Review: Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection – Rye Bourbon Entry Proof Experiments
Last year, Buffalo Trace released a line of Experimental Collection bourbons put into barrel at various entry proofs. As I explained back then: Entry proof describes the alcohol level of a whiskey when it goes into the barrel for the first time. Generally whiskey is watered down a bit before barreling, often to between 105…
Review: GlenDronach Tawny Port Wood Finish 15 Years Old and Cask Strength Batch 2
GlenDronach, “the sleeping giant,” is a storied Highlands distillery that dates back to 1826. As is often the case with these companies, the distillery changed hands a few time and was shut down in 1996. Five years later it was acquired by BenRiach and is now producing again. It’s also releasing aged, old stock, including…
Book Review: The Drunken Botanist
It only came out last year, but Amy Stewart’s incredibly obsessive-compulsive tome, The Drunken Botanist, has already become a staple of the spirits obsessed. The idea is deceptively simple. Whatever you drink — Scotch, rum, tequila, vodka — has its origins in the earth — barley, sugar cane, agave, potato (or whatnot). Where do these plants,…
Bar Review: Hard Water, San Francisco
Hard Water, located on San Francisco’s waterfront just a block from the Ferry Building, is a tiny little place, a restaurant that serves Cajun cuisine and has no tables. Everyone sits either at the bar, a big horseshoe that juts out from the kitchen, or at a ledge around the walls. You’ll take your barstool…
Review: The Glenrothes 2001
It’s been three years since the last Glenrothes Vintage release (the 1998 vintage), and finally the Speyside distillery with the barrel-shaped bottle is out with a new one, 2001, another limited release that sticks closely to the Glenrothes house style. Bottled in mid-2012, it’s an 11 year old single malt whisky. The nose is surprisingly…
Review: Diageo Orphan Barrel Project: Barterhouse and Old Blowhard Bourbon
Everyone loves a good story, and to spin a good yarn around an original tale is becoming a talent synonymous with spirits industry. A brand simply can’t stand on its merits alone anymore. A successful product launch now requires no less than a multi-million dollar yacht, international release parties, the courtship of the tastemaker kings…
Homebrew Review: Northern Brewer – Bacon! Smoked Red Ale
Bacon doughnuts, bacon gum, bacon mints, and now… bacon beer? One of the hottest crazes to sweep the nation lately has been bacon-flavored products, and not even beer seems to be able to escape its allure. In 2011, Oregon-based Rogue Ales teamed up with Voodoo Doughnut to release its Bacon Maple Ale, but now homebrewers…
Review: Sammy’s Beach Bar Red Head Macadamia Nut Flavored Rum
You gotta love a first. For his first line extension from Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, the “Red Rocker” Sammy Hagar has added a Macadamia Nut-flavored expression to this Hawaii-born product. What the heck is this stuff? Distilled from Maui sugar cane, it is steeped with Macadamia nuts and colored blood red (fruit and vegetable juice…
