Review: Seven Stills of San Francisco Whipnose Whiskey
The Seven Stills of San Francisco returns with its second beer-based whiskey, this time pot-distilled from 1600 gallons of double IPA from Pacific Brewing Laboratories along with some maple sugar. The beer is then aged in new, five-gallon American oak barrels for six months before bottling. As with Chocosmoke, this is a young and wild…
Review: The Glenlivet Nadurra Oloroso
The Glenlivet Nadurra — “natural” in Gaelic — is a member of the Glenlivet’s core range of expressions, named in part because it spends its entire life in ex-bourbon casks (with no finishing), isn’t filtered or colored, and is bottled at its “natural” cask strength. Now, Nadurra is getting its first permanent line extension, with…
Review: 2013 MacMurray Ranch Pinot Gris Russian River Valley
This latest pinot gris from venerable affordable wine producer MacMurray Ranch comes loaded with peachy/tropical notes, but an undercurrant of vegetable character brings some clouds to an otherwise sunny day. The body features more of the same — perhaps apricot jam, plus fresh herbs, vanilla extract, and some baking spice — with just of a…
Tasting the Wines of Charles Krug, 2014
Napa’s Charles Krug — now managed by the Peter Mondavi family — is an icon of California. Krug (the man) was a Prussian journalist who emigrated to the San Francisco area in the 1840s and eventually started dabbling in winemaking before opening his first winery in 1861. In 2011 his namesake company marked its 150th vintage. And…
Review: Cruzan Peach Rum
Fruit-flavored rum day continues with this latest release from Cruzan, which clocks in at a mere 42 proof (about the same as a fortified wine). The St. Croix-based rum operation infuses natural peach flavor into white rum (and lots of water, it seems) to create this light-as-a-feather, gently flavored spirit. Unlike the fruit bomb of…
Review: Bacardi Mango Fusion Rum
Fusion, you say? Turns out all you need are mangos and oranges and they fuse together to power your car. Ahem, well, Bacardi’s latest flavored rum is this, “Mango fused with Orange” and bottled at 70 proof. The nose of this concoction lands in a weird zone among tropical, citrus, and cough syrup, sharp and…
Review: Firemans Brew Blonde Beer, Brunette Beer, and Redhead Ale (2014)
We last encountered Firemans Brew five long years ago — we mistakenly gave them an unattributed apostrophe back then — so with summer upon us, a fresh look is in order. The company still makes three hair-color-themed beers, though the “Brewnette” has been reformulated with a newish name (a straightforward “Brunette”) and much less alcohol.…
Review: Pinot Blancs from Kuentz-Bas and Elena Walch, 2014 Releases
Just in time for summer come these two white wines from two different regions in western Europe — one northern Italy, one eastern France. Both are made from the Pinot Blanc (aka Pinot Bianco) grape, and side by side they show just how incredibly different these wines can be. Thoughts follow. 2011 Kuentz-Bas Pinot Blanc Tradition Alsace…
