Review: Holistic Spirits Origen Specialty Vodka and Harmony Gin
Holistic Spirits soft-sells its celebrity backing, which boasts wellness entrepreneur Amy Holmwood and actor Woody Harrelson as its faces behind the stills. The company is (thank God) not making whiskey or tequila but rather flavored white spirits, including vodka and gin. The launch products include one of each — though if you didn’t read the…
Review: Naud Cognac VSOP
If you didn’t think you’d find room for innovation and new blood in old school Cognac, look no further than the Naud family, which revived an old distillery and has been making Cognac here since 2017. The operation also produces gin and vodka in addition to its four expressions of the iconic French brandy. We…
Review: WhistlePig Single Malt 25 Years Old The Badonkadonk
Last year, WhistlePig made headlines with the launch of a 21 year old single malt sourced from Canada, arguably the oldest single malt whiskey that the Americas has ever seen produced. The Beholden wasn’t my favorite WhistlePig product, and in preparation for this review I cracked it open for the first time in months to…
Review: Casey Jones Single Barrel Wheated Bourbon
Casey Jones Distillery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky is a relatively new distillery on the scene, but they put the whiskey community on notice when taking home Best in Show from the 2023 American Craft Spirits Association. The history of Casey Jones is that of illicit distilling near Golden Pond, but now very licit. Casey Jones refers…
Review: Tequila Codigo 1530 Cristalino Resposado
Codigo 1530 is back with another tequila release, and it’s what you’d expect: A cristalino, albeit one made from a reposado base, not an anejo. As as refresher, the reposado is aged in cabernet sauvignon wine barrels made from French white oak. This cristalino is blended with some 6 year old Codigo 1530 Origin extra…
Review: 2023 Gamble Family Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc
Napa’s Gamble Family Vineyards is the proprietor of acreage in some of the valley’s most venerable AVAs including Rutherford, Mt. Veeder, Yountville and Oakville. We’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a few of their wines over the years and, somewhat surprisingly, it has been a few years since we’ve reviewed anything from Gamble. Today, we…
Review: Papa’s Pilar Rum Legacy Edition 2023
The latest rum from the Hemingway-inspired Papa’s Pilar Rum brand is another luxe bottling that not only honors the company’s namesake but also another man, surfing legend Greg Noll. This is the third Legacy Edition and the second we’ve reviewed. Some background: Papa’s Pilar Rum was created alongside the Hemingway family to celebrate Hemingway’s life.…
Review: Domaine Bousquet Cameleon 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2022 Chardonnay
In the last three years, we have managed to tour almost the entire portfolio of offerings from Argentina’s Domaine Bousquet. Still, somehow, we have not had the pleasure to enjoy the vineyard’s Cameleon label. What differentiates Cameleon from any of the other lines? As best as I can determine: the sandy soils in this particular…
