Review: Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon 2007 Vintage
After a two year drought, we are finally back with another Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon review. What happened to 2005 and 2006? Good question. At the time, rumors swirled that the Single Barrel line was being discontinued or was becoming a distillery-only product. The distillery went dark to questions about the line, but apparently…
Visiting and Tasting With Hourglass Wines, 2016
“Michelin restaurants have more equipment than we do.” So says Tony Biagi, winemaker at north Napa’s Hourglass and a celebrity in his own right, having made wines at Plumpjack, CADE, and other blue-chip operations. Now he’s got another feather in his cap in the form of Hourglass, a cult winery in the making, where a…
Review: Not Your Father’s Vanilla Cream Ale
Is the third try the charm for Small Town Brewery and its “Not Your Father’s” line of hard sodas. While its root beer is acceptable, its ginger ale fell flat. Now let’s look at its vanilla cream. Results: This one’s roughly in the middle of the trio. To start with, it’s aided by copious amounts of sugar. The…
Review: Compass Box The Circus and Enlightenment
Two new limited expressions from the ever-interesting blenders at Compass Box: The Circus and Enlightenment. Let’s take a look at both. Thoughts follow. Compass Box The Circus – This is another complicated whisky that requires an infographic to explain how it is blended. The gist is that The Circus is composed of a mix of…
Review: Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company Juices and Lemonades
Florida-based Natalie’s Orchid Island makes fresh juices and lemonades, packing them in those familiar, squared-off, plastic pint bottles. These products are “gourmet pasteurized” but contain no preservatives, and must be kept refrigerated at all times. Is upscale juice worth the splurge? We checked out six varieties of juice and lemonade. For your consideration: Natalie’s Orange Juice…
Review: Blue Ice Creme Brulee Vodka
Outside of its “G” line, Blue Ice has just one flavored vodka, and that flavor is… no, not lemon. Not citrus. Creme brulee. Or, as it is listed on the Blue Ice website: Creme burlee. Or, elsewhere, Creme burele. That is an extremely weird choice for one’s sole flavor, but to be sure, “creme brulee” is…
Review: Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2016 Edition
Here’s a quintet of whiskeys you might have heard of once or twice. Yes, the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection has arrived, which will probably be sold out before I finish typing this sentence. Well, if you’re a glutton for punishment and want to take a stab at finding one of these rarities — particularly because…
Tasting Report: Family Winemakers of California 2016
It’s been a few years since I’ve attended Family Winemakers of California, and event that once billed itself as the largest wine event in America, with hundreds of wineries showing off their wares. Things have settled down a bit in more recent years, but with 125 wineries showcasing some 500-plus wines, there’s still far more…
