Review: Angostura White Oak, 5 Years Old, 7 Years Old, 1919, and 1824 Rums (2016)
While best known for its ubiquitous aromatic bitters, Angostura is a major rum distillery, and it’s been producing spirits in Trinidad & Tobago since 1824. We tasted five rums spanning a wide range of production from the company. All are 80 proof, with comments on each below. Enjoy! Angostura White Oak Rum – You’ll find “Angostura…
Review: NV Sandeman Founders Reserve Porto (2016)
Here’s a fresh look at Sandeman’s widely-available nonvintage Ruby Port, which is sold in the squat bottles labeled Founders Reserve. (We last reviewed it in 2012.) It’s a rather alcohol-forward Port, which dulls the raisiny core more than a bit with some hospital character. Secondary notes of weak tea, rhubarb, and caramel sauce find an…
Tasting Report: Wines of Alpha Omega, 2016 Releases
I’ve been a fan of Alpha Omega — especially its white wines — for years (the entire operation isn’t quite 10 years old), and have always wondered why I never see these wines at stores or on wine lists. Mystery resolved: During a recent visit to this hot winery, our host informed us that 90…
Book Review: Cocktail Noir
Novelty cocktail books are a dime a dozen, but Scott Deitche’s focus on the drinks of private eyes, gangsters, and other “in the shadows” types at least offers the promise of something new — of cocktail stories that we haven’t heard many times before. Alas, this slim tome unfortunately is a bit of a random…
Review: Black Bottle Blended Scotch (2016)
Back in the day (at least in the late 20th century), Black Bottle was the go-to blended whisky for peat freaks. In fact, at the time it was said to be made from stock sourced from almost every Islay-based distillery. But Black Bottle has a lengthy history — the brand actually dates back to 1879,…
Review: NV Leer Vineyards Heroic Red
Leer Vineyards is an operation based in Contra Costa County, California, and among their hefty production is this bottling — Heroic Red — a nonvintage blend the proceeds of which partly go to supporting combat-wounded veterans by funding home purchases. (Leer also makes other wines with charitable goals.) The blend is 58% Syrah, 29% Merlot,…
Review: Glenmorangie Milsean
The latest expression in the increasingly convoluted and difficult-to-pronounce Glenmorangie line of Highland single malts is this one: Milsean, Scots Gaelic for “sweet things.” (Pronunciation: meel-shawn.) This is the seventh release in the company’s annually updated Private Release line. Glenmorangie has long been a massive proponent of wine barrel finishing, and Milsean is no exception. After…
Review: Scotch Malt Whisky Society Casks 39.99 and 95.19
Every year our friends at the SMWS send us a couple of recent releases to sample and enjoy. Some quick thoughts on a couple of nice little indie releases follow. Scotch Malt Whisky Society Cask 39.99 – Linkwood from Speyside, 23 years in refill (bourbon) hogsheads. Distilled in April 1990. Curious and atypical iodine and seaweed…
