Review: 2015 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles
Justin’s 2015 cab shows just how far you can go with a $25 wine, that you needn’t resort to massive amounts of doctoring and additives to create a palatable bottling. The wine is lush with plums and currants, with a squeeze of blackberry jam, winding from there into notes of fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, lavender, and…
Review: Bushmills Single Malt Irish Whiskey 21 Years Old
If you haven’t already noticed, whiskey prices are going up across the board, particularly for older single malts. The record for a single bottle price at auction exceeded six figures just last year (a Yamazaki from Japan, no less), and there’s still no sign we’ve hit the ceiling. Even readily available older single malts, like…
Book Review: Tasting Beer
Randy Mosher’s been drinking beer for longer than most of us have been alive, and with the second edition of Tasting Beer, he revamps his intense and intensive guide to the way it should be consumed. Note that this is a book for the professional, or at least for the wannabe professional. If you really want…
The Whiskey Hype Train: Expectations vs. Quality
Working at a whisky festival the other day, I was very fortunate to be able to try Pappy Van Winkle 20 and 23 year old for the first time. I think it’s reasonable to say that these bottles are pretty “hyped,” with tales of huge sums of money being exchanged, second mortgages being taken out,…
Review: Xingu Beer – Gold and Black
Brazil is home to plenty of booze, but Xingu is definitely the stuff with the coolest name. This brewery isn’t old, but the recipe it uses to make its Black Beer is — reportedly dating back to 1557. Amazon stuff. Xingu isn’t brewed with corn and manioc today. Rather, it’s a fusion of Latin and…
Review: Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon 2017 Edition
Deja vu? If it seems like Four Roses already put out a Small Batch Bourbon for 2017, that’s because it did. The masterful Al Young 50th Anniversary bottling, which arrived over the summer, was a one-off commemorative release. This bottling is a larger outturn, with more traditional packaging. As always, Small Batch Limited Edition releases…
Review: Mercer 2016 Sauvignon Blanc and 2015 Red Blend
Mercer can be found in Prosser, Washington, where it produces a series of affordable — some might say very affordable — red and white wines. Largely uncomplex, these are wines built for the Everyman inside all of us. 2016 Mercer Sauvignon Blanc – Gently tropical, with mild acidity, this is a basic but perfectly enjoyable sauvignon blanc,…
Review: Collectivum XXVIII Limited Edition 2017
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and for this final look at the 10th whisky in the 2017 Diageo Special Releases we come to a true oddity. For the first time ever, Diageo has made a master blend of all 28 single malt distilleries that it owns (hence the XXVIII). I’d list…
