Tasting the Wines of Hourglass Vineyard, 2014 Releases
I recently had the opportunity to attend a live event with Napa-based Hourglass Vineyard’s owner Jeff Smith and its new winemaker Tony Biagi. Before tasting through four of the winery’s current releases, the duo discussed the changes involved with switching winemakers, including their new approach to winemaking and their return to higher-acidity, more elegant winemaking as they…
Review: Phraya Deep Matured Gold Rum
“Luxury” rum from Thailand. If the gold-clad bottle doesn’t tip you off, the emphasis is squarely on “luxury.” The name phraya means “high ranking” in Thai, and the rum is aged at least seven years before bottling. As with Tanduay, another Asian rum, it’s an exotic spirit. The nose has a cachaca-like intensity, filled with dark…
Review: Starr Hill Whiter Shade of Pale Ale, Soul Shine (2014), and Little Red Roostarr (2014)
Three new brews from Starr Hill, arriving just in time for summer barbecues. Thoughts follow. Starr Hill Whiter Shade of Pale Ale White IPA – A hybrid of Belgian wheat beer and India Pale Ale, a bit like one of my current favorite brews, Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’. Made with wheat and two-row malt along…
Review: 2 Wines from the International Wine of the Month Club
Wine of the Month Clubs are legion, but if you want to get started with one that offers a pretty broad range of unusual (yet well curated) wines, perhaps you could do worse than one of the originals, the International Wine of the Month Club. The focus here is on imported wines, with selections coming…
Review: Husky Vodka
Imported from Siberia, this new vodka’s bottle is imprinted with a dog paw pressed into the glass. It’s distilled from (unspecified) grain and distilled five times before bottling. But is this vodka ruff? Er, rough? Ahem. Hey, the company donates $1 from each bottle sold to local dog rescue shelters, so your martinis are helping…
Review: 1800 Milenio Extra Anejo Tequila
1800 is a top notch 100% agave brand that’s been around for decades, and now the distillery is putting out a new extra anejo bottling called Milenio. 1800 last had Milenio on the market way back in 2000. For this second edition, the spirit is aged traditionally in American Bourbon barrels for five years, then…
Review: Kilchoman ImpEx Exclusive 2014 Single Cask Release
This bottling of Kilchoman carries the traditional Kilchoman label (rather than an independent bottler’s label), though it was bottled exclusively for the importer ImpEx (whose indie-bottled Exclusive Malts we regularly cover). You’ll know the difference by the red label vs. the usual Kilchoman blue. Inside, things are a bit different, too. After five years in an…
Recipes for National Cognac Day 2014
June 4th marks the arrival of the holiday we’ve all been waiting for: National Cognac Day! A quick primer on Cognac: – It is a variety of brandy. – It is produced in the wine growing region of Cognac in France. – Like bourbon, it has certain requirements in its distillation process. It must be…
