Review: Mud House 2017 Sauvignon Blanc and 2015 Pinot Noir
Mud House is a big New Zealand brand that produces a large selection of wines. Here’s a look at two new releases that represent the core of kiwi wine country. 2017 Mud House Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough – Exuding loads of tropical fruit, this is an effusive expression of kiwi sauvignon blanc, at least as it has…
Review: Expresiones del Corazon Barrel-Aged Tequila (Sazerac Rye Anejo & Buffalo Trace Old 22 Anejo) 2018
The mad doctors at Buffalo Trace don’t just mess with whiskey. They also experiment with tequila, taking white spirit from Corazon Tequila and aging it in special whiskey barrels that previously held some of Buffalo Trace’s rarest and most expensive spirits. (Check out reviews from 2016, 2015, and 2013 to get a historical perspective.) 2018 sees Buffalo…
Book Review: The Way of Whisky
Let’s face it. Japan is a fascinating place, and so, too, Japanese whisky. As the popularity of the latter continues to skyrocket, more and more books on the subject are hitting the shelves (as evidence, see our last book review). Well-known spirits author Dave Broom was an expert on Japanese whisky long before it became…
Review: Loch & Union American Dry Gin
Loch & Union Gin is unusual for two reasons. First, it’s made in Napa, California, hardly a hotbed of the gin world. Second, while it’s infused with a traditional collection of 12 herbs and spices, it has a couple of spins on the classic formula, including damiana, a purported aphrodisiac. From the company: “Juniper, coriander…
Review: Wines of Geyser Peak, Late 2018 Releases
While we just took a look at the winery’s new offerings earlier in the summer, today we examine three additional Sonoma-driven offerings from California standby Geyser Peak. 2016 Geyser Peak Chardonnay Water Bend Sonoma County – Flat and meaty, this tepid wine offers a straightforward apple-grapefruit attack, but it’s muted considerably by notes of greenery and…
Review: Nantou Distillery Omar Single Malt Whiskey Bourbon Barrel Aged
Nantou is a state-owned distillery in Taiwan and has been in operation since 2008. It produces two single malt whiskeys — one aged in bourbon barrels, one in sherry casks — plus single-barrel versions of each. Today we’re looking at the standard issue bourbon barrel bottling. The nose is bold and powerful, with a significant…
Review: 2015 Mi Sueno Los Carneros Chardonnay
Mi Sueno, “My Dream,” is a brand I’ve long admired but have recently fallen out of touch with. This Napa-based passion project from Rolando and Lorena Herrera, who each immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1970s and 1980s, As the winery notes, “Rolando Herrera became an integral part of the Napa Valley winemaking…
Review: Naked Grouse Blended Malt
You know the Famous Grouse? Now imagine it without feathers. Boom, Naked Grouse! Kidding aside… Edrington, which operates The Macallan, Highland Park, The Glenrothes, Cutty Sark, and Famous Grouse brands — among many others — recently launched this spinoff of the Grouse line. Naked Grouse is a blended malt finished in first-fill oloroso sherry casks.…
