Review: Bertoux Brandy
Bertoux is a new brandy developed by Jeff Menashe. Made in San Francisco, the spirit is a solera-style blend of pot-distilled California brandies aged 3 to 7 years old, aged in French and American oak. Consultants on the brand include bartender Jeff Bell (PDT and Legacy Records) and sommelier Thomas Pastuszak (The NoMad). As the…
Review: Wines of Geyser Peak, 2019 Releases
Geyser Peak recently rebranded with strikingly different new labels, and to celebrate, the winery sent us a selection of recent releases. Thoughts follow. 2018 Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc California – A standard bottling of from-all-over-California sauvignon blanc, showing a sharp acidity, moderate to heavy tropical character, and a hint of ammonia on the back end.…
Review: Endless West Glyph 85H “Molecular Whiskey”
If you haven’t already heard the kooky story of Endless West and Glyph, well, pull up a chair. Glyph 85H is a whiskey unlike any other. How so? It is designed to look and taste like aged whiskey, though it never sees a barrel. No, this doesn’t involve an accelerated aging system like Lost Spirits.…
Review: Bacardi Lime Rum
Bacardi has introduced all kinds of flavor infusions throughout the years, many of which have been confusingly exotic, like Dragon Berry or Rock Coconut. Now along comes a simpler offering that seems like it should have been in the stable all along, Bacardi Lime. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s a little surprised…
Review: Whiskeys of Sonoma Distilling – Bourbon, Rye, Cherrywood Rye, and Smoked Bourbon (2019)
We’ve covered the whiskeys of Sonoma Distilling several times (see reviews from 2016 and 2015) — but it’s challenging to keep up with the company because it keeps tweaking things here and there. Given that, we felt it was time to do a full roundup of the company’s products — which have now settled into…
Review: Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky (2019)
Deja vu? You bet. We encountered Cotswolds Single Malt — part of the tiny English whisky industry — only last year, and now the distillery is out with a new release of the same expression. Why are we reviewing this again? The bottles may look almost identical but the barley used in this spirit is…
Review: G4 Tequila Blanco
G4 is a newish tequila brand masterminded by Felipe Camarena (brother of Carlos Camarena), designed with quality firmly in mind. G4 — named for the four generations of Camarenas who’ve been making tequila in Jalisco — uses only estate-grown, organic agave, and he relies on sustainable power and recycled materials whenever possible. The result is…
Bar Review: Redwood Room, San Francisco
San Francisco’s Redwood Room, part of the recently acquired-and-rechristened Clift Royal Sonestra Hotel, has long been a see-and-be-seen hotspot in the city. I’ve personally seen legit celebrities here, and heard tales of plenty more. It’s easy to see why they come: It’s one of the most gorgeous bars in town, with soaring redwood walls that…
