Review: BenRiach Classic Cask Strength, Single Cask #7367 Virgin Oak 10 Years Old, and Single Cask #2683 Peated Port Wood 12 Years Old
And now, three new limited releases from BenRiach, one of the few distilleries in Speyside that uses peat in some of its expressions. (BenRiach also triple distills some of its whisky, another oddity for Scotland.) All three of the whiskies reviewed below are a bit off the beaten path for single malt. BenRiach Classic Cask…
Review: Innis & Gunn Kindred Spirits
For its latest release, Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn teamed up with Irish distiller Tullamore D.E.W. to produce this collaboration: Kindred Spirits. It’s a simple formula: I&G’s stout aged in Tullamore whiskey barrels, giving a traditional stout a bit of a twist. Let’s taste! The beer provides a surprisingly nice balance between the natural punch…
Review: Wild Turkey Longbranch
It’s no secret that Matthew McConaughey and Jimmy and Eddie Russell have been collaborating on a new whiskey, the culmination of McConaughey’s two years working as the “creative director” for Wild Turkey. Now it’s here: Longbranch, a straight bourbon with a slight twist. It is charcoal filtered twice, once through American white oak charcoal and…
Review: Wines of Columbia Winery, 2018 Releases
Woodinville-based Columbia Winery is a reliable producer of affordable but well-crafted wines from the Washington wine world. Today we look at Columbia’s 2018 releases, including three reds and a white, all well under 20 bucks a bottle. 2016 Columbia Winery Chardonnay – Mild on the whole, this chardonnay shows notes of vanilla, light coconut, and…
Review: Jefferson’s Presidential Select Twin Oak 16 Years Old
It’s been a few years since Jefferson’s released a new addition in their Presidential Select line. While Jefferson’s has a considerable lineup of bourbon and rye, the Presidential Select bottlings have always been the most glamorous, owing to the fact that the first releases, like the now legendary Jefferson’s Presidential Select 17 Years Old, included…
Review: 2016 Barossa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
This Aussie cabernet shows some of the classic trappings of the grape: blackberry and currants, with a sweetness that approaches pie filling at times. As the fruit mellows out in the glass, the wine evolves to show notes of clove, mint, and graphite, a modest acidity balancing a touch of vanilla. The racier back end…
Review: Ardbeg Grooves
Ardbeg’s latest Ardbeg Day Committee Release is here (or at least it will be in June): The funkily named Ardbeg Grooves. If you’re thinking music has something to do with it, you’re not wrong, as the whisky is inspired by the life and times of livin’ on Islay in the 1960s. Says Ardbeg: From the…
Review: Allagash Belfiüs
Allagash Brewing Company has been busy of late creating new beers with unique profiles. Belfiüs is particularly adventurous, labeled as a Saison Ale Blended with Spontaneously Fermented Ale. The bottle provides a helpful description: This bottle contains two of Belgium’s well-known beer styles: a spontaneously fermented ale and a saison. The spontaneously fermented ale is…
