Review: Crown Royal 30 Years Old
You’re reading that headline right: Canadian whisky keeps getting older, and Crown Royal has just dropped its oldest expression ever. The second expression in the Royal Series (we missed last year’s 29 year old) sees Crown at a full 30 years old, distilled entirely in Coffey stills and bottled in an impressively fancy, bag-draped decanter.…
Review: Old Elk Wheat N’ Rye
Old Elk‘s newest release is a combination of two whiskeys we rarely — if ever — see blended together: wheat and rye. Appropriately dubbed Wheat N’ Rye, the whiskey is a combination of 7 year-old straight wheat whiskey (95 percent wheat, 5 percent malted barley) and 6 year-old straight rye (95 percent rye, 5 percent…
Review: El Mayor Tequila Extra Anejo – Bourbon Barrel Aged
Each year we have the treat of seeing a special edition from the tequila pros at El Mayor. This year is no exception, and it’s even more special since the company is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the company has dropped another Extra Anejo bottling, aged for 39 months in surprisingly traditional…
Review: Dyfi Gin Pollination Edition
First surprise: “Dyfi,” which hails from Wales, is pronounced “Dovey.” And let me be the first to say, good luck calling for it in your martini at the bar! Made in a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, the gin incorporates classic gin botanicals along with hand-foraged Welsh botanicals, including “wild flowers, aromatic leaves, fruits, and conifer…
Review: Flor de Cana Rum – 12, 18, and 25 Years Old (2023)
Seven years ago, I wrote a review of four rums from Nicaragua’s Flor de Cana, referring to the 7, 12, 18, and 25 expressions with “years old” attached. That was laziness on my part: Flor de Cana has long used only vague numbers attached to terms like “slow aged” rather than providing a real age…
Review: Rampur Vintage Select Indian Single Malt (2022 Limited Edition)
We first reviewed Rampur Select when it was new to U.S. shores in 2019, a few years after its 2016 introduction in its home country of India. After tons of awards and fandom, the single malt — made from 100% Indian barley and aged exclusively in first fill bourbon barrels — was “reintroduced” as a…