Review: Wild Root Original Alcoholic Root Beer
Our first foray into alcoholic root beers met with mixed results — but now we have a third option to add to the mix. The company behind Wild Root makes an alcoholic ginger beer that we’ve previously reviewed. This is their foray into a more soda-like concoction. The flavor of this beverage is heavy on…
Review: Tullibardine Sovereign, 225, 228, 500, 20 Years Old, and 25 Years Old
Tullibardine is a Highlands based distillery, largely overlooked in the U.S. but widely available if you take a spin around the internet. Tullibardine has changed hands and directions more than once (the whisky we reviewed only 4 years ago is long since off the market and the company has been sold and rebranded everything since then).…
Review: 2014 Zaca Mesa Viognier Santa Ynez Valley
This creamy viognier offers ample peach and apricot notes, with an almost caramel-like body that gives it some weight. Overtones of white flowers arrive after the wine has a chance to warm up a bit. The crisp acidity of many a viognier is missing here, replaced with overtones of spiced nuts and heavy cream. While…
Recipe: Valentine’s Day Cocktails 2016
So here we are, just one day until Valentine’s. Got the last minute gifts of flowers and candy purchased, the Isley Brothers softly cooing on the stereo in the background, and maybe one or five of these cocktails ready and waiting at your disposal for a romantic night in, or whatever. Even if you hate Valentine’s…
Review: Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon – Limited Edition (2015)
This fourth edition of Angel’s Envy’s Port-finished bourbon, bottled at cask strength, almost got lost in the shuffle, but we’re not too far into 2016 to cover this 2015 release, I figure. (See also: 2013, 2013 2nd Ed., 2014.) As always, this expression — up to seven years old — is a departure from rack…
Tasting the Wines of Chile’s Ritual, 2016 Releases
Headed up by well-known winemaker Rodrigo Soto, Chile’s Ritual is a new label that is producing sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and — uncommon for Chile — pinot noir. Soto recently took to a web chat with wine writers to prove that he was making what’s been called Chile’s best pinot noir — and for under 20…
Review: Wines of Sokol Blosser, 2016 Releases
Oregon’s Sokol Blosser is out with a panoply of new releases, ranging from sparkling stuff to single-block pinot noir. Let’s taste the lot. NV Sokol Blosser Evolution Sparkling Wine – An everyday brut sparkler made from grapes unknown, but which goes down without a fight. Notes of nuts and brioche on the nose lead to…
Review: Wines of La Crema, 2016 Releases
Today we look at three new releases from Sonoma-based La Crema, including the kooky Virtuoso Pinot Noir. Virtuoso is the result of a crowdsourced winemaking experiment, in which 25,000 “virtual vintners” put their input into what type of wine La Crema would make (Russian River Pinot won), what type of yeast would be used (wild),…
