Review: Wines of Noble Vines, 2016 Releases
Like Cameron Hughes before it, Noble Vines eschews fun names in favor of a simple three-digit number to identify its various bottlings. (Unlike Hughes, however, Noble Vines’ numbers indicate rootstock, vineyard blocks, or both.) Sourcing grapes largely from two vineyards, one in Lodi, one in Monterey, the company currently produces six low-cost wines. We review…
Review: Hard Frescos
Mexican sodas (aka frescas) are one of life’s little pleasures. Naturally someone had to try and improve on them by adding alcohol. Hard Frescos are, as is common in this category, not really sodas but rather malt beverages with flavoring added. However, while it says malt beverage on the label, Hard Frescos are actually made primarily from…
Review: Few Spirits Breakfast Gin
Gin for breakfast? Well, brunch anyway. With Breakfast Gin, Few Spirits is targeting some specific cocktails — including the Ramos Gin Fizz and the French 75, which are a little more appropriate before noon than, say, a Manhattan. Botanicals include juniper, lemon, and Earl Grey tea (among others). Launched in Chicago in summer 2015, the…
Review: 1792 Full Proof Bourbon
The latest (and fourth) limited edition release in the recently emergent 1792 Bourbon line is this one: “Full Proof,” a kind of weird way to denote that the bottling proof was the same as the entry proof into the barrel. Note, this isn’t quite the same thing as cask strength. Says 1792’s creator, Sazerac: Bottled at…
Review: Highland Park Ice Edition 17 Years Old
Highland Park continues its release of rarities with ICE Edition, a limited release of 17 year old single malt whisky. Now that it’s exhausted the Norse pantheon, more or less, it’s moving on to the elements. This is the first in a series, though how far it will go is a mystery for now. HP offers…
How to Build a Better Bourbon: The Science Behind Buffalo Trace and the Lessons of the Single Oak Project
What better industry could you hope to work in today than the bourbon business? America’s official spirit has never been in better shape. U.S. bourbon sales have risen from 118 million liters in 2000 to 174 million liters last year, and bourbon is increasingly beloved on the global stage. Plus: Free bourbon. Across Kentucky, quite…
Review: Beronia 2011 Rioja Crianza and 2010 Rioja Reserva
These affordable Rioja wines actually include the grape breakdown on the labels, a rarity for Spanish wines. Naturally, both expressions are mostly tempranillo, with some other native grapes added for kick. While I did not try pairing them with seafood, Beronia is suggesting they would pair well thusly. If you try them with the other, other,…
Review: G’Vine Floraison and Nouaison Gin (2016)
It’s been six years since our last encounter with G’Vine (and nine years since our first)… so now’s a good time to give these now-classic gins (which are distilled from Ugni Blanc grapes in France, just like Cognac) a fresh look. Let’s look today at new samples of both G’Vine Floraison and G’Vine Nouaison to…
