDronach’s 15 year old is a heavily-sherried single malt that fans have long beloved for its intensity, rich with both Pedro Ximenez and oloroso sherry finishing. It was an unequivocal sherry bomb at the time — and then it went away. In 2015 GlenDronach suspended the release, citing a shortage of available stock with which…
Review: 2015 Finca Decero The Owl & the Dust Devil
This wine from Mendoza, Argentina-based Finca Decero is an unusual blend of 39% cabernet sauvignon, 32% malbec, 19% petit verdot, and 10% tannat. The cabernet and malbec carry the weight of the wine, bold with currants, volcanic soil, and black pepper. Lush and silky, that velvety cabernet body glides over the palate, leading to a…
Review: Ginstr Stuttgart Dry Gin
Don’t look now, but some of the best gin in the world is coming not from the UK or the U.S., but Germany. (If you haven’t tried Monkey 47 yet, do so.) The latest of these to hit our desk is Ginstr, a new brand that beat out 600 competitors at the International Wine and…
Review: Joseph Faiveley 2016 Bourgogne and 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin
The operation at Burgundy’s Domaine Faiveley dates back to 1825. Today it is one of the largest owners of vineyards in the region, and the brand produces dozens of varieties of wine in this storied corner of France. In the U.S., the brand is imported by Frederick Wildman, which sent us two bottles in current…
Review: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch A119 (January 2019)
The latest release in Elijah Craig’s always highly-anticipated Barrel Proof series is here, this one labeled batch A119, as the first release of the year. As it has been with previous releases, this is a 12 year old, cask strength release from what Heaven Hill considers its finest barrels. Let’s dig in. For batch A119,…
