Review: Watershed Distillery Guild Series Chamomile Flavored Gin
We’ve covered the mainline gins of Columbus, Ohio-based Watershed Distillery in the past, but today we look at a special release, part of its so-called Guild Series. This gin has a bit of a backstory to it, which I’ll allow Watershed to tell: Guild Series Gin, a corn and apple-based spirit, is distilled in the…
Review: 2017 Cliff Lede Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
Cliff Lede’s ’17 sauvignon blanc is a very tart expression of the grape — the exact opposite of more approachable styles popular in other parts of the world. Here, intense minerality borders on greenness, with notes of sour apple finding solace in a touch of vanilla that lingers on the finish. A complicated but not…
Review: Bly Silver Rum
Bly Rum is made by Pennsylvania Pure Distilleries, the same crew behind Boyd & Blair Vodka. The rum is made from high-quality, locally-sourced baking molasses which is “gently stirred, heated, but not cooked or rushed to prevent scorching and a burnt tasting spirit.” The finished product is bottled as a white rum, unaged. While Bly…
Review: Devils Backbone Pear Lager
Devils Backbone Brewing Company has just released its Pear Lager in six-pack bottles. A lovely addition to the fruity beer shelf, this summer lager is one of their rotating seasonal lagers and is available from May through August. It’s a super refreshing golden lager with natural pear flavor that is remarkably understated in its use…
Review: Chalk Hill 2017 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and 2016 Estate Sauvignon Blanc
Two new white wines from Chalk Hill, legendary for its Sonoma chardonnay. Thoughts follow. 2017 Chalk Hill Chardonnay Sonoma Coast – Lots to love here. Notes of fresh biscuits and buttered popcorn mingle with hints of pineapple, green apple, and some apricot, giving this wine considerable complexity. The round body folds in hints of coconut…
Review: Whip Saw Rye Whiskey
The folks at Napa-based Splinter Group Spirits have released a new rye to add to their growing collection. Splinter is masterminded by two wine industry veterans, Steve Matthiasson (of Matthiasson Wines) and Bob Cabral (formerly of Williams Selyem, one of my go-to pinot noir producers). For this rye, the duo takes a collection of sourced…
Review: 2016 Megan Anne Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
From Mark Ryan McNeilly, the proprietor of Mark Ryan wines, comes this, the third vintage of the Megan Anne-labelled pinot, a wine that is named for McNeilly’s wife and made in collaboration with winemaker Isabelle Meunier. For an Oregon-sourced wine, this is a quite dense pinot noir, loaded with boysenberries, black cherries, tobacco leaf, and spice.…
Review: Charbay Vodka Lineup (2018)
While we’ve reviewed countless whiskeys, tequilas, and even pomegranate wines from Ukiah’s Charbay, we’ve only formally reviewed a single bottle of their vodka — which might actually be what the distillery is best known for. It’s time to correct things, by taking a deeper dive into five Charbay vodka expressions, from straight vodka to their…
