Review: Three Meadows Spirits Peony Vodka
Based in the Hudson Valley of New York, Three Meadows Spirits is the producer of, to date, a single product: Peony Vodka, a 5x distilled, wheat-based vodka flavored with nine botanicals. Those include geranium, jasmine, white pepper, gardenia, green tea, vanilla, and the namesake of the spirit, tincture of peony. (Yes, that’s seven; the remaining two…
Review: Mulholland Distilling Vodka, Gin, and American Whiskey
Mulholland Distilling is a new operation that bills itself as “The Spirit of L.A.,” though nothing is actually originated in Los Angeles — the white spirits are distilled on contract in Missouri, then proofed down in Downey, California, which is indeed part of Los Angeles County. The whiskey is from Indiana (presumably MGP), with Califorinia water…
Review: Magnolia Proving Ground IPA and Kalifornia Kolsch
San Francisco-based Magnolia Brewing is releasing two of its flagship brews in cans for the first time. We sampled them both, straight outta aluminum. Thoughts follow. Magnolia Proving Ground IPA – This IPA is described as an American-British hybrid that includes British Maris Otter malt used as a counterpart to classic west coast hop strains. The…
Review: Dos Almas 55 Tequila Plata and Cinnamon Liqueur
Dos Almas is a new brand of tequila (a silver) and liqueur, made in the Highlands region of Jalisco. These are wildly different products, so let’s hop to it. Details (and thoughts) follow. Both bottles reviewed are from production #1, which comprised 1300 and 1600 bottles, respectively. Dos Almas 55 Tequila Plata – This is…
Tasting the Wines of Buena Vista Winery, 2017 Releases
Founded in 1857 by the colorful Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy, Buena Vista Winery was a pioneer of California wine. The first wine caves in California were dug here (and can still be seen today by visitors), and Haraszthy is responsible for bringing all kinds of European wine varietals to the U.S. Today, Buena Vista is…
Review: Chapter 7 Highland Single Malt Whisky 19 Years Old
Chapter 7 is a newish independent bottler (established only in 2014) that has released only a couple dozen indie Scotch releases to date. Many of these are distillery-labeled, but this one, among its latest — and newly available in the U.S. as an exclusive for us Yankees — is a 19 year old with unstated…
Book Review: Hennessy: A Toast to the World’s Preeminent Spirit
The title might cue you off that this is a project sponsored by Hennessy, a coffee table book which serves as a richly illustrated historical guide to everything there is to know about this famed Cognac. The book is divided into sections, each built around a topic or a specific luminary that has something to…
Review: Tamdhu Batch Strength #2 Single Malt Whisky
Tamdhu’s limited edition “batch strength” single malt whisky, an overproof bottling released in 2015, is back for a second round. As with the first batch, it is aged entirely in sherry casks and is bottled with no age statement. Abv is just 0.3 percent lower. Note that you can easily tell the different between Batch #1…
