Review: Cruzan Blueberry Lemonade Rum
I’m not gonna lie. It’s over 90 degrees outside as I write this, and nothing sounds better than a glass of cold blueberry lemonade. Cruzan’s latest flavor unfortunately won’t get you there — even with a ton of ice, it’s too sweet and saccharine to recreate a boozy lemonade on its own. At a mere…
Review: Kilchoman 100% Islay Fifth Release
The 2015 edition of 100% Islay from Kilchoman (which features nothing but Islay-born ingredients) is now in its fifth generation. This lightly peated bottling is a vatting of whiskies distilled in 2009-2010 and matured in first-fill bourbon casks, just like last year’s fourth edition. The major difference is an extra year of age (though, as…
Review: Mezcal Amaras Cupreata
Mezcal Amaras is new on the scene, but it’s already got a new expression available: Cupreata. What’s cupreata? Amaras explains… The rare cupreata agave, found only on certain mountain slopes in the Rio Balsas basin in Mexico, produces an equally rare mezcal, known for its distinctly vegetal flavor profile. Today, Anchor Distilling Company makes this…
Review: Copper & Kings Immature Brandy and Craft Distilled Brandy
Yes Virginia, they make stuff other than bourbon in Louisville, Kentucky. Copper & Kings, which only opened last year, is a craft distiller of brandy (and a bunch of absinthes, which we’re reviewing soon), which are copper pot-distilled “just twice for character and taste.” Made from Muscat (or French Colombard, depending on what you read),…
Cocktail Recipes for Labor Day, 2015
So this week we’ve published our 4,000th post on the site, and this is our 230th recipe entry. So if you can’t find anything interesting to drink in 5.75% of our publishing history, I don’t know what to tell you. But what I can tell you is that summer is coming to an end. While…
Review: Indian Summer Gin
A touch of saffron gives this newly-arriving gin (from Duncan Taylor in Scotland) a light yellow hue, adding to an otherwise relatively straightforward botanical bill that angelica bark, almonds, coriander seed, cassia, juniper berries, lemon peel, licorice root, orris root and orange peel. The nose is largely in keeping with tradition: juniper, strong citrus peel notes,…
Review: Booker’s Bourbon “Oven Buster Batch” 2015-04
We’re just now catching up with Booker’s, which is spending 2015 and beyond releasing some different, limited-release versions of this beloved bourbon brand. Booker’s may not be my go-to bourbon brand, but I have an immense respect for the craftmanship that Fred Noe puts into it and the depth of flavor it provides whenever I sample…
Review: Highspire Pure Rye Whiskey
100% heirloom rye. Double pot distilled. Aged for 130 days in used Paso Robles wine barrels. Chill filtered. Finished with oak staves. Made in Kentucky. Winemaker Austin Hope has turned to whiskeymaking with this foray into distilling with Highspire, a very young rye (not legally able to be called one due to its odd production…
