Review: Auchentoshan The Bartender’s Malt
Lowlands whisky producer Auchentoshan recently came up with a weird idea: to produce a single malt curated not by its own master blender buy by a group of bartenders (who presumably know nothing about the task). Anyhoo. Auchentoshan’s The Bartender’s Malt is “a bespoke innovation comprised of a blend of whiskies selected by the New Malt…
Review: 2015 Stave & Steel Cabernet Sauvignon Bourbon Barrel Aged
Hey kids, another bourbon barrel-aged red wine! This one carries a California designation but, per the company, is Paso Robles-sourced cabernet sauvignon that spends four months in Kentucky bourbon barrels. Let’s see how this one fares. At first I was slightly optimistic: The nose evokes both black pepper and blackberry fruit — interesting and engaging…
Review: Samuel Adams Utopias (2017 Release)
The thing about Samuel Adams’ Utopias — the extreme barrel-aged beer that drinks more like a Port or sherry than a can of Boston Lager — is that although they constantly tweak the recipe, the beer itself never seems to change that much. Variations on a theme, really. 2017 marks the 10th release of Utopias…
Review: NV Dark Horse Double Down Red Blend
A ten-dollar, nonvintage red wine made from who-knows-what that’s called Double Down… Perhaps you can forgive my skepticism going into this one. Truth be told, Dark Horse’s lighter wines are not as terrible as their name, and this expression — technically a “limited release” — is far better than I was expecting. According to the…
Tasting Report: 2015 St. Emilion Bordeaux Wines
In 2014 we covered the wines of Bordeaux’s St. Emilion region, diving into the 2009 and 2010 vintages in earnest. Recently, Grand Cru producers from the area visited San Francisco to pour their 2015 bottlings, and each was invited to offer an older bottling by way of comparison. These ranged from 2010 to 2014 (though…
Bar Review: The Silver Dollar, Louisville
While you’ll find The Silver Dollar on many lists of the best whiskey bars in the country, the impressive brown water offerings at this funky and casual spot are not even mentioned in the “About” section of their website. The bar is a take on a 1950s Bakersfield, California honky-tonk, complete with rustic décor (exposed…
Review: Chicken Cock Straight Bourbon 8 Years Old
Listen, I came to Chicken Cock via its 2013 flavored whiskeys, which came packaged in aluminum cans. The brand is an ancient one dating to the 1850s — because otherwise no one is putting “cock” on their labels — but the whiskey being put out today really has no relationship to the old stuff. The original…
Review: 2016 Flint & Steel Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
Flint & Steel is a sublabel of Graton-based Purple Wine Company, with an unusual claim to fame: It makes only one wine, a 100% sauvignon blanc sourced from Napa Valley. It’s a traditional offering from this region — heavy with pineapple and lemon notes, but rounded out with some almond character that gives body to…
