Review: Wines of Terra d’Oro, 2016 Releases
Amador County is home to Terra d’Oro, the first winery to open in this region since the end of Prohibition. Formerly bottled under the Montevina label, the winery was established in 1973 with a focus on historic grape varietals — particularly those of the Italian persuasion. We sampled a vast array of current releases from…
Review: Tequila Herradura, Complete Lineup (2016)
At Drinkhacker we have a habit of revisiting spirits every few years to see how things have changed. In the case of Tequila Herradura, this is our third time around with the brand (and the fourth for the silver expression). Our 2008 and 2012 reviews may serve as guidance and starting points for this re-re-review.…
Recipes: Memorial Day Cocktails 2016
In some circles, it’s the official start of summer. In others, it is a time to pay reverence and salute those who have dutifully served in our United States Armed Forces. Whatever your occasion, we’ve taken the liberty to try out all of the cocktails suggested below and present them for your celebratory consideration. May…
Review: Rums of Rhum Clement – Canne Bleue, Select Barrel, 6 Years Old, 10 Years Old, and Coconut Liqueur (2016)
Rhum Clement is perhaps Martinique’s most distinguished producer of sugarcane-based rhum agricole, but it’s been 8 years since we’ve checked in with the distillery in earnest. After some rebranding and shuffling of products, the lineup still looks fairly familiar. While we didn’t get to check out Clement’s very top-end rums this time, this roundup comprises…
Review: Aervana Wine Aerator
Aervana is yet another wine aeration system, and this one has a twist: It has batteries. Rather than pour wine through the device, the Aervana sits on top of the bottle and pumps wine up through a tube, and sends the air-infused wine out through a spigot, into your waiting glass. Aervana (rightly) claims a…
Review: Ol’ Major Bacon Flavored Bourbon
Another whiskey from Branded Spirits… this one with a major (and obvious) spin. To start with the basics: This is real whiskey flavored with real bacon. The bourbon is an 88% corn mash made by Terressentia, the bacon if from an Oklahoma pork producer. The flavoring and bottling operation takes place in Nashville; this involves taking…
Review: Wines of Mt. Beautiful, 2016 Releases
Mt. Beautiful is a fairly noteworthy New Zealand winery, which we most recently encountered in our tasting report on new NZ wines. Recently we received a quartet of expressions from the winery. Thoughts on each of these 2016 releases follow. 2014 Mt. Beautiful Pinot Gris North Canterbury – A simple wine, with moderate florals embedded into…
Review: South Hollow Spirits Twenty Boat Cape Cod Spiced Rum
Massachusetts-based craft producer South Hollow Spirits has a heavy focus on rum, one of the traditional spirits of New England in the pre-Prohibition era. The Twenty Boat brand comprises both an amber and a spiced rum, the latter of which we review below. Made from organic molasses and sugar cane juice sourced from Florida and…
