Review: Braulio Amaro Alpino
Braulio’s an Italian amaro… alpino. Alpino? From the alpine mountains, which gives it a bit of a different spin than what you might be used to. Braulio originated in 1875, and it’s created with a blend of 13 herbs. Only four are known to the public: gentian, juniper, wormwood, and yarrow. The rest of the ingredients remain…
Review: Kirk and Sweeney Dominican Rum 18 Years Old and 23 Years Old
Kirk and Sweeney 12 Years Old, imported by Sonoma’s 35 Maple Street, is one of the best artisan rums on the market. And that’s just a babe at a mere 12 years old. Today we’re looking at the older line extensions of Kirk and Sweeney, including the 18 year old and 23 year old expressions.…
Review: Tanqueray Bloomsbury London Dry Gin
Tanqueray continues to play with the good-ol’ green bottle with its latest limited edition gin, Tanqueray Bloomsbury. Says the distillery: For the newest limited edition release of Tanqueray, the juniper-forward Tanqueray Bloomsbury London Dry Gin, Master Distiller Tom Nichol drew inspiration from a recipe created by Charles Tanqueray’s son, Charles Waugh Tanqueray. In 1868, when Charles died,…
Review: Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Bourbon 17 Years Old
Following up on last year’s Diamond Anniversary bourbon, Wild Turkey is releasing Master’s Keep, a 17 year old whiskey that is the oldest bourbon Wild Turkey has ever released in the U.S. The spirit is the product of Eddie Russell, the son of the famed Jimmy Russell, who was recently appointed to the job of…
Review: Corbin Vodka
You can make vodka out of anything, they say. Potato’s a common base starch. How about the sweet potato, then? Corbin Vodka, made in Atwater, California, is column distilled from the gold old sweet potato. (Don’t call it a yam!) The nose is fairly neutral, sharp with a moderately medicinal character, but balanced by some…
Book Review: Beer for All Seasons
A cynical beer drinker would say the concept of the new book Beer for All Seasons: A Through-the-Year Guide to What do Drink and When to Drink It is absurd. Beer should be drunk every day, amirite beer guys? Well, author Randy Mosher of course has more sophisticated aims here: Pairing certain beer styles to certain…
Review: 2012 Veglio Michelino & Figlia Barbera d’Alba and Dolcetto d’Alba
Here’s something you don’t see every day: Italian wines with reduced histamines. Why histamines? Some say these are responsible for “red wine headaches?” How does a wine turn out with its histamines taken away? Let’s take a look. 2012 Veglio Michelino & Figlia Barbera d’Alba DOC – Slightly sweet, atypical of barbera, with notes of…
Review: VOCO Vodka Coconut Water
The VO is for vodka. The CO is for coconut. Together they’re VOCO, the world’s first luxury beverage to blend pure coconut water with premium vodka, or so the label tells us. Sold in single-serve 12 oz. aluminum bottles, it’s an alternative to Smirnoff Ice or Mike’s Hard Lemonade, I suppose. The overall impact is…
