Review: 2015 Stephane Aviron Cru Beaujolais – Fleurie, Morgon, and Chenas
Just because it’s November and a wine drinker’s thoughts are turning to Beaujolais, doesn’t mean you have to drink Nouveau. With that in mind, importer Frederick Wildman and Sons presents these alternatives — cru Beaujolais which are far more interesting than the typical Nouveau release, but which remain highly affordable. Some preliminary notes from Wildman…
Review: Basil Hayden’s Dark Rye
Ready for the absolutely craziest thing to come out of whiskeydom since Alberta Rye Dark Batch? Get ready for Basil Hayden’s Dark Rye! The gist: Like Basil Hayden’s flagship bourbon, Basil Hayden’s Dark Rye stands out from the crowd. Blending Kentucky straight rye whiskey and Canadian rye with a splash of California port, Basil Hayden’s Dark Rye is…
Drinkhacker’s 2017 Holiday Gift Guide – Best Alcohol/Spirits for Christmas
It’s our tenth anniversary, and our tenth holiday gift guide! After more than 5500 posts — the bulk of them product reviews — we’ve written millions of words on all things quaffable, and as always, we select the cream of the crop to highlight in our annual holiday buying guide. Consider it a “best of…
Cocktail Recipes for Thanksgiving 2017
Here at Drinkhacker, we are thankful for you—our drinking readers! Among the other things we’re thankful for are good food, good friends, and good cocktails. May these cocktails and snack recipes be among them on your holiday table. Caramel Apple created by NYC mixologist Allison Kave of Butter and Scotch 2 oz. Baileys Pumpkin Spice Irish…
Tasting with Ferrari-Carano, 2017 Releases
It’s been two years since we hung out with Sonoma’s Ferrari-Carano, but recently the winery invited us to sample its latest releases, a quartet of wines spanning a wide range of styles in production here. Led via a live, online tasting by Associate Winemaker Rebecka Deike (the red wine specialist here), we started with chardonnay…
How to Analyze, Score, and Review Whiskey
The first time I watched Ralfy on his YouTube channel, it was a revelation. With the right glass and some experience you can learn to get so many different notes out of a whisky! Then you could score it, and share it, letting others know what you think. Many believe that this dark art of…
Review: Knappogue Castle 12 Years Old (2017)
This is our third go-round with Knappogue Castle’s entry-level bottling, a 12 year old Irish single malt. (See also 2010 and 2014 reviews.) The labeling has changed since our last encounter — but judging from our review, not much appears to be different inside the bottle since ’14. Some fresh thoughts follow. Quite malty on…
Review: Seven Stills of San Francisco Blueberry Dogpatch Whiskey and Saison Dolores Whiskey
Recently we got our hands on two new releases from microdistillery Seven Stills of San Francisco. Both of these are collaborations with Almanac Brewing, a San Francisco contract brewery. Seven Stills of San Francisco Blueberry Dogpatch Sour Whiskey – The blueberry part is in the fine print: This is the second release of Dogpatch Sour…
