Review: Drake’s Dark Wing IPA
This latest from Drake’s is an IPA without comparison. A black IPA made with 2-Row Pale Malt, Crystal Malt, and Black Malt, and Denali, Cascade, and Warrior hops, it’s an immediately weird experience. Chewy, burnt toast/overdone pretzel notes up front lead the way to a kind of gravelly, yet intensely bitter body. The finish evokes chewed-up asparagus…
Review: Redwood Empire American Whiskey
Graton Distillery Company, the Sonoma, California-based company behind D. George Benham’s Sonoma Dry Gin, has launched its first whiskey. Redwood Empire is a “proprietary blend of house-distilled and Port barrel-rested rye whiskeys [that] includes mature stocks of four, five and eleven-year-old bourbon aged in classic, high-toast American oak casks.” Functionally, this is a blend of microdistilled rye…
Review: 2015 Kaiken Ultra Malbec Mendoza Las Rocas
Initially overpowering with that unmistakable malbec funk — tobacco, graphite, leather, tar, and a fistful of dried spices — but Kaiken settles down quickly enough into a groove that showcases a richly fruity core, layers of blackberry and baking spice adding more body and nuance that cuts through the otherwise massive amount of tannins, revealing…
Review: Avua Cachaca – Jequitiba Rosa and Still Strength
Brazil’s bustling cachaca brand, Avua, is back with two new expressions, further expanding its lineup. Details on each follow in the commentary for each option. Both remain distilled from local sugarcane Avua Cachaca Jequitiba Rosa – Another native wood expression from Avua, this one is aged in barrels made from Jequitiba Rosa wood, a common tree…
Review: Greenbar Fruitlab Orange Liqueur
From Greenbar Distilling, the L.A.-based makers of one of our favorite new amaros, Grand Poppy, comes Fruitlab Orange Liqueur, a sweet and juicy concoction meant to compete with your rack bottle of $6 triple sec. (This appears to be a rebranding and perhaps an update of Citry, which was made when the company was known…
Winter Cocktails for 2018
What, you haven’t sworn off drinking as a New Year’s resolution? We still swear that when the weather is dreary outside, there is nothing better to warm you than a nice winter cocktail (and perhaps a big bowl of chili — our favorite recipe follows). Enjoy these cocktails as you dream of spring! Winter Rose…
Review: William Hill 2015 Chardonnay and 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon
William Hill experienced minor damage in last year’s NorCal wine country fires, but the winery described it is merely cosmetic. Nothing stopped the outfit from sending us its latest passel of releases, an iconically California chardonnay and a cabernet sauvignon. 2015 William Hill Chardonnay Benchland Series – A rich Cali chardonnay, though it’s dialed back…
Review: Eau Claire Distillery Parlour Gin and Prickly Pear Equineox
Eau Claire Distillery calls Alberta, Canada its home, and this little outfit is turning out an increasingly diversified variety of spirits, including single malt whiskey and rum. Today we look at two of its straight white spirits, a gin and a unique spirit flavored with prickly pear. Both are 80 proof. Thoughts follow. Eau Claire…
