Review: A. Smith Bowman Abraham Bowman Gingerbread Cocoa Finished Bourbon
Nearly three years ago our friends at Virginia-based, Sazerac-owned A. Smith Bowman released a unique finished version of their whiskey, which included 12 months of finishing in gingerbread stout barrels sourced from Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Now Bowman is adding a new version that complicates things much further. Allow them to explain directly: Marrying two Virginia gems, this…
Tasting Affordable Bordeaux, Late 2016 Releases
Hey folks, don’t want to spend big bucks for wine for the holiday table? Check out this quintet of affordable Bordeaux wines — which generally fared much better than the last round of affordabordeaux that we reviewed. NV La Fleur de Francois Cremant de Bordeaux Rose Brut – A sparkling rose made from 90% merlot and…
Review: Whiskies of Lost Distillery – Jericho, Lossit, and Towiemore
The Lost Distillery Company is an endeavour which aims to recreate the long-gone whiskies of the dozens of “silent stills” that dot the Scottish countryside. For better or for worse, the group aims to blend up various single malts in an effort to mimic what these lost spirits might have tasted like. How? By researching still types,…
Review: CooranBong and Bombora Australian Vodka (2016)
Bombora and CooranBong, both Australian vodkas distilled from grapes, hit the scene in 2011. We dutifully reviewed them at the time, but lately both have been reportedly reformulated (details have not been released) and repriced, though oddly no label or bottle changes have taken place. Fresh reviews follow (it turns out much has changed on…
Review: Highland Park Fire Edition 15 Years Old
First there was ice. Now there is fire — thanks to Highland Park, which is concluding its two-whisky elemental series with this 15 year old spirit matured completely in refill Port wine casks. Some ephemera: Highland Park is proud to announce the release of a limited edition single malt Scotch whisky. FIRE Edition is a…
Review: Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin (2016)
It’s been five years since we looked at Nolet’s entry-level bottling (the Reserve bottling runs $650), so we figured now was a good time to take a fresh look at one of The Netherlands’ most notable gins. The twist here comes in the form of three odd botanicals: Turkish rose, peach, and raspberry. Other botanicals aren’t…
Has This Man Discovered the Secret to “Healthy” Alcohol?
Harsha Chigurupati, a gregarious man and a self-described “technological evolutionist,” may not be a scientist, but he does know a little something about the liver. His family runs a company called Granules India, which Chigurupati calls the world’s second-largest manufacturer of acetaminophen (a widely used but notorious liver-damaging drug), and during his tenure there the…
Review: Granny’s Gingerbread Cream
Step aside Irish creams and pumpkin-flavored liqueurs. Now you’ve got a new holiday liqueur to contend with: Granny’s Gingerbread Cream. This is a new product from the Lousiana-based Sazerac company, “made with natural vanilla flavor and heavy creams sourced from Vermont dairies.” The base spirit is rum. The nose initially comes across as more of…
