Review: Freeland Spirits Gin and Bourbon
You’ll find the woman-owned and -operated Freeland Spirits in Portland, Oregon, where distiller Molly Troupe has been turning out gin since 2017. A second spirit, Freeland Bourbon, came along only a few months ago in November 2018 — a sourced product while Freeland builds its in-house whiskey production. We had the opportunity to taste them…
Tasting the White Wines of Alto Adige-Suditrol, 2017 Vintage
Alto Adige, also known as South Tyrol, or Suditrol, is a region in the far north of Italy, and a real hodgepodge of wine is made here, drawing from Italian styles to the south and, especially, German and Austrian styles to the north. Alto Adige is arguably at its best when you’re drinking a crisp,…
Review: Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon 10 Years Old (2019)
Back when we reviewed the inaugural release of Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door whiskey, we titled that post “Complete Lineup.” Turns out that wasn’t quite accurate, because Heaven’s Door released a fourth whiskey shortly after its initial turnout, a 10 year old version of its Tennessee Straight Bourbon. While the standard bottling is just shy of…
Review: 2016 Archery Summit Pinot Noirs – Dundee Hills and Red Hills Vineyard
Oregon’s Archery Summit has released two pinot noirs from the 2016 vintage, both sourced from Dundee Hills fruit. The difference between these two wines? One is a single-vineyard selection from the Red Hills Vineyard. Thoughts on both wines follow. 2016 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Dundee Hills – Boldly fruity, this is a fairly straightforward wine,…
Review: Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin
Tired of Tanqueray? Here’s a crazy spin on gin that was new to me, a mashup of gin with shiraz wine. Let me get Australia’s Four Pillars to do the explaining: “Our home is in the Yarra Valley, where our neighbours make some of the finest wines in the world. So in 2015 we combined…
Review: La Pivon Vermouth – Blanco and Rojo
La Pivon is a new vermouth brand crafted in Madrid, using local herbs and botanicals (including cardamon, wormwood, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, lemon peel, and gentian — La Pivon doesn’t say how the herbs are different in each bottling) and aged in oak barrels before bottling. As Spain is pretty much ground zero for the…
Review: Few Spirits American Whiskey
One of the big names in craft distilleries, Evanston, Illinois-based Few Spirits, is back with a new release: Few American Whiskey, a blend of its bourbon, rye, and cherrywood-smoked single malt products. “We are constantly experimenting at Few, innovating new expressions and our American Whiskey was a direct result of those efforts,” says founder and…
Review: Allagash River Trip Belgian-Styled Session Ale
Allagash has been experimenting recently with a range of inventive ingredients and styles, creating beers that are exciting and distinctive (you can see reviews here, here, here, and here). Their newest release, River Trip, is a bit more conventional. The can provides a description: “This Belgian-style table beer packs an array of melon, citrus, and…
