Review: Crown Royal Noble Collection Wine Barrel Finished
Crown Royal continues its limited edition, called the Noble Collection, which started with the Cornerstone Blend last year, with this second release, Crown Royal Noble Collection Wine Barrel Finished. What we have here is classic Crown Royal that is finished in cabernet sauvignon wine barrels sourced from Paso Robles (winery unstated). No other production data (including…
Review: 2015 Mia Bea Chardonnay and Petite Sirah
Barra Family Vineyards is a small, family-owned vineyard in Mendocino County. In 2014, the vineyard owners decided to use some of the harvest to make their own wine, a chardonnay. This year, they’ve expanded and are now offering their first red, a petite sirah. We tasted both wines from the newly released 2015 vintage. Thoughts…
Review: The Spice Lab Special Touch Premium Mixology Case
Nothing’s more fun than ordering a high-end cocktail at a bar and receiving it with a wacky ingredient or garnish — maybe a flaming star anise or an edible flower, slowly leeching its color into your drink. Well good news, campers: Now you can recreate some of these experiences at home, thanks to The Spice Lab’s “Special…
Review: Breckenridge Brewery Barrel Aged Imperial Cherry Stout
This second entry in Colorado-based Breckenridge Brewery’s Brewery Lane Series is a cherry stout — “aged 50% in whiskey barrels and 50% in Port wine barrels, Imperial Cherry Stout features sweet-sour Montmorency tart cherries which play on the dark fruit flavors prevalent in a traditional Imperial Stout.” This is a huge beer but quite an…
Review: Humboldt Distillery Spiced Rum
Humboldt Distillery is best known (to me, anyway) for its hemp flavored vodka. But Humboldt also makes a rum, organic and well spiced. The rum is double distilled; once in a column still, once in a pot still. There’s no information on aging or the spices used in the flavoring process. The golden/amber rum is…
Tasting the Wines of Onward, 2017 Releases
Onward is a wine brand run by winemaker Faith Armstrong, who creates these wines sustainably, organically, and biodynamically. During a recent live tasting, Armstrong talked through a collection of five new releases, with a special focus on her most beloved baby, Pét-Nat. Thoughts follow. 2016 Onward Pét-Nat of Malvasia Bianca Suisun Valley – If wine writers…
Review: Warship Rum
Warship Rum is a sourced spirit that originally hails from Paraguay, where it is made from fair-trade, organic blackstrap molasses. That rum is shipped at 189.5 proof in drums to Portland, Oregon, where proprietor (and Canadian native) Olivier Beaulieu-Grise brings it down to 80 proof and filters it, then hand-bottles the finished product. The rum…
Review: Winc Wine Club
Winc is a monthly wine club from Northern California that, like most, works via an online subscription service. We had the opportunity to give them a try and were fairly impressed with the offering. First, a bit about Winc. When you first sign up, you are asked several questions to determine your “Palate Profile.” They ask…
