Tasting Riesling Two Ways: 2014 Blue Fish vs. 2015 Relax
Riesling gets a bad rap, because many drinkers associate it only with sticky-sweet wines that are suitable only for the dessert course or the cheese plate. Remember: Riesling comes in all shapes and sizes, from tooth-strippingly sweet to nearly bone dry. The two German rieslings we review below are both closer to the center of…
Review: The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old
Macallan fans, as a rule, love its sherry-casked expressions but bemoan the existence of its bourbon-casked ones, namely the Fine Oak line (although the latter sees a bit of sherry finishing). At last Macallan has come up with a way to bridge the gap between the all-sherry Sherry Oak line and the sherry-minimal Fine Oak.…
Review: 2014 Owsley Single Block Pinot Noir
Sonoma-Cutrer has been quietly producing a “grand cru” inspired pinot noir from its own prized Owsley Vineyard for four years, bottling it of course under the name of Owsley. This isn’t a second label — it’s kind of a zeroth label, a step up from garden-variety S-C, made with a single block of grapes and with decidedly…
Book Review: Distilled Stories
There’s a certain segment of the population — Californians interested in craft distilling — that will find Distilled Stories particularly appealing. That isn’t to say the rest of you won’t dig the book, but there’s a certain down-the-rabbit-hole inquisitiveness that’s required of anyone wishing to drill down into this somewhat obscure world. Distilled Stories takes the…
Review: Glenfarclas 12 Years Old, 17 Years Old, and 105 Cask Strength (2016)
Recently I looked back at my early reviews of Glenfarclas 10 and 12 year old single malts and was a bit appalled at their naivete. An upgrade was required, and I got my hands on a trio of expressions: Glenfarclas 12 Years Old, 17 Years Old, and the coveted 105 Cask Strength expression. For those…
Review: Redbreast Sherry Finish Lustau Edition Irish Whiskey
What a fun idea from Redbreast. For the tasting experience of Redbreast Sherry Finish Lustau Edition, the distillery sent out three bottles: A bottle of classic Redbreast 12 Years Old, a bottle of the new sherry-finished Redbreast Lustau, and a bottle of actual Lustau Oloroso Don Nuno sherry. In this way one can follow the…
Review: 2013 Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG
Avignonesi’s latest 100% Sangiovese wine from the Montepulciano is very dry, almost dusty at times, with more balsamic on the body than I’d expect for a wine of this age. Pleasant enough with food but somewhat thin on its own, the core of dark cherries and blackberries is powerful enough at the start, but eventually it…
Review: Thorberg Five Hop Belgian IPA
Belgium’s Brouwerij Anders says the quest for the perfect Belgian IPA is over, and here it is: Thorberg Five Hop, which take Golding, Mosaic, Equinox, Willamette, and Citra hops and brews them up with Belgian techniques. The results are impressive, offering aromatic layers of citrusy and lightly piney hops that meld beautifully with the heavier, relatively malt-laden…
